The Mandela Effect Has Come For Sebastian From 'The Little Mermaid'

Nearly 34 years after Disney’s classic princess flick The Little Mermaid first hit theaters in 1989, the world has finally grasped the concept that Ariel has crabs— specifically one crab, a crustaceous friend named Sebastian.

After roughly three-and-a-half decades of being broadly miscategorized as a lobster by pretty much everyone — even the overlords of various Disney Wikipedia pages — the latest trailer for the film’s upcoming live-action remake managed to solidify Sebastain’s crabbiness in the DUDS(UDS)CU — Disney’s Under Da Sea (Under Da Sea) Cinematic Universe.

The reason for the Mandela effect’s sudden debunk? None other than something way bygone in the early eras of Disney animation — half-decent character design.

Unlike his admittedly ambiguous appearance in the film’s animated iteration, his long body and big ‘ol claws screaming more Red Lobster than Joe’s Crab Shack, Sebastain’s IRL (or as close to IRL as a hyperrealistic crustacean can be) sparked a mass epiphany on Twitter, as fans realized he was actually a crab this whole fucking time — a fact even explicitly recognized in the film itself.

Alongside garnering several comparisons to the pop culture zeitgeist’s most famous IRL crab — the crab-on-a-stick puppet that comprises Mr. Krabs’ above-sea-level alter ego in SpongeBob SquarePants, other fans grappled with the reality that one of their childhood conventions had all been a lie.

Now if you need me, I’ll be checking that the Berenstain Bears are actually bears. You can never be too sure with the Mandela effects anymore.