Disney’s Live-Action Remake for “Little Mermaid” Film Makes History

Disney Princesses is an all-time fan favorite from the sparkly tiaras to the puffy dresses. Disney has filled the hearts and imagination of little girls all over. Once Disney announced the remake of their classical film “Little Mermaid” fans were thrilled to hear the good news.

“Growing up I use to seat in front of the T.V and watch beautiful princesses like Cinderella and Ariel and dream to be a gorgeous Disney princess-like them one day,” says Thirteen-year-old Kai Sandles. “Being a black girl that dream quickly went away because I noticed that all the princesses did not look like me. When I found out Disney is remaking “Little Mermaid” and Halle Bailey will be playing Ariel I was on cloud nine. I think it’s about time Black people are represented as royalty.”

Little Mermaid’s Director Rob Marshall and FreeForm network announced that Halle Bailey will be Ariel. Bailey has a very authentic youthful soul with an amazing singing voice that makes her a great fit for the role. The Grown-ish star and member of the R&B group CholeXHalle were excited for her role as Ariel, But immediately received backlash because of her skin color. Fans predicted that Ariel will be a white girl with red hair like in the film. 

The original animated princess in the “Little Mermaid” was a white girl and fans didn’t like that sudden change. Little Mermaid’s fan took to the internet with #NotMyAriel and #NotMyMermaid backlash to express how Disney shouldn’t change the identity of Ariel. 

At the Variety Power of Young Hollywood event, Halle Bailey responded to all the social media hate. “I don’t pay attention to the negativity; I just feel like the role is something bigger than me”, said Halle.

Many celebrities came to Halle defense including Jodi Benson who was the voice of the original Ariel. They sent supportive messages to the young actress and responded to the internet trolls who can’t accept this beautiful change. 

“The most important thing is to tell the story,” said Jodi Benson. “As a family, we have raised our children, and for ourselves, that we don’t see anything that’s different on the outside. I think that the spirit of a character is what really matters. What you bring to the table in a character as far as their heart, and their spirit, is what really counts.”

Disney’s Freeform network also came to Bailey’s defense to confront the racist backlash on its Instagram. The post responded to whoever thinks a danish princess can’t be played by a black actress.

“Yes. The original author of “The Little Mermaid” was Danish, says Freeform in its post. “ Ariel is a mermaid. She lives in an underwater kingdom in international waters and can legit swim wherever she wants. But for the sake of argument, let’s say that Ariel, too, is Danish. Danish mermaids can be black because Danish people can be black.” 

Disney is making history by being the first to change their original classic film by starring a black actress for the leading role. Benson, Disney FreeForm network, and more stressed that what matters is not what’s on the outside. Disney is stepping out and switching up to change the way movies are depicted for casting.

“Like many media companies, Disney has been forced to acknowledge that the audience for their content is much more diverse than they may have assumed, says University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Professor of Media, Cinema, and Digital Studies Elana Levine.” They have also been influenced by the wide range of social movements and other efforts in support of racial justice in particular. As those ideas have become more and more mainstream, they have been adopted by major corporations, including media companies. Disney, and any corporation, is always most concerned with their profits, and they have clearly decided that it is good business to include a more diverse array of characters in their media, perhaps especially in their very popular princess stories.”

“It is certainly progress that not all princess heroines are white and blonde anymore, but we also have a right to demand more of our media representations than these somewhat superficial steps toward diversity,” she continues. “I think the trends we see in Disney princesses are similar to those we see across media. I don’t think one is just following the other but that they are all a part of a broader, very slow, very gradual shift toward a more legitimately diverse array of media representations in our culture. But this kind of thing typically takes a very long time to change in a substantive way.”