Entertainment
Parents Film Their Black Daughters Excitedly Reacting To Halle Bailey As Ariel In ‘The Little Mermaid’
Black girls, like Halle Bailey, are thrilled at being portrayed as one of Disney’s classic princesses.
The ‘Little mermaid’ live-action graced screens in 2019, and at the time, there were criticisms due to the casting of Halle Bailey, as many thought the fictional character would be WHITE. Disney turned deaf ears to the backlashes and has recently teased what fans should expect during its biennial convention.
The new film featuring Halle as Black Ariel is expected to be out on May 26, 2023.
Since the first trailer dropped, there has been excitement in the black community, as Halle is officially the first Black Ariel. Many took to different social media pages to share videos in response to the development, showing how much of an effect it had on the girls who see themselves being portrayed as one of Disney’s classic princesses.
Halle, a part of the musical pair Chloe x Halie, appears at first sight in the film as she sings “part of your world.”
During the expo event, she revealed the song alone took up to three days. More so, a since-deleted video from inside the convention showed the crowd’s reaction when the movie preview was done playing, sparking joyous noises. “When your favorite Disney princess looks like you,” reads the caption of a TikTok [now-viral] that feature a 3-Year-Old girl.
@preciousavery I love this for my 3 years old 🤎 #littlemermaid #toddlersoftiktok #hallebailey #girlpower ♬ original sound – Precious & Emery
In the clip, the little girl can be heard saying, “I think she’s brown. Brown Ariel is cute.”
Another footage featured two siblings, one dressed as Tiana, from the ‘The Princess and the Frog” movie of 2009. The girls seemed to be in awe as they realized it was Halle. “Mama, she’s Black,” one excitedly screams as their mum filmed. In a third, three young sisters, Lai’anna, Ea’iona, and Ke’iona Shanks, aged 6, 2, and 7, respectively, could be seen watching the movie trailer. In so much jubilation and amazement, the eldest sister celebrates, “She’s Black? Yay!”
@workingmama My daughter’s reaction 😭 to the little mermaid trailer. #littlemermaidtrailer #representationmatters ♬ original sound – 💕 Workingmama💕
“I saw the trailer drop the night before. I just knew that they would be super excited about it,” the girls’ dad, Sterling Shanks, said.
Sterling also recognized the importance of representation, adding, “there’s a quote I wrote on my phone when I watched Viola Davis on TV one time, and she said that representation is important because you need to see physical manifestations of your dreams. If you don’t see it, it’s harder to think it’s realized.”
@thedfwdad Never thought a movie trailer could make me cry but then I saw @halle and knew how it would make my kids feel. Thanks @disney for making my kids feel seen. Can’t wait to be at Disney World in 12 days! #disney #interacialadoption #representationmatters #littlemermaid #thelittlemermaidtrailer #partofyourworld #blackgirlmagic #girldad #d23 #disneyadult ♬ The Little Mermaid (Marimba Remix) – Harry Goes Boom!
Shanks further attested his daughters hadn’t ceased to talk about their enthusiasm for the upcoming movie and revealed they’ve been pretending to be mermaids since the night they saw the trailer. “Hours after the video, we were driving, and Lai’anna said, ‘Even her hair looked like us. Did you see she had braids?” he told BuzzFeed News.
Halle herself has shared a video via her Twitter where a little girl could be seen smiling as she asked, “That is Ariel?”
Here’s another video of positive reaction:
@callmedarii That’s why representation matters! We can’t wait to watch this ❤️ #fyp #littlemermaid #disney ♬ original sound – Dari
However, since Halle’s announcement as Ariel, Jodi Benson, the voice behind Ariel in the initial animated film in 1989, has steadfastly shown her backing for the actress. The movie trailer amassed a lot of accolades; however, some people believed that Halle didn’t appear underwater in the trailer.
But others disapproved of the complaint against the actress’s role, calling it unfair.
