Thursday, March 28, 2024

First Teaser Trailer Drops for Disney’s ‘The Little Mermaid’ Live-Action Remake | Watch

*Disney has released the first teaser trailer for the live-action remake of “The Little Mermaid,” starring actress/singer Halle Bailey.

The clip features Ariel (Bailey) swimming through a shipwreck before singing “Part of Your World.” The first teaser arrives more than three years after Disney’s casting of Bailey sparked racist backlash from haters who believe mermaids can’t be Black. 

Racist Disney fans quickly blasted the decision to cast Halle as the first Black Ariel. We reported previously that Facebook even removed a ‘Make America White Again’ group after it shared offensive memes related to Bailey playing the fictional mermaid. 

Disney-owned Freeform reacted to the critics in 2019 when the company released a statement on Twitter. At the time, racist fanatics used the hashtag #NotMyAriel to object to a Black woman portraying a red-headed Danish mermaid. Freeform also noted that Bailey was cast as Ariel because she is “highly talented,” and director Rob Marshall agreed. 

READ MORE: Ava DuVernay Unpacks Final Season of ‘Queen Sugar’ | EUR Exclusive

“After an extensive search, it was abundantly clear that Halle possesses that rare combination of spirit, heart, youth, innocence, and substance — plus a glorious singing voice — all intrinsic qualities necessary to play this iconic role,” Marshall said in a statement at the time.

Jodi Benson, the voice of Ariel in the 1989 animated film “The Little Mermaid,” also spoke in defense of Bailey during her appearance at Florida Supercon in 2019.  

“The most important thing is to tell the story. And we have, as a family, we have raised our children, and for ourselves, that we don’t see anything that’s different on the outside,” Benson said, reported ComicBook.com.

Bailey previously called her Ariel role a “dream come true.”

Watch “The Little Mermaid trailer via YouTube above.

The original “The Little Mermaid” centers on teen princess Ariel, who dreams of living on the surface and marrying Prince Eric. A sea witch named Ursula offers to make her dreams come true in exchange for her beautiful voice. The original 1989 animated feature won two Oscars for Best Original Score and Best Original Song for the track “Under the Sea.”

“The Little Mermaid” live-action remake will feature the original songs by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, as well as new songs with music by Menken and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda. TheWrap.com reports. 

“It’s the most complicated movie we’ve done,” Marshall told TribLive earlier this year about the film reboot. “So much of it is shot up in the air with everything on wires and the actors on this apparatus called a ‘tuning fork’ and teeter-totters so they swim and move and turn and flip. Everything is choreographed within an inch of its life.”

“The Little Mermaid” is set to hit U.S. theaters on May 26, 2023.

We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!

YOU MAY LIKE

SEARCH

- Advertisement -

TRENDING