Fan art inspired by Disney's live-action The Little Mermaid imagines Halle Bailey's Ariel in her human form.Artist Tanya Lehoux (@TanyaLehoux) shared three sketches on Twitter that depicted Bailey's Ariel dressed in the character's classic blue dress and pink gown from the original 1989 animated film. In each sketch, Ariel is striking three different poses all reminiscent of the original animated princess.
The first teaser for the upcoming live-action The Little Mermaid was shown at Disney's recent D23 Expo, offering a first look at Bailey in the lead role since her casting in July 2019, but only in her mermaid form. When the trailer was released, it recieved an influx of dislikes and racist comments directed at Bailey. This is not the first time the actor has been the recipient of racist backlash since her Little Mermaid casting.
Halle Bailey Is Princess Ariel
"I feel like I'm dreaming, and I'm just grateful, and I don't pay attention to the negativity," Bailey said shortly after her casting announcement in August 2019 regarding the racist comments. "I just feel like, you know, this role is something bigger than me, and greater, and it's gonna be beautiful."
Around the same time that Bailey's casting was revealed, Jodi Benson, the original voice actor behind Princess Ariel in the original The Little Mermaid, defended the choice to have Bailey lead the remake. "We need to be storytellers," Benson said. "And no matter what we look like on the outside, no matter our race, our nation, the color of our skin, our dialect, whether I'm tall or thin, whether I'm overweight or underweight, or my hair is whatever color, we really need to tell the story."
Most recently, Benson praised Bailey's live-action performance, saying that the actor "made Ariel magical for us." "Halle, you were absolutely amazing," Benson wrote on Twitter. "I'm SO proud of you and your beautiful performance as Ariel!" The voice actor also praised the film's director, Rob Marshall.
Disney's live-action remake of The Little Mermaid stars Bailey, also known as one half of the R&B duo Chloe x Halle, as Ariel, and also features Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, Daveed Diggs as Sebastian and Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric. Luca actor Jacom Tremblay will voice Ariel's fish companion Flounder and Crazy Rich Asians star Awkwafina will appear as the voice of Scuttle. The soundtrack for the film will feature a combination of new tracks from Hamilton creator Lin Manuel Miranda and Alan Menken's original songs from the 1989 film.
The Little Mermaid is set to arrive in theaters on May 26, 2023.
Source: Twitter