Some test audience members for the live-action remake of The Little Mermaid considered Melissa McCarthy's Ursula to be the star of the show.Skylar Shuler, the co-founder of TheDisInsider, revealed his findings after discussing the upcoming film with select test audience members. While Halle Bailey reportedly did an excellent job as Ariel, McCarthy purportedly stood out in the cast for her portrayal of Disney's Sea Witch villain. Shuler continued by describing the new songs as "hit-and-miss," but enjoyed The Little Mermaid's unfamiliar faces. Audience members also told Shuler that the live-action remake performed as well as 2019's Aladdin.
McCarthy, the famed comedic actor, recently appeared onscreen for a film under the Disney umbrella, that being the Marvel Cinematic Universe entry Thor: Love and Thunder. The role, brief as it may have been, saw her utilize comic skills as a stage actor playing Hela -- the villain played by Cate Blanchett in 2017's Thor: Ragnarok -- in a play put on by Asgardians. Yet, the MCU sequel wasn't even her only superhero film role in the past year since she co-starred with Octavia Spencer in the 2021 Netflix film Thunder Force as costumed crimefighters.
The Little Mermaid's Troll Problem
However, The Little Mermaid remake remains controversial. At 2022's D23 Expo, Disney unveiled the first teaser trailer, which featured Bailey singing a few lines from "Part of Your World" amid impressive underwater visuals. Some YouTube commenters left racist statements and inflated the dislike count to 1.5 million. Yet, the Grown-ish actor and Chloe x Halle singer didn't appear fazed by the online haters. "I feel like I'm dreaming, and I'm just grateful, and I don't pay attention to the negativity," she said. It also helped that Jodi Benson, the voice of Ariel in the iconic 1989 animated film, rushed to support Bailey. "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."
Coincidentally, McCarthy is no stranger to this type of social media backlash over a film role. As the co-star of director Paul Feig's 2016 remake of Ghostbusters, she and the rest of the cast were met with constant online derision by critical fans, many of whom disliked the very idea of its all-female lineup. As McCarthy responded back in 2016, "All those comments -- ‘You’re ruining my childhood!' I mean, really, four women doing any movie on Earth will destroy your childhood?"
Controversy aside, in addition to Bailey and McCarthy, the upcoming live-action remake of The Little Mermaid features several dominant names in the film industry. Hamilton's Daveed Diggs stars as Ariel's crab cohort, Sebastian, Luca actor Jacob Tremblay voices her fish companion, Flounder, and Crazy Rich Asians star Awkwafina will appear as the voice of the seagull Scuttle. Other cast members include Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Javier Bardem as King Triton and Jessica Alexander as Vanessa.
The live-action remake of The Little Mermaid premieres in theaters on May 26, 2023.
Source: Twitter