We’re heading under the sea, loser! The Little Mermaid, a Disney cartoon classic, is getting a live-action remake, and it’ll be in theaters sooner than you think.
The original film, released in 1989, is a musical partly based on the same-named fairy tale authored by Hans Christian Andersen, the father of fairy tales.
The renowned musical follows adolescent mermaid Ariel, the youngest daughter of King Triton and princess of Atlantica’s underwater kingdom. Ariel’s interest in humans leads her down a path of adventure, love, magic, and a deal with the devil. Maybe not the devil, but the terrible sea witch Ursula comes close.
Rob Marshall, best known for directing the cinematic musical version of Broadway’s Chicago, will lead the film starring Halle Bailey. Alan Menken, the original composer of The Little Mermaid, is poised to return to the score and will write new songs in conjunction with one of the film’s producers, Lin-Manuel Miranda.
The film’s live-action adaption has been divisive, garnering as much criticism as appreciation — much like any live-action remake of cherished childhood reminiscence. If you’re still unconvinced, keep reading to learn what we know about the revised version of the film.
When Will The Little Mermaid Be Released?
The Little Mermaid is set to open in theaters across the United States on May 26, 2023.
The Little Mermaid’s length was reportedly announced on April 19, making it Disney’s most extended live-action remake ever, with a runtime nearly twice as long as the original film. According to the AMC Theaters website, the new picture has a running time of 2 hours and 15 minutes.
The live-action version would logically be lengthier, with more tales, songs, and situations to fill out and explore. According to Collider, the live-action remakes of Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin run 2 hours and 9 minutes and 2 hours and 8 minutes, respectively.
Is There a Trailer For The Little Mermaid?
Yes! At this moment, there are several trailers. The Little Mermaid released its first full theatrical trailer at the Oscars 2023, allowing us to glimpse more of the plot and characters of the upcoming film.
In the new trailer, Halle Bailey’s Ariel, a la the original Disney picture, saves Prince Eric from a shipwreck. “This obsession with humans has to stop,” King Triton advises her after she expresses an interest in learning more. “Part of Your World” plays as we see Ariel’s costumes, glam looks, and a closer look at Ursula and life on land.
The second teaser trailer for The Little Mermaid was released on February 15, 2023, to commemorate Disney’s 100th anniversary and to count down the final 100 days until the film’s premiere.
We see Halle as Ariel blowing kisses to a pufferfish and swimming among jellyfish in the 30-second clip, as well as early glances at five extra mermaids (could they be Ariel’s sisters!?) and Ariel and Prince Eric’s almost-kiss from the legendary “Kiss the Girl” sequence. We also glimpse Ursula’s eyeballs and tentacles near the film’s conclusion and hear her malicious laugh for the first time.
In September 2022, the first teaser trailer for The Little Mermaid was published. In the movie, we’re taken on a stunning journey through the ocean, just over a minute long, as aquatic life flits through the water.
We soon discover a similar scaly fin swimming through a sunken ship. Our first glimpse of Halle as Ariel comes in the video’s final seconds when she sings a clip of the film’s legendary song, “Part of Your World.”
The preview rapidly went viral on social media, with people uploading videos of young Black girls and children of all colors reacting with pleasure and surprise to Halle’s Ariel, refuting the discriminatory notion that children would not accept a Black version of the Disney princess.
Who is Playing Ariel in The Little Mermaid?
It was first confirmed in July 2019 that singer Halle Bailey would play the live-action, Ariel. “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,” director Rob Marshall stated at the time, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Ariel will be Halle’s first starring feature film role. She is best known as half of the singing group Chloe x Halle with her sister, Chlöe Bailey. As a child, Halle had previously appeared in films such as Last Holiday and Disney Channel’s Let It Shine.
Though the 23-year-old actress has a couple more huge movies in the works — she will play Young Nettie in the 2023 film musical The Color Purple — Halle is most recognized for her role as Sky Forster in Freeform’s Grown-ish.
However, soon after Halle’s hiring was confirmed, the young actress faced massive racial criticism online. Users on social media began the viral hashtag #NotMyAriel and uploaded racist memes and harsh comments, vowing to boycott the film when it comes out.
Halle did not explicitly address the backlash until the summer of 2022, telling Variety that she sought counsel from her grandparents, who had endured years of persecution, on overcoming such hatred.
“It was an inspiring and beautiful thing to hear their words of encouragement, telling me, ‘You don’t understand what this is doing for us, for our community, for all the little Black and brown girls who are going to see themselves in you,'” she explained.
“What that would have done for me, how that would have changed my confidence, my belief in myself, everything. Things that seem so small to everyone else, it’s so big to us,” Halle remarked. “I want the little girl in me, and the little girls like me who are watching, to know that they are special and deserve to be princesses in every way.”
There is no reason why they should not.” Period. Despite the online backlash, Halle’s time as Princess Ariel has been life-changing – during filming, she became a cat parent and named her kitty Poseidon in tribute to the film. We enjoy seeing it.
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Who else is in the Cast of The Little Mermaid?
While the precise character specifics of several The Little Mermaid cast members remain unknown, the core cast has been revealed, and it is a star-studded roster.
Despite widespread speculation in 2019 that Harry Styles was being considered for the role of Prince Eric, the position was finally filled by British actor Jonah Hauer-King. (Harry turned down the job to seek “darker” film parts.) Halle Bailey posted an emotional statement to her cast and crew on Instagram after the film completed, calling Jonah her “friend for infinite lifetimes.”
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Javier Bardem will play Ariel’s overprotective father, King Triton, and Melissa McCarthy will play Ursula, the iconic character. (Kacey Musgraves turned down the part of Vanessa, Ursula’s human form, in 2020.) Art Malik, from Homeland, has also been cast as Prince Eric’s devoted butler Grimsby.
Ariel’s sea creature team has also been cast. Daveed Diggs will play Sebastian the crab, Jacob Tremblay will play Flounder the fish, and Awkwafina will play a gender-swapped version of Scuttle.
Scuttle was initially portrayed as a male bird in the animated picture. In the new rendition, Scuttle will be a female diving bird, supposedly allowing the character to appear in more underwater scenes.
Queen Selina, played by Noma Dumezweni, will be a new character in the film. Jessica Alexander, Emily Coates, Russell Balogh, and Adrian Christopher were also cast in unspecified parts in the movie.
Many fans speculated whether Simone would play one of Ariel’s sisters, and this seemed to grow even more likely as we saw five other mermaids in the full-length trailer. Disney identified the actors playing the sisters in an announcement for the film’s UK premiere on April 21, according to DigitalSpy.
On April 24, one fan discovered an unapproved image of Ariel and her sisters on the Target website and a planned coloring book for the film, including a page for the sisters – complete with their names.
From the target site 😱😍 sisters!!! #thelittlemermaid pic.twitter.com/OWDX55secI
— Mario🫧🧜🏽♀️ (@mmdisney200) April 24, 2023
Perla (Lorena Andrea), Karina (Kajsa Mohammar), Caspia (Nathalie Sorrell), Mala (Karolina Conchet), Tamika (Sienna King), and Indira (Simone Ashley) appear to be Ariel’s 2023 sisters based on their similarity and the facts Disney has revealed so far.
The casting rumor seems genuine based on additional merchandise now offered on the Target website, such as these two t-shirts, this tumbler cup, these little plush dolls, and this complete, detailed doll set.
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