Article by AJ Baldemor Graphics by Carl Pedraja
October 13, 2022
The beloved Disney Classic, “The Little Mermaid” is now a live adapted feature film that is set to be released on the 26th of May 2023. Remaking the 1989 classic animated film into a motion picture was not a challenge for Disney. The company has already redone several original animated movies into live-action masterpieces like The Jungle Book, Cinderella, Mulan, The Lion King, Alice in Wonderland, and more that have surfaced through the years. One thing about remaking an original is the comments and reactions of the audiences.
In this case, the audience’s reaction towards the new Little Mermaid, the actress, and singer Halle Bailey and Disney received backlash and negative comments when they released the much-awaited teaser for the film. From racist comments and remarks to making memes out of Halle Bailey, people have shared their thoughts, especially online, where people even disliked the teaser on Youtube, commented harshly about Halle, and even created an Artificial Intelligence rendition of the teaser where they replaced Halle with a white woman.
However, there were good reactions too - especially from the black community. For them to see a representation of themselves in a Disney film is a huge win for them. Some people have been defending and justifying Disney’s choice of casting Halle as the new Little Mermaid and have been appreciating the talent that she has to offer. There was even a trend that surfaced on the social media video platform; Tiktok. Following the release of the teaser, parents would take a video of their children’s reactions to seeing the teaser for the first time. These videos have brought joy to the online community because they have genuinely seen how children reacted to it. Especially the black kids who would see themselves on Halle give so much power to them knowing that they look like their favorite Disney Princess.
Good reactions or not, every new movie has mixed reactions from people, and all we know is that we will be watching in 2023 and showing our support to the newest Disney Princess, Halle Bailey as the new Little Mermaid.
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