‘She’s brown like me!’: Young girls react with joy to ‘The Little Mermaid’ trailer
Global News
Young Black girls all over the world reacted with joy and excitement after seeing a live-action Ariel who looks like them, played by Halle Bailey.
If there were any doubts that representation in popular media matters, the Disney live-action reimagining of The Little Mermaid is erasing them entirely.
The film’s first trailer was released Sept. 9 and featured a brief glimpse of Halle Bailey, 22, as the Disney princess Ariel. In the trailer, Bailey sings a snippet of Ariel’s iconic ballad, Part of Your World.
Young Black girls all over the world reacted with joy and excitement after seeing a live-action princess who looks like them, spurring a new social media trend where parents film their children reacting to the trailer.
In a clip shared to Twitter and TikTok, one young fan reacted in open-mouthed awe to the start of the trailer, exclaiming, “It looks so beautiful!”
When Bailey is revealed as Ariel in the trailer, the girl’s mother explained, “That’s the new Ariel.”
In disbelief, the little girl, visibly delighted, replied, “That is Ariel?”
“Are you sure?” the girl asked, pointing to the TV screen. “That’s the real her?”
