Part of Your World: The New Perspective of The Little Mermaid (2023)

“The Little Mermaid” is a live-action remake of the classic 1989 animated musical film by Walt Disney Animation Studios. This movie is about a young mermaid named Ariel who longs to go to the sea’s surface. Her father forbids her from going due to the danger that humans present for mermaids, but Ariel entrusts a powerful sea witch with a precious gift of hers in hopes that she will be granted her wish to become a human forever. The cast includes Halle Bailey as Ariel, Jonah Hauer King as Prince Eric, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula and Awkwafina as Scuttle.

In the teaser trailer uploaded on YouTube by Walt Disney Studios, we saw large, blue waves crashing, fish swimming through a coral reef and a large shipwreck. A green tail was seen swishing through the water before Ariel was revealed. But instead of having pale skin, this live-action version of the classic Disney mermaid is black. She had long, red, locs that flow in the water as she gazed towards the surface and sang “Part of That World” using gospel-style riffs.

There have been several live-action remakes of classic Disney films, including “Aladdin,” “Cinderella,” and “Beauty and the Beast.” However, people are not always excited about these reimagined classics. There is an exceptional amount of backlash over “The Little Mermaid,” even though we only have a 1.5ish minute teaser trailer.

Twitter is especially booming with people who have come to the consensus that the live-action, black mermaid is ruining their childhood.

One tweet by the user @LaBambina17 says, “Idc what anyone says I’m p*ssed that ‘the little mermaid’ isn’t going to be white and Sebastian is going to be an Asian girl like nah fam I’m not okay with this and f*ck watching that movie. Y’all ruining my childhood! No b*tch I’m not racist! The little mermaid is white tho!!!”

However, there are also many videos on TikTok showing little black girls’ excitement over the redesigned mermaid.

One video, on Tik Tok, by the account @Nickyknackpaddywack shows a little girl named Maya being shown the “Little Mermaid” teaser trailer and when Ariel is revealed as black, Maya cries out “Mommy!” then kicks her feet then says “Shes brown like me” with excitement.

This movie has a great deal of different opinions, However, the excitement that little girls have over having another black Disney Princess who they can relate to is also greatly relevant. Even with the hate, this 2023 reimagined classic still has people, young and old alike, looking forward to its release.