The Little Mermaid is all over the news lately for both good and bad reasons.
The good reasons: it’s getting a live-action film and we have most of the cast!
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The bad news: people are still racist.
There are a ton of live-action movies in the works right now.
Disney is just swimming in cash right now from their reboots.
The Lion King is the next one to hit theatres.
‘Mulan’ recently released their trailer.
And it looks EPIC.
Though they made some changes, we’re excited to see it nonetheless.
And now ‘The Little Mermaid’ is getting the treatment.
People are super pumped to see their favorite mermaid come to life.
Halle Bailey was cast as our new little mermaid.
She will be playing Princess Ariel, lending her beautiful voice to the role.
Unfortunately, the casting divided fans.
People were upset that they cast a black girl without red hair for the role.
Sad, but true.
Luckily, more people are excited than sad.
Which is very heartwarming to know.
There’s literally no reason to not like the casting decision.
The controversy even made its way back to Jodi Benson.
Who’s that?
She’s the original Ariel. And she had quite a bit to say about it.
When Benson was asked about the casting, she had a great response.
“I think that the spirit of a character is what really matters,” she said .
She doesn’t care about Halle’s looks at all.
“What you bring to the table in a character as far as their heart, and their spirit, is what really counts.”
She continued by talking about her own looks.
“If you were to judge me on the way that I look on the outside, it might change the way that you interpret the song. But if you close your eyes, you can still hear the spirit of Ariel.”
And she encouraged Disney’s casting and said we need to continue being great storytellers.
Which really, is what it’s all about. Good stories.
This is what she ended with:
“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.” she finished .
Are you excited for the live-action film?
I know I am! And I’m so happy to hear that the original princess defended the new one.
