Videos of children watching the trailer for the new “Little Mermaid” movie have gone viral.
As turtles swam through coral reefs, an image of a mermaid appears, then Halle Bailey, a Black actress and singer, was revealed as Ariel. “I think she’s Brown,” Emery said with a grin. “Brown Ariel!”
But her mother sees something bigger. It always made her “feel good” to see Black characters on television, Avery, 33, said, and now her daughter was getting the experience. Parents are taking to TikTok to share videos of their young daughters' reactions to Halle Bailey, who will star as Ariel in “The Little Mermaid,” out May 2023.
Ashley Potts, 26, says she doesn’t talk about skin color with her 5-year-old daughter, London, but that it was clear that she was shocked to see an Ariel that looked like her. London already loved “The Little Mermaid,” and has an ever-growing collection of mermaid dolls, including a prized Ariel doll from Disneyland that she received for her birthday., but once the toddler saw Ariel’s face, she fell silent. “It was a natural reaction for her,” Potts said. “I wanted to cry.