The Little Mermaid was the movie that kicked off the era known as the Disney Renaissance in animation, so expectations are high for the upcoming live-action remake. The decision to cast Halle Bailey in the lead certainly got people’s attention, though not necessarily in the best ways. However, at this point, it doesn’t look like anything could upset Bailey as the experience of becoming Ariel is clearly having an emotional impact on her.
While there was the unfortunately if not unexpected, racist backlash to the casting of Halle Bailey as Ariel in the live-action The Little Mermaid, a lot of people truly embraced the decision and even just seeing The Little Mermaid trailer had a profound impact on a lot of little girls who were perhaps seeing themselves in a Disney Princess for the first time. Now, you can buy dolls of Bailey’s version of Ariel and even the actress herself can’t believe it.
How Halle Bailey Is Reacting To Being A Disney Princess
In a recent interview with SiriusXM, Bailey called the experience of becoming Ariel “surreal” and she specifically talked about the experience of opening a box full of Little Mermaid merchandise. Many actors have talked about the experience of seeing themselves as a doll before, and it turns out seeing all this merchandise that meant so much to her as a child, but with her character as part of it, was somewhat overwhelming. She explained…
You know, it's all very surreal and like almost dreamlike. Like, what is this really happening? So I remember the other day I received, you know, this beautiful box that Disney had sent me of like all the dolls and all the merch, and I opened it the other day and I was just sobbing for like 30 minutes because it's like this very surreal feeling of seeing your face on all of these like dolls and things and merch and ears at Disney that you like, loved to have when you were younger as well. So it's just a really, really cool thing.
Bailey talked about seeing The Princess and the Frog as a teenager and what that meant to her and she certainly sees parallels to The Little Mermaid and what the movie can potentially mean to other little girls seeing her film.
How Kylie Jenner Is Embracing Halle Bailey’s Ariel
While the new version of The Little Mermaid won’t be in theaters for a couple of weeks, the merchandise in question is available in stores right now. And there is at least one very high-profile purchaser in Kylie Jenner. She posted a picture of a shopping cart full of dolls for her kid.
One wonders if seeing Halle Bailey as a Disney Princess is a bigger deal for Storm or for Kylie. While it will certainly be important for those young girls (and boys) to see this Ariel on the screen, it will also be valuable for the older viewers who might have wished they had something like her when they were kids.
Despite the racist backlash against The Little Mermaid, it's clear that a lot of people are focusing on the positive elements, making this one of the most highly anticipated of the upcoming Disney movies.
