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Live-action Little Mermaid actress Halle Bailey is speechless when people post online clips of their young children, expressing their joy at seeing Disney stars who look like them.
The first trailer for the remake of the film, which will be released in theaters next year, was released on Saturday.
A TikTok compilation shared on Twitter by Brazilian entertainment platform Tracklist has been shared thousands of times.
“This means the world to me,” said Bailey, who voices the lead role, Ariel. “People have been sending these reactions to me all weekend, and I’m in truly in awe.”
The trailer teases Ariel (Bailey) swimming in the depths of the sea to sing the chorus of the hit song from the original film, “Part of Your World,” which also appeared in 1989 when the first film was released.
Providing her reaction to the first scene, one young girl in the TikTok clip is heard stating: “She’s brown like me!”
After Bailey scanned another video of another little girl asking if the mermaid was the real Ariel (because people are used to seeing a white complexion when they think of Disney Princess Ariel), Bailey said: “I just sobbed watching this thanks, she’s so sweet.”
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Bailey Awes People But Receives Criticisms
Bailey, 22, reached her showbiz spotlight as one-half of R&B sibling duo Chloe x Halle, who the one and only Beyonce mentored.
In 2019, after she was announced to portray Ariel, Bailey replied to backlash from people who ranted she did not look like Disney’s original version, who was more white.
“I just feel like this role was something bigger than me, and greater,” she said in an interview with Variety at the time. “I feel like I’m dreaming, and I’m just grateful, and I don’t pay attention to the negativity.”
She added, “It’s going to be beautiful, and I’m just so excited to be a part of it.”
But of course, after the trailer’s release, many criticisms, which came from older people, have come to light again. However, it does not weigh in the joy children of young ages feel after watching the short clip.
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