The trailer for the upcoming live-action remake of “The Little Mermaid” premiered during the Academy Awards on Sunday night. Halle Bailey, who plays Ariel in the film, revealed the news on Instagram last week, sharing an image of a new movie poster.
Bailey has been tapped as one of the presenters at the ceremony, which is being broadcast live from Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre. She and Melissa McCarthy, who stars as Ursula in the film, presented the trailer, which shows Bailey as Ariel singing “Part of That World.”
“The Little Mermaid” will premiere on May 26, Disney announced in September, as it gave fans a short teaser of the movie.
The sneak peek was enough to inspire fans. Many parents shared videos of their young daughters reacting to the clip, which showed Bailey, one of the only Black women to play a Disney princess, as Ariel.
Even though the clip only showed a few seconds of Bailey as the mermaid, many girls felt the power of the representation on screen. Bailey said she saw some of the videos and that she was, “truly in awe.”
“This means the world to me,” she tweeted, sharing a compilation video of young girls reacting to the clip.
“k i just sobbed watching this thanks,” she wrote in another tweet with a video of a reaction. “she’s so sweet.”
The film, directed Rob Marshall, will feature music by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Alan Menken, who is behind the music of several other Disney films. Howard Ashman’s score for the 1989 animated movie will remain featured, Marshall said in September at the D23 expo, a Disney fan convention, Variety reported.
The film also stars Javier Bardem as King Triton, Daveed Diggs as the voice of Sebastian and Melissa McCarthy as Ursula.
Thanks for reading CBS NEWS.
Create your free account or log in
for more features.
