The first thing we see is a rainbow colored story and flashes of red hair.
She gracefully glides through an underwater world of fish, coral, sea turtles and shipwrecks. As the twinkle of her familiar Disney song subsides and she swims towards the light on the water, the princess finally appears.
“Is she black?” Ask Kayona Shanks, will be 8 next week. “yay!”
Ariel was painted white with red hair and blue eyes like a fire truck in Disney’s previous films, but now she has red hair and is black.
Ariel is played by Halle Bailey, one half of the Grammy-nominated R&B sister duo Chloe x Halle. Her role means one of the few Disney princesses to have been played by a black lead: the reaction video shows young black girls watching the trailer, many of them in their pajamas and looking like themselves. Disney has captured the moment she saw her princess for the first time.
“When I see something I love and am passionate about manifesting itself, it makes it more real and makes me feel included. That’s my hope.” said Sterling Shanks. While his daughters – Ke’Iona, Lai’Anna, 7, and Ea’Iona, 2 – watched the trailer. It makes the things they love more attainable and approachable.”
Shanks said their reaction brought him to tears.
Mr. Shanks and the girls talked about the trailer for hours after they saw it Saturday morning. “I know they want to be represented in what they do and how they act,” he said. Did you notice me doing that?'” he added.
Bailey could not be reached for comment, but wrote on Twitter that he was “in awe” of the overwhelming reaction to the trailer. The movie will be released in May.
“I want the little girl in me, and the little girls who look like me, to know that they are special and that they should be princesses in every way.” Bailey told Variety in August“There’s no reason they shouldn’t be. That reassurance was just what I needed.”
The joyful response to the film was a sharp turnaround from the racist backlash Ms. Bailey faced when the film’s casting was announced in 2019.
In Disney’s nearly 100-year history, there has only been one black Disney princess. Princess Tiana in her 2009 animated film The Princess and the Frog starring Anika Noni Rose. Singer Brandy starred in her 1997 TV movie version of ‘Cinderella’, a remake of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical.
Will Fleming’s wife, Dariana Fleming I photographed my daughter Riley, 2, After watching the trailer, he said he was impressed by the rise of the Bailey sisters, who rose to fame by covering popular songs on YouTube. When their version of Beyoncé’s song “Pretty Hurts” went viral a decade before her, the superstar took notice and signed her to her Parkwood Entertainment label. Both sisters starred in the series Growing Up.
This reinvention is especially meaningful to Fleming and many other parents who remembered Ariel as their family name from childhood.
“The fact that she’s gone from social media to posting online and now being the star of one of the most classic Disney movies and being a black woman in America – there’s a lot to take from that for me,” Fleming said. said Mr. she said. “Unfortunately some people look at it like this. Well, the original movie wasn’t about black women. I think we’re missing the point. , I am especially grateful that Disney took the opportunity to do this, even though I felt that it would probably receive backlash.
Shannon Lanier said she was “very excited” to hear Bailey would play Ariel. You can be proud of who you are and have the ability to imagine that anything is possible, even in fairy tales.
Madison, her 11-year-old daughter, said in an interview, “Having a mermaid of color is really exciting because it probably inspires more people of color.” I thought.”
Her brother Carter, 6, said he was still waiting for a black prince.
Nicky Lungaro saw one of the reaction videos on TikTok and thought he should try the same with his daughter Maya Everage. Nine-year-old Maya sitting in front of the TV Her pink onesie has two braids hanging down her back.
“She was incredibly excited to see herself on the big screen,” Lungaro said. “This is well overdue. This shouldn’t be such a big deal. This shouldn’t be such a significant opportunity, but blacks and indigenous people of color are underrepresented in the media.” It’s time for them to shine.”
Maya, who likes Disney movies like “Pocahontas” and “The Princess and the Frog,” felt that the new Ariel was “really beautiful and has really long hair.”
“She looks like me,” she added in an interview.
Lungaro said he was amazed at how a “sweet moment” could have “such an impact”.
“It’s incredibly beautiful and overwhelming,” she said.
Precious Avery Photographed her 3-year-old Emery Garcia.saw the trailer and agreed.
“She loves meeting people who look like her,” Avery said. “She’s always loved the movie, but the twinkle in her eyes when she saw the trailer proved the importance of her presentation.”
Avery is taking Emery to Disney World soon and was wondering what it would be like to see Ariel at a theme park. “Now this is what she thinks Ariel looks like,” she said. I was. Because she lives in water.
Shanks also heads to Disney World with his wife Meredith and three daughters. He thought about the conversation, too, and said he would tell them that Black Ariel probably wouldn’t be there because the movie hasn’t come out yet. . “I think it helps people know that they are included in the princesses.”