♪♪
amna: This week a live-action
version of Disney's
´the little mermaid' opens in
theaters, more than thirty years
after the original animated
movie hit the big screen.
It's one of just a few times
that a Disney princess will be
played by a black actress in a
casting decision that sparked
both joy and backlash.
I explored what this moment
means as part of our arts and
culture series, canvas.
♪♪
a new little mermaid is now part
of our world, with a fresh take
on the old-school Disney
classic, a live-action remake
starring 23 year old Hallie
Bailey, a black actress in the
lead role of aerial.
The summer movie trailer release
led to viral, delightful
reactions among young fans.
>> I think she's brown.
>> That's the real her?
Amna: Including sisters Rylie
and Mckenzie Fleming.
Their mother Dari filmed the
moment they saw the new
princess.
Amna: Were you surprised by the
way they reacted?
Dari: I was, I was super
surprised, especially with my
little one, because she never
really gets surprised or reacts
to anything.
So for her to react that way to
the little mermaid trailer, I
was like, wow.
This is going to be an amazing
movie.
Amna: Even Bailey herself said
she was in awe of the response
to the trailer alone.
There's only ever been one black
Disney princess in Disney's
100-year history 2009's Tiana
in the princess and the frog.
A previous, 1997 Cinderella
remake cast singer and actress
brandy Norwood in the lead.
For Dari, that moment resonated.
She wants more moments like that
for her girls.
Amna: When you think about the
kind of characters that you
watched growing up, right, the
TV shows, the movies that you
had.
How are they different from the
things that your girls get to
see today?
>> When I was growing up, I had,
you know, Cinderella, brandy.
I absolutely loved that movie.
And for them to, you know,
remake another black Disney
princess/mermaid is just
amazing.
And I feel like that's so
important for, you know, for
little girls, not just, you know
not just for brown and black
girls, but just little girls in
general.
Amna: After their reaction video
went viral, the Flemings were
invited to attend the movie's
world premiere in Los Angeles,
earlier this month.
And Rylie and Mckenzie came face
to face with the real-life
Ariel.
What's your favorite thing about
Ariel?
What do you like so much about
>>what do you like so much about
the mermaid?
Everything!!!
>>Everything!!!
Their father, will, says it's
less about the movie, and more
about the myth >> It's one thing
for us to be able to say, hey,
you can be whatever you want to
be if you're not seeing folks
that look like you, that maybe
come from the same backgrounds
as you, you know, it's not as
believable for someone who's
never seen it before.
Amna: But not everyone welcomed
the new Ariel.
The 2019 casting announcement of
sparked hashtags and some
arguing the little mermaid is a
quote European fairytale and
that Bailey looks nothing like
the Ariel we know and love.
To Leah sava Jeffries, also a
black actress, being cast in a
Percy Jackson TV series in 2022
and, that same year, to Puerto
rican actor Ismael Cruz Cordova
being cast in a lord of the
rings prequel.
>> I believe that each
generation of children has been
carefully taught who to expect
in the stories that they read.
Amna: Professor Ebony Elizabeth
Thomas of the university of
Michigan is the author of the
dark fantastic: Race and the
imagination from Harry potter to
the hunger games.
She says the negative response
isn't surprising, given the
history of stories being told,
and characters being
represented.
>> If all of a sudden your
favorite dish has a new
ingredient or a new preparation,
then you are going to be
absolutely startled.
So this is not giving excuses
for racism and responses to
diverse and multicultural
stories.
Quite the contrary.
I just want to explain within
the context of a society where
we all grow up to expect most of
our heroes and most of our
heroines to be white, cisgender
and from the majority culture.
Amna: Multicultural stories,
Thomas argues, have the power to
open doors, build bridges, and
ultimately connect people to
each other.
>> It helps us learn how to get
along with each other when we
have a glimpse into what it
means to be another person
living in a different kind of
culture, living in another
country, living another life.
Amna: The new film takes viewers
into another world featuring
, notable names like Melissa
Mccarthy as the sea witch
urszula.
>> Oh hey! Didn't expect to find
Yu here.
Amna: Actress awkwafina as the
seagull, scuttle.
And daveed Diggs, as the anxious
but ever-loyal crab, Sebastian.
Early fan reviews are
enthusiastic.
Do you remember your favorite
song from the movie?
Under the sea.
>>Under the sea.
Amna: Under the sea.
I love that one, too.
Rylie, what about you?
What's your favorite song?
The little mermaid opens in
theaters nationwide this Friday.