Paloma Faith, a singer and actress in shows like Pennyworth and Dangerous Liaisons, watched The Little Mermaid over the weekend and is calling out the storyline.
12.05.2023 - 15:25 / variety.com
Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Disney has unveiled a plethora of thingamabobs and whatsits ahead of the highly anticipated live-action adaptation of “The Little Mermaid”, out May 26. The merch — which includes everything from a singing doll to an Ariel starter kit — is particularly exciting for a young generation of Black kids who will for the first time be able to see themselves represented as a Disney princess through Halle Bailey’s portrayal of Ariel. Bailey is only the second Black actor to ever portray a prominent Disney princess, and the upcoming film will mark the first time that the franchise’s iconic mermaid will have dark skin and red locks, rather than the white skin, fire-engine-red hair and blue eyes introduced in Disney’s previous film.
While Bailey has had to deal with a fair share of racist trolls throughout the lead-up to the film’s premiere, first reactions have praised Bailey’s turn as Ariel. And ahead of the film’s official theater release on May 26, there are dozens of merch items to buy to celebrate Disney’s historic new film. A true collector’s item, this realistic and posable Ariel doll is limited to a mere 5,200 pieces. In addition to a gorgeous metallic top, delicately ruffled organza trim and sequined mermaid tale, the charm and playfulness of the doll are enhanced with the the included accessories – a dinglehopper, spyglass, and shoulder bag – that enable imaginative play and transport the collector to the film’s undersea kingdom. Ariel Limited Edition Doll $149.99 Buy Now Fans of the film’s award-winning soundtrack will enjoy this immersive doll that allows you to sing
Paloma Faith, a singer and actress in shows like Pennyworth and Dangerous Liaisons, watched The Little Mermaid over the weekend and is calling out the storyline.
practicing to be a mermaid since she was a kid) or belting the ballad “Part of Your World.” Instead, she lists her castmates’ musical numbers: “Jonah [Hauer-King, who plays Prince Eric, his] song is wonderful — ‘Wild Uncharted Waters’ — his performance of that is iconic. And then ‘The Scuttlebutt’ is amazing.
“The Little Mermaid,” but not for any reason you’re likely imagining. Twitter users criticized the publication and critic Wesley Morris for saying that the children’s movie lacked “kink.”“Disney’s live-action remake of ‘The Little Mermaid,’ with Halle Bailey starring as Ariel and a diverse cast, ‘reeks of obligation and noble intentions,’ Wesley Morris writes,” the viral tweet read.
Brent Lang Executive Editor Family audiences turned out in force, propelling Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” to the top of the box office over the Memorial Day weekend. The film, a live-action remake of the 1988 animated favorite, earned a splashy $117.5 million over the four-day holiday. It ranks as the fifth largest Memorial Day debut — last year’s “Top Gun: Maverick” set a new record for the holiday with its $160.5 million launch. At one point over the weekend, it looked as if “The Little Mermaid” might even open north of $120 million, but ticket sales flagged slightly. For Disney, the film’s popularity is a testament to its strategy of digging deep into its vaults and rebooting animated titles as live action movies, something it has done successfully with the likes of “Aladdin,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Lion King.” Waiting out on the horizon: Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, the Oscar-winning director of “Summer of Soul,” is helming a remake of “The Aristocats” for Disney.
“The Little Mermaid” made moviegoers want to be under the sea on Memorial Day weekend.
Paloma Faith has hit out at the new live-action remake of The Little Mermaid, saying that it’s not what she wants to be teaching the next generation of women.Disney’s The Little Mermaid starring Halle Bailey came out Friday (May 26), and also stars Jonah Hauer-King as Eric, Daveed Diggs as the voice of Sebastian, Awkwafina as the voice of Scuttle and Jacob Tremblay as the voice of Flounder.Faith was among stars who attended one of the film’s opening weekend screenings, but took to social media to voice her issues with the remake.“Just seen the new Little Mermaid with my kids and while I think Halle gives a good performance and it’s great casting as a mother of girls, I don’t want my kids to think it’s ok to give up your entire voice and your powers to love man,” the ‘Only Love Can Hurt Like This’ singer wrote on her Instagram story over the weekend (via Metro).She added: “Wtf is this shit?! Not what I want to be teaching next gen women at all.”Earlier this year, Bailey explained how she wanted to bring a more nuanced and modern perspective to the film, in which Ariel is willing to give her up life in the sea to marry a prince and live on the land.“I’m really excited for my version of the film because we’ve definitely changed that perspective of just her wanting to leave the ocean for a boy,” she told Edition Magazine.“It’s way bigger than that. It’s about herself, her purpose, her freedom, her life and what she wants.”“As women we are amazing, we are independent, we are modern, we are everything and above,” she continued.
Stephanie Mills is opening up about her experience playing Dorothy in the Broadway musical The Wiz and all the “hate mail” she received for playing a character that a white woman played before. Mills compares the negativity that Halle Bailey is now experiencing as the star of the live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid.
Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor To bring Disney’s iconic mermaid princess Ariel to life in “The Little Mermaid,” costume designer Colleen Atwood constructed a life-sized tail that went from star Halle Bailey’s chest all the way down past her legs. “We made it to scale and 3D silk-screened the tail and painted onto that so you could get the nuance of the colors,” Atwood says. “We used different layers of sheer material, which gave the tail and scales an iridescent effect.” Her biggest challenge was blending the tail’s scales into Bailey’s skin. “I solved that by putting little fins made of fabric so there was a delineation between where the fish ended and the skin began,” she says.
The Little Mermaid” is making quite the splash at the domestic box office this weekend, with an opening day total of $38 million. The fantasy, which is opening in 4,320 theaters, is expected to gross between $120 million and $130 million over the four-day Memorial Day weekend. The musical remake, starring Halle Bailey as the mermaid princess Ariel, took in $10.3 million in previews on Thursday, ranking as the seventh-highest haul for a movie rated G or PG. That puts the film on track to gross well over $100 million over the holiday weekend. With a $250 million production budget, “The Little Mermaid” must bait box office success in order to make a reasonable return.
In a blink and you’ll maybe miss it moment, the original Ariel, Jodi Benson, pops up in the new live action version of The Little Mermaid.
Halle Bailey is displaying some PDA! As hits theaters, the film's 23-year-old star took to TikTok to share a video of her jumping into her boyfriend, rapper DDG's, arms and giving him a kiss.Bailey set the video, which she posted in celebration of the end of her press tour, to a remixed clip of Beyoncé singing, «I am going to see my husband / I'm happy, I'm happy, to see my husband.»«On my last day of press like...» Bailey wrote alongside the clip, adding laughing and winking emojis.on my last day of press like…
gives audiences a mix of their favorite classics with modern tweaks, including three new songs and several updates to the soundtrack's iconic tunes.The music reflects the film's refreshed story, which director Rob Marshall, producer John DeLuca, and screenwriter David Magee have explained they tweaked to implement specific changes showcasing a more modern Disney princess, addressing criticism that the original film featured a young woman who was too wrapped up in a man, and giving Ariel more agency.The soundtrack features the vocal talents of the film's new cast, including GRAMMY-nominated singer Halle Bailey as the titular mermaid, Princess Ariel, Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, and Javier Bardem as King Triton, with Daveed Diggs as the voice of Sebastian the crab, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder, and Awkwafina as Scuttle.Lin-Manuel Miranda, who teamed up with legendary composer-songwriter Alan Menken to write the film's new songs, previously told ET that «getting to write music for these characters that are probably the reason I started writing musicals in the first place, was actually easier than I thought.»«But the hardest part was my own intimidation working with Alan Menken, and that was entirely self-imposed,» acknowledged Miranda, who also serves as a producer on the film, alongside Marc Platt. «But when it came to how these characters speak and what they say, I've known that all my life.
is giving viewers the classic fairytale with several modern-day tweaks. The Rob Marshall-directed musical stars Halle Bailey as the titular, headstrong princess, a drastic departure from her previous depiction that initially garnered racist backlash.But Bailey's casting is only one of the changes made to the new live-action adaptation, which also stars Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, and Javier Bardem as King Triton, with Daveed Diggs as the voice of Sebastian the crab, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder, and Awkwafina as Scuttle.Here are 15 ways the remake differs from the original.
Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor If anyone knows how to get the right shade of red for Black hair, it’s Camille Friend. The Oscar-nominated hair department head, whose credits include “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” experimented with adding color into Lupita Nyong’o’s hair, and now she’s doing it again. This time, it was for Halle Bailey in Disney’s live-action “The Little Mermaid.” But doing so didn’t come cheap. Her challenge was taking Disney’s most famous redhead, Princess Ariel, and creating a look for Bailey that would work. On top of that, maintaining Bailey’s natural hair was an important requirement she needed to meet. Bailey, who sports long locs, wanted to stay true to her Black heritage. And maintaining them without a wig would herald an important moment for representation and Bailey’s identity, as the movie presents Disney’s first Black Ariel (and first Black princess in a live-action movie.)
Khloe Kardashian threw an incredible private screening of Disney’s live-action remake of The Little Mermaid, a day before the official release of the movie. The highly-anticipated reboot of the 1989 animated film is set to be released in the US and UK on Friday May 26, with Halle Bailey starring as Ariel.
Jonah Hauer-King is the latest actor to become a Disney Prince, but he faced stiff competition for the part!
The live-action version of Disney’s The Little Mermaid, starring Halle Bailey as Ariel and Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, is now in theaters.
when she was five, . “When I saw her, [I was] like, ‘She’s so beautiful; I want to be a mermaid too.’ She didn’t look like me, but I was okay with that because it was what I was used to at the time.” The next generation doesn't have to see things that way, though, and videos of with whom they identified have flooded the internet since Bailey was cast. “When I saw those [videos] for the first time, I just cried,” Bailey says.
The Little Mermaid” cast did their best at playing Variety’s “Name That Fish” on the red carpet at the movie’s premiere in Los Angeles Melissa McCarthy (Ursula), Jacob Tremblay (Flounder), Noma Dumezweni (Queen Selina), Daveed Diggs (Sebastian) and Javier Bardem (King Triton) were put to the test by Variety’s Marc Malkin to see just how much they know about life under the sea. When quizzed with images of various fish, answers included “basketball with spikes,” “sad fish,” “not Spongebob,” “swordy-thing” “not edible” and “definitely a fish.”
The Little Mermaid is a beloved Disney animated film that has inspired fans since it first was released in 1989. Mermaids, a Disney Prince, catchy songs and animal sidekicks - the film was destined to be a crowd favourite.