‘The Little Mermaid’ Cast Take A Deep Dive On Remake Changes, Challenges And What Makes The Perfect Disney Royalty

The Little Mermaid has been criticized by a prominent media diversity advocate for failing to acknowledge the horrors of slavery in the Caribbean.

Unless you’ve been living under a pop culture rock for the last couple of months, you’ll know that Disney’s live-action adaptation of the 1989 classic, The Little Mermaid has just dropped in cinemas. Everywhere. Starring Halle Bailey as Ariel, Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric and Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, there was no holding back on any aspect of this film.

had a multiverse long before they acquired Marvel: An unofficial House of Mouse detective sent shockwaves through Disney fandom after floating a rather dark fan theory that links the 1989 animated “Little Mermaid” with 1953’s “Peter Pan,” as seen in a TikTok clip with 6.6 million views.“I can’t believe I just noticed this In The Little Mermaid,” self-proclaimed “movie detective” Ivan Mars exclaimed in the caption to the vid. He frequently posts film-based conspiracy theories to his 2 million TikTok followers like some sort of cinematic “Da Vinci Code” — although users point out that many of his theories originated on Reddit.The latest target for Mars’ cinematic tinfoil hat was the animated “Little Mermaid,” a film that’s been revived in the public conscious with the release of the divisive, live-action adaptation starring Halle Bailey, 23, which took home $48.3 million on its opening night Friday.He specifically posited that Ariel’s mother Athena — who was killed by pirates, per the 2008 sequel “the Little Mermaid III” — was also in “Peter Pan.” Accompanying footage shows a scene from the 1953 classic, in which Pan cavorts with a red-headed dead ringer for Ariel in the Mermaid Lagoon, which coincidentally shares a name with the place where Athena was attacked in the aforementioned sequel.Due to the 36-year gap between “The Little Mermaid” and “Peter Pan,” fans have speculated that a young Athena would’ve probably looked a lot like her daughter at the time, according to Reddit.And given her demise at the hands of pirates, fans suspected that Pan baddie Captain Hook may been to blame.

Amid racist backlash toward Disney’s live-action remake of “The Little Mermaid”, Halle Bailey just received some love from singer and actress, Stephanie Mills, who originated Dorothy in The Wiz on Broadway.

this weekend! Halle Bailey, who plays Disney's live-action Princess Ariel, also went to see the movie incognito over the film's historic opening weekend.In a TikTok shared on Sunday, the 23-year-old star revealed how she remained undetected by fans, wearing sunglasses and a face mask. Bailey was able to snag a bucket of popcorn — decked out to celebrate the 's premiere of course — and get into a screening of the movie without anyone realizing who she was.

The Little Mermaid 's live-action remake of the 1989 animated classic has once again faced criticism, this time for its makeup choices. Disney received backlash when a timelapse video showcasing Ursula's makeup was shared, drawing negative comments from drag queens.The clip, posted on Twitter last week, sparked a debate among drag performers who argued that Melissa McCarthy's makeup should have been done by an LGBTQ+ artist.

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.

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.

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.

Melissa McCarthy and Javier Bardem are well aware of how iconic and beloved their roles in Disney’s live-action “The Little Mermaid” film are — and they were more than prepared to do them justice.

A whole new generation of little girls are falling in love with “The Little Mermaid” and that’s thanks to Halle Bailey.

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.

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.

Jordan Moreau Disney’s live-action remake of “The Little Mermaid” is beginning its box office swim with $10.3million in previews. It opens in 4,320 theaters on Friday. Thursday’s preview haul is the seventh-highest ever for a G- or PG-rated movie. “The Little Mermaid” also picked up $850,000 from Wednesday early access screenings. Starring singer and actor Halle Bailey as Ariel, the new movie is projected to open with $100 million this holiday weekend. With Memorial Day on Monday, its four-day total could land between $120 million and $125 million. “The Little Mermaid” is expected to make a big splash as one of Disney’s more successful live-action remakes. In comparison, Disney’s most recent remake, the 2019 photorealistic and computer animated “The Lion King,” roared with a $191 million opening from $23 million in previews. It went on to make more than $1 billion globally. And just a couple months before “The Lion King” released, the live-action “Aladdin” opened with $117 million over the four-day Memorial Day weekend (from $7 million in previews) and also cracked $1 billion worldwide.

There’s a new Disney villain in town. Jessica Alexander stars as Vanessa, the human alter ego of Melissa McCarthy’s Ursula, in The Little Mermaid.

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.