The Little Mermaid has been criticized by a prominent media diversity advocate for failing to acknowledge the horrors of slavery in the Caribbean.
22.05.2023 - 14:11 / variety.com
Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic Here’s the funny thing about “The Little Mermaid”: Ariel spends most of the film wishing she were human, wondering what it’s like to go walking around on those … what do you call ’em? But practically every girl who sees the movie dreams of swimming in the opposite direction — which is to say, they want to be mermaids … or else an animated Disney princess. “The seaweed is always greener in somebody else’s lake,” as the song goes, and the most important thing about remaking this particular favorite for a fresh generation is maintaining the fantasy that any of us can be Ariel, when in fact, it takes a one-in-a-million talent like Halle Bailey to fill those flippers on-screen.
Every time Disney decides to redo one of its beloved library titles, a chorus of skeptics rise up to ask, “Why?” The advance pushback seemed especially strong with “The Little Mermaid,” which isn’t just any old Disney toon, but the one that launched the animation studio’s ’90s renaissance, kicking off a string of hits that included “Aladdin,” “The Lion King” and “Beauty and the Beast,” nearly all of which have received the “live-action” remake treatment (never mind that some of these are every bit as animated as the films that inspired them — they’re meant to look like the cartoons have come to life).
At least half of Disney’s recent cover versions have been colossally disappointing, turning touchstones of Americans’ collective childhood into garish CG eyesores while threatening to tarnish our memories of the original. Well, good news in the case of “The Little Mermaid”: Halle Bailey is all the reason that any audience should need to justify Disney revisiting this classic. Director Rob Marshall found his Ariel, and
The Little Mermaid has been criticized by a prominent media diversity advocate for failing to acknowledge the horrors of slavery in the Caribbean.
has changed its rating system for the newly-released live-action “Little Mermaid” amid “unusual voting activity.”The Halle Bailey-led film has a 7/10 rating on the site. But a few crabby users — also known as review bombers — are allegedly giving the Disney flick negative scores for no good reason.“Our rating mechanism has detected unusual voting activity on this title.
K.J. Yossman Jonah Hauer-King can currently be seen swimming up a storm alongside Halle Bailey in Disney’s live-action “The Little Mermaid” but for his next project he’s part of a different world – “World on Fire.” The PBS and BBC drama series has released first look images from its upcoming second season, showing Hauer-King as a grimy pilot called Harry in the Royal Air Force (RAF) during World War II. In the show, which was created by Peter Bowker, he is joined by “The Crown’s” Lesley Manville, Parker Sawyers (“A Discovery of Witches”) and Eugénie Derouand (“The Advent Calendar”).
It’s safe to say that Paloma Faith isn’t a fan of the new The Little Mermaid movie, with Halle Bailey in the lead role.
Disney fans are up in arms over comments by Paloma Faith.
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.
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.
Halle Bailey is "so excited" to have been cast in 'The Color Purple'. The 23-year-old actress will star as the young Nettie Harris in the upcoming musical coming-of-age period drama film - which charts the struggles of a black woman living in the southern US in the early 1900s - alongside the likes of Fantasia, Ciara, Taraji P. Henson, and H.
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!
We’re just one day away from The Little Mermaid officially hitting theaters!
Under the sea! Khloé Kardashian hosted a private advanced screening of Disney’s live action adaptation of The Little Mermaid for her 5-year-old daughter, True, and several of her nieces.
Khloe Kardashian and the kiddos! On Wednesday, star put on a private advanced screening of for her and Tristan Thompson's daughter, True Thompson, as well as her sisters and brother's kids. The magical night under the sea was the coolest experience for Khloe and the children, who were treated to Little Mermaid dolls, popcorn buckets and other themed decor.On her Instagram Story, Khloe shared a couple vids from Disney's live-action movie, which stars Halle Bailey and Melissa McCarthy as Ariel and Ursula.
BreAnna Bell “American Idol” scored a win for ABC with this season’s penultimate episode, which aired May 15. The episode hit season highs in total viewers (7.9 million) and with a 1.2 rating among the Adults 18-49 demographic. The episode’s performance pushed the series to its strongest showing in a year according to Nielsen ratings, according to new numbers obtained by Variety. According to the network, “Idol” jumped 3% for the third straight week in total viewers, climbing up the previous week’s 7.7 million total viewers, and also grew week-to-week by 9% among adults 18-49, from a 1.1 rating. In the episode, fans were given a closer look at the Season 21 contestants, including Colin Stough, Iam Tongi and Megan Danielle, via their journeys from hometown to Hollywood. (Tongi was later crowned this season’s winner in the May 21 episode.) Live+7 day numbers for the finale won’t be released until next week, but according to live+same day data, the season finale is the show’s most-watched in three years among total viewers, recording an audience of 6.6 million.
this year’s CinemaCon that director Blitz Bazawule’s musical adaptation of Alice Walker’s novel is “not your Mama’s ‘Color Purple’,” and based on the first trailer, she’s right. Warner Bros.
Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg have reunited to revive “The Color Purple” into a movie musical. After debuting footage for distributors at CinemaCon last month, Warner Bros. has released the first trailer of the new adaptation, directed by Blitz Bazawule and set to premiere in North America on Dec.
, is finally coming to the big screen on Friday, May 26. After making a big splash when Disney dropped the first trailer last year, the live-action remake has been one of the most highly anticipated films of 2023.As we get closer to the film's release, tickets to see are now on sale and people are pouring in to watch this movie in theaters. Be prepared for your breath to be taken away when the movie premieres next week by securing your tickets now.Enjoy the classic story of in Disney's live-action remake.
Disney's new live action adaptation of The Little Mermaid seemingly contains a "pointed dig" at Kate Middleton, according to one critic, which has left Royal fans up in arms.
Ryan Seacrest has already booked a return to daytime as a guest on . Seacrest will appear on Thursday's episode for the first time since exiting the series last month. The 48-year-old media mogul previously co-hostedwith Kelly Ripa for nearly six years.