It’s fictional, why all the hate?
The OG Ariel actor has spoken out on the new trailer for The Little Mermaid remake which got more than 1.7 million dislikes on YouTube.
The live action trailer for The Little Mermaid was released by Disney at their D23 Expo fan convention this weekend to much excitement and fanfare, but within two days that hype has all but been eclipsed.
As of Tuesday evening, it had more than 1.5 million dislikes on YouTube. It passed the 1m milestone on Sunday and at the time of writing the counter is showing 1.7 million dislikes.
However, following much criticism , original Ariel actor Jodi Benson has now said she is ‘so proud’ of Bailey’s performance in the teaser.
After the trailer dropped, Jodi, who voiced Ariel in the 1989 animation, wrote: “So thrilled! So excited! Halle, you were absolutely amazing!
“I’m SO proud of you and your beautiful performance as Ariel!”
The Little Mermaid live action trailer is officially at 1 million dislikes in just 2 days.
That is insane. Disney screwed up! 😬 #TheLittleMermaid pic.twitter.com/nKgZ1ZfVz1
— Juno Maxwell (@Goddess_Maxwell) September 11, 2022
YouTube has now disabled the dislike counter so people can’t see how many dislikes the video has received.
But people are using a plug-in that has enables users to see how well content is performing, and, well, The Little Mermaid isn’t doing very well. In fact, it’s kind of sinking.
A lot of the criticism of the trailer has centred on how it doesn’t really look like Ariel is under water as the visual effects aren’t good enough for some.
The Little Mermaid is the live action adaptation of the popular animated Disney princess film starring Halle Bailey as the beloved mermaid Ariel. It also stars Melissa McCarthy, Jonah Houer-King, Jacob Tremblay, Awkwafina, Javier Bardem, Daveed Diggs and Simone Ashley.
While people have been quick to diss the trailer, it also went viral for a very positive reason.
A lot of parents started posting their children’s reaction to seeing it on TikTok.
This led to people praising Disney and the film for its diverse cast – especially the fact that they cast a Black woman as Ariel.
As I stroll on TikTok, I keep seeing parents video their children reacting to The Little Mermaid trailer. So instead of focusing so much on the negative, I thought I’d show a thread of the little black kids who are excited to see their favorite princess look like them.
— Lai💔 (@normanination4) September 11, 2022
In one video TikTok, a girl named Sienna can be seen watching the trailer with wide eyes and a huge smile on her face as she tries to contain her excitement.
When Ariel is finally revealed, she asks: “That is her? That is Ariel?”
Halle Bailey recently spoke with PEOPLE about the significance of her playing the lead character, saying: “The fact that now it’s getting to be played by me, a person who looks like me, woman of colour, I’m just like, wow, I’m so grateful for what it will do for all the other little Black and brown boys and girls who will see themselves in me.”
Because I know if I had seen myself when I was younger, I think my whole perspective would’ve changed.”
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