‘The Little Mermaid’ Director Says He Didn’t Take Race Into Account When Choosing Ariel, Reacts To Criticism

Since it was announced that Halle Bailey would play the most famous mermaid in cinema, back in 2019, the criticisms have not stopped. King Triton’s daughter’s run has come a long way, so much so that to this day team members have yet to come out of hiding to defend this decision. The last one, the director of the film, Rob Marshall, who confessed it in an interview with Entertainment Weekly We did not expect such a stir with the announcement of the new Ariel: “There was backlash when he cast a black actress in the role”.

The little mermaid could have been white, black, Asian, or any ethnicity. Marshall comments in the interview that No possibility was ruled out when creating the casting for the live-action: “We were looking for the best actress for the role, full stop […] We saw people of all ethnicities.”the director explained. And it is that for him, The goal of this casting wasn’t to look for a milky white actress with bright red hair on her head, it was much more: “We were looking for an incredibly strong, passionate, beautiful, intelligent and astute actress”. With these requirements and without skin color as a deciding factor, Bailey landed her role beating out high-profile candidates like Zendaya.

In this way, and despite the “violence” with which the most conservative and trusted fans of the franchise have reacted to a change of protagonist, Disney continued with his plans, reinventing Ariel for a new era, more diverse and inclusive. However, as Marshall explains, there is something deeper and more important that the animated Ariel and the real-life Ariel have in common: “They feel displaced”. A good assemblage point that addresses a racism that, as we can see from the reactions of a certain sector of the fandom, is still very much in force.

Neither the film team nor Disney regret the decision they made with Ariel. When the first teaser of the film was released, videos of black girls reacting to the new little mermaid have spread like wildfire across the internet. These images have thrilled hearts around the world, including Marshall himself: “It was very moving for me to see how important this type of casting is to the world”confessed the director regarding those viral videos.

Ariel has a new repertoire

Casting issues and controversy over Ariel’s race aside, the soundtrack to ‘The Little Mermaid’ is a classic, that’s indisputable. About this, the live-action “The Little Mermaid” will feature four new songs, composed by Alan Menken (score writer of the original 1989 animated classic). But don’t worry, the classics will also be playing, now that the fierce character of the fandom has been confirmed, Sebastián better start preparing his Caribbean son “Bajo el mar”. ‘The Little Mermaid’ will hit theaters on May 26, 2023.