Disney’s remake of The Little Mermaid is now part of our world.
Well, a bit of it at least.
The first teaser for the long-awaited live-action remake of the beloved animated classic is finally here, giving us a glimpse at — and a portion of — Halle Bailey‘s rendition of “Part Of Your World.”
The young African-American actress takes on the role of Ariel, the underwater mermaid who falls in love with a landlocked human prince, with a pristine voice perfectly suited for the character’s wide-eyed innocence.
And by the sounds of this clip, director Rob Marshall (Chicago, Into the Woods) is threading the needle of staying true to the original Alan Menken / Howard Ashman musical while giving Bailey the latitude to make it her own, with her own soulful flourishes.
Bailey is certainly pouring her heart into the song, something she emphasized in an interview earlier this year, saying:
- “It was really surreal to film. It was really emotional for me. It was three days of intense being all over the place. I was crying the whole time because I was just like, ‘What the heck?’ We’re all connected to that song and it means a lot to each of us.”
Heavy on the CGI as you’d expect, this remake looks poised to be one of the better live-action remakes that Disney has undertaken (if this teaser is any indication), several of which have been fairly staid and rote despite big budget investments. If it delivers, the result would be a fitting tribute to the 1989 movie that ignited the Walt Disney Studios animation renaissance of the 1990s.
The cast also includes Daveed Diggs as the voice of Sebastian, Jacob Tremblay as the voice of Flounder, Awkwafina as the voice of Scuttle, Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Oscar winner Javier Bardem as Ariel’s father King Triton, and Melissa McCarthy as the evil Ursula.
With new songs co-written by Menken and Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda (who also wrote the songs for Encanto), The Little Mermaid will swim into theaters on May 26, 2023.
I Think Halle Bailey as Ariel In the live adaptation of Disney’s The Little Mermaid Is the Worst Casting Of all time