On Friday, September 9th, the internet was able to see a short trailer of Disney’s live-action The Little Mermaid, which arrives in theaters in 2023. Based on the responses, Disney has many young girls inspired by Halle Bailey’s portrayal of Ariel. The artist is lighting up the hearts of little children everywhere.
The 1-minute and 23-second teaser shows Bailey as she flaunts her iconic long, tinted red locs. In the sneak peek, Halle sings the popular track, “Part Of You World” from the original 1989 animated version of The Little Mermaid.
Little Girls of color melt on TikTok as Halle presents her portrayal of Ariel.
According to The Shade Room, there is a viral TikTok trend taking place called the “blind reaction” where parents are capturing their child’s reaction to the trailer. These TikTok’s are not only adorable, but reveal how starstruck these babies are, leaving them in awe. One mother caught her daughter, Maya’s reaction as she was just speechless upon seeing Halle as Ariel on the big screen. She looks at her mom in joy to say, “She’s brown like me, I’m so excited to see this movie.”
@slicknickwiththegix6 Mayas reaction to #thelittlemermaid trailer. #representationmatters #representationinthemediamatters #blackgirls
Another sweet baby girl also had no words but became so teary-eyed seeing Ariel look just like her.
@devyncoulson #blindreaction #littlemermaid #sweetgirl #cry #fyp #foryoupage #kidsoftiktok #cantwait
Twitter is also loving Halle for the role of Ariel!
Lee Rodriguez said, “Watching all of the videos on Tik Tok of young black girls blind reacting to the Little Mermaid trailer makes me so emotional. The joy in their eyes when seeing someone that looks like them as a princess on screen, goes to show why representation matters so much.” Another user @BlueWolfAngel28 tweeted, “Bro all these blind reactions on tik tok of little girls seeing the new little mermaid look like them is making me cry Idk it’s just making me emotional cause Ariel was my favorite princess as a kid and seeing them smile warms my heart.”
Watching all of the videos on Tik Tok of young black girls blind reacting to the Little Mermaid trailer makes me so emotional. The joy in their eyes when seeing someone that looks like them as a princess on screen, goes to show why representation matters so much. ❤️❤️❤️
— La Rhonza Lee Rodriguez (@leerodrodriguez) September 12, 2022
Bro all these blind reactions on tik tok of little girls seeing the new little mermaid look like them is making me cry 😭
Idk it’s just making me emotional cause Ariel was my favorite princess as a kid and seeing them smile warms my heart 🥹
— Blue Wølf Angel ⊬ TØP Plush Creator (@BlueWolfAngel28) September 12, 2022
Stephanie Kinberg
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