While mermaids are forbidden to interact with humans, Ariel must follow her heart. The youngest of King Triton’s daughters and the most defiant, Ariel longs to find out more about the world beyond the sea, and while visiting the surface, falls for the dashing Prince Eric. “ The Little Mermaid is the beloved story of Ariel, a beautiful and spirited young mermaid with a thirst for adventure. Here’s the official synopsis, per Disney: The plot of The Little Mermaid should be pretty familiar to anybody who grew up in the ‘90s or later (or who had children they showed The Little Mermaid to.) It’s basically the same as the ‘89 film, which itself is only loosely inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale - which has a much darker ending than the movie. Jessica Alexander, Russell Balogh, Emily Coates, John Dagleish, and Adrian Christopher also appear in as-yet-undisclosed roles. There’s Lorena Andrea as Perla Simone Ashley as Indira Kajsa Mohammar as Karina Nathalie Sorrell as Caspia Karolina Conchet as Mala and Sienna King as Tamika. Ariel’s sisters have all been renamed, as well. (In the ‘89 animated film, Scuttle was a seagull, but here she’s some sort of ocean diving bird instead.) Hamilton star Daveed Diggs voices Sebastian, King Triton’s right-hand-crab.Īrt Malik plays Grimsby, Prince Eric’s butler, and Noma Dumezweni plays Queen Selina, a new character exclusive to the live-action film. Room and Luca star Jacob Tremblay voices Flounder, while comedian and The Farewell star Awkwafina voices Scuttle, Ariel’s bird friend. Melissa McCarthy plays Ursula, the half-octopus sea witch who tricks Ariel into giving up her voice, and Javier Bardem plays Ariel’s father King Triton.Īriel’s animal friends have big-name actors behind them, too. Jonah Hauer-King, an English actor known for his role in A Dog’s Way Home, plays Ariel’s love interest Prince Eric, though the role almost went to another singer-turned-actor, Harry Styles. Her casting was announced in July of 2019, and there was, sadly but seemingly inevitably, racist backlash to the news. Halle Bailey, an actress and singer who was previously best known for her musical career as one half of Chloe x Halle along with her sister, Chloe Bailey, plays the titular little mermaid. (Photo by ©Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

The Oscars were on ABC and Disney owns that network.

(Literally during the awards, not during a commercial break. The second trailer, which is much longer and shows off more of the plot and the film’s other characters, made its debut in March during the Academy Awards.

The first teaser trailer (shown above), which is mostly atmospheric shots of the film’s underwater setting followed by the brief reveal of actress Halle Bailey’s Ariel singing a bit of “Part of Your World,” debuted in September of last year.

The mermaid the witch and the sea