The original voice actress for Ariel, Jodi Benson, praises the performance of her successor Halle Bailey in The Little Mermaid. The upcoming 2023 movie will be a remake of the 1989 film, as Disney continues to reimagine its animated classics into live-action. Bailey takes on the role of Ariel following Benson's beloved performance in the original. The new film also stars Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, Javier Bardem as King Triton, Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder, Daveed Diggs as Sebastian, and Awkwafina as Scuttle.
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Bailey has spoken on the importance of her Little Mermaid casting and what that means for people of color who have rarely seen themselves represented on screen in Disney animated films. Despite this, there was a racist backlash to her casting that continued as Disney debuted a teaser for The Little Mermaid during its D23 Expo. Luckily, others offered their support for Bailey and excitement for the new movie.
As the original Ariel voice actor, Benson was among those praising Bailey for her work in the film. With the teaser trailer being the first time the public was able to hear Bailey singing a line from the famous song "Part of Your World," Benson took to Instagram to offer her encouragement to the new live-action Ariel. Bailey in turn reshared the post to talk about how much Benson's performance in the original film means to her. Check out the Instagram post below:
This isn't the first instance of Benson publicly giving support to the new Little Mermaid film and Bailey. She previously spoke out following the backlash to Bailey's casting in 2019. Benson's support is important to the upcoming release to help pass the torch to the next generation of actors working on this story. Similarly, Bailey's response to Benson's post shows how much she respects the actor's original voice performance and the pivotal role she played in making Ariel one of Disney's most iconic characters.
While a number of the recent live-action Disney remakes have not been well received, The Little Mermaid is hoping to rectify this with the new film. With a talented director in Rob Marshall and additional songs composed by Lin-Manuel Miranda, the movie has a lot of creativity behind it. Benson's support should make viewers even more enthusiastic to check out a different take on the same story, especially with a talented performer like Bailey leading the way.