Let’s Talk About The New LIttle Mermaid

Four Black women with deep connections to the ocean dig into what the new film got right (and wrong),  why it’s important to see a Black princess on the big screen, and the challenges the film is still facing amid racist review-bombing.  

Original artwork by Tre’lan Michael with photo contributions from Samantha Tyler Cooper, Tara Pixley and Alex Krowiak 

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Children of the 1980s and ’90s grew up with Disney’s “The Little Mermaid.” Many of us knew Sebastian’s quips by heart, sang “Part of Your World” as if we were lovesick, and knew exactly how many thingamabobs Ariel had (she’s got 20, of course). 

But even among the 1989 animated film’s biggest fans, conflicted feelings run deep in the wake of Disney’s live-action adaptation, which premiered last month. From depictions of female power to Disney’s attempt to end its longtime parade of white princesses by casting Black pop singer and actress Halle Bailey, the modern reboot got fins flapping. 

Jessa Williams is the founder of INTRSXTN Surf, an intersectional surf collective that creates space for Black women and women of color to explore the outdoors through surfing, and the co-founder of Represent Collaborative. She sat down with three other Black women — free diver and Brown Girl Surf environmental educator Kimiko Russell-Halterman; Akilah Cadet, founder and CEO of Change Cadet, an organizational development consulting firm specializing in DEI and anti-racism; and Maya Cameron Gordon, a screenwriter and author of the new children’s book, “The Mermaid Princesses” — to talk all things “Little Mermaid.” They discussed  what the new film got right (and wrong),  why it’s important to see a Black princess on the big screen, and the challenges the film is still facing amid racist review-bombing.  

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. Warning: Spoilers ahead.

Jessa Williams: What is your connection to the original ‘Little Mermaid’?

Maya Cameron Gordon: I grew up loving “The Little Mermaid” very much. It was probably one of my favorite movies when I was about 7 or 8. From a very young age, I felt very drawn to water and the ocean. I loved mermaids and I also loved Disney princesses. I could relate with Ariel — I think a lot of kids can — in that she's dealing with this father who has control over her life. But at the same time, it was hard for me because I loved and adored these Disney princesses that looked nothing like me. I struggled because I loved Disney, but it felt like Disney didn't love me. 

Akilah Cadet: I'm Caribbean, so I just liked hearing the Caribbean accent (of Sebastian) on my screen. And I'm an ocean girl as well. I think the story of the teenager trying to find herself is something that, when you’re that age — I was 7 when I saw the movie — you're looking to these things to show you what teenage life is like. I also didn't have the best relationship with my dad, so there's those types of things that can pop up from it. 

But for me, it was really being able to hear this music that I identify with with my own culture and my identity. That was nice to see on a big screen. 

Kimiko Russell-Halterman: I actually had to call my mom about this because I did not have a memory of watching “The Little Mermaid.” And she was like, “OK, so I don't know if I did this on purpose, but we didn't really watch the white princess movies when you were growing up.” The (1997 live-action) “Cinderella” with (singer and “Moesha” star) Brandy came out when I was really young, and then I remember finally seeing (the animated) “Cinderella” when I was like 18 or something. 

So I don't have a memory of “The Little Mermaid,” and I think for me that was really interesting and powerful. To go to the movies this weekend and see this 2023 “Little Mermaid,” essentially it felt like I was seeing “The Little Mermaid” movie for the first time and I'm almost grateful.

Williams: Let's jump into this new “Little Mermaid.” I'd like to hear your initial reactions.

Cadet: It was powerful to see a Black live-action princess. I think there were also things that didn't need to be done, where they tried to update it. Some of the musicality fell short compared to the original. I wasn't into the Lin-Manuel Miranda “Scuttlebutt” thing. I didn't need any of that whatsoever. But overall, I think it was really powerful. I was drawn in by that first Hans Christian Anderson quote: “But a mermaid has no tears, and therefore she suffers so much more.” That’s how the movie started. I was like, “All right. Okay. Let's do this.” 

Cameron Gordon: I give it two thumbs up. It's everything that I imagined it would be, if not more. Halle Bailey blew my mind with her performance and embodiment of Ariel’s character. … I feel like she embodied Ariel 100%, which I was not expecting. I was so happy and ecstatic walking in there, to see a Black Ariel, but I didn’t know she’d be so close to the original Ariel. It was her voice, her personality and her spirit. 

The one difference is she seemed more empowered. When she snaps back at her dad, she doesn't lack conviction. She means what she says, whereas in the original, I got more of a powerless, helpless vibe from her. … And I love that the Queen was Black. They get extra points for that.

Williams: We all love the Black Queen because we knew we were getting a Black princess but we didn't know we were getting a Black Queen. They surprised us with that one. 

Russell-Halterman: I think Halle Bailey ate up that role in such a powerful way. I was so inspired, I was hyped. I feel like she embodied being this adventurer who's curious about more, who's not going to take no for an answer, but is following what she knows to be true to herself. And that one scene where she literally takes the reins from (Prince Eric) — she's like, “Listen, we're gonna go and have some fun.” I thought she was so powerful in that sense. … Putting myself in the shoes of a young person, she is going to be so inspiring.

Williams: I'm curious what things you noticed were different from the original, and your feelings on those differences. 

Cadet: One big change is the diversity of her siblings, right? So, the diversity made no sense to anyone. They were just like, “Let's diversify as much as possible.” Like I'm all for seeing diversity, but you have a Latin father, and then you have Halle, and then you have someone who has a deeper, beautiful complexion, and then someone who's blonde and white — like, how was that happening? Great for representation, but also that part didn't make any sense.

Williams: To me, it felt like what they did with “Cinderella” (in 1997). We finally got a Black Disney princess with Brandy and Cinderella, but then everybody else was just all kinds of nationalities and races.  When they announced Halle Bailey as Ariel it felt powerful, like they were saying, “We're having a Black Disney princess and Halle Bailey is Ariel and that's an intentional choice that we're making. But it felt a little diluted when that other casting happened, similar to what they did in the 1997 version of Cinderella, where the parents were all different races from the kids.. It was sort of sending the message of “Oh, well, they are little kids, so we can tell them we don't see color.” I felt conflicted about that. 

Cadet: I feel like it can add to that idea of, “We are all the same.” Well, the reality is, we are not. 

Williams: There has long been criticism about the original Ariel being disempowered. To address that they made some changes to some of the song lyrics, like in “Kiss the Girl,” they removed the line, "It don't take a word, not a single word, go on and kiss the girl" and added in: “Use your words, boy, and ask her. If the time is right and the time is tonight, go on and kiss the girl." They also removed Ursula’s famous lyric about the power of body language. Did y'all notice? 

Cameron Gordon: I understand wanting to encourage young men to ask for consent. There's  a lot of young men who have learned some messed-up messages from our society and the media regarding consent. It’s always important to ask and not make assumptions about what another person wants to do with their body, so I understand why they felt that lyrical change was needed. I did not notice the change nor do I think the song was any less enjoyable because of it. 

As for Ursula’s song … I thought it was funny in the original, if I'm being 100% honest. I think it was supposed to sound absurd and obviously incorrect. I’m not sure that they needed to change Ursula’s line, but I understand their reasoning behind that change and I respect that they are trying to be more intentional with the messaging they convey to future generations.

Cadet: I didn't realize how these words, the lyrics, are ingrained in my brain. I was just singing along, and was like, “Where is that coming from? How do I know that?” I took issue with some of the adjustments. I think it's important to have culturally appropriate things around the body and consent — I think all of that is great. But I cannot stand “Scuttlebutt.” It was like a waste of my life to watch that because that type of flow doesn’t belong in the movie. 

Williams: Did you feel like it was just cringy-but-who-cares? Or did you feel like it was cultural appropriation and offensive?

Cadet: You need to read the room. You have Lin-Manuel Miranda, who's had problematic issues, and you have Awkwafina, they’ve also had problematic issues, and you have Daveed Diggs, who's not Caribbean — which is fine — but is speaking with a Caribbean accent. I don't think he did Sebastian justice. … I think that (it all) fell a little flat. 

But that's what happens when you do a remake. It's the same with “The Lion King.” It's like they extended a scene because Beyoncé was Nala. I'm a Beyonce advocate, but we didn't need the whole thing where she literally told the lions to get in formation. And I don't think Eric’s new song was needed. You're not part of the story. 

Williams: Yes, Eric’s new song, “Uncharted Waters.” Thoughts? 

Russell-Halterman: I didn't realize the Eric song was new, which is interesting. And this might be a whole box I'm about to open up, but it goes with this post-race situation that I feel has been named already, of leaving out the context. I felt uncomfortable with how much Eric sat in the world of “Age of Discovery” and “I'm gonna go out to uncharted waters and find these islands that no one's ever found.” Like, “This man is a colonizer” is the plot of this movie, and I feel like pairing that with this post-racial attempt in casting made me really uncomfortable. That he’s found this beautiful, mysterious woman in these unchartered waters that he’s discovered. 

But on that note, a scene that I loved was when he's like, “Look at this sea rock I found” and she's like, “Let me show you more about this because I'm the expert here.” She educates him on all these things that he thinks he's discovered. 

Williams: What were the moments that made you walk out of the theater feeling happy and enchanted and inspired?

Russell-Halterman: The scene that really struck me is the “Under the Sea” song. What we know is that Black women, Indigenous women, all women of color, have been in the water and underwater for as long as we can follow history. Seeing all these beautiful aquatic animals dancing around Halle and she's riding on a giant squid — they used actual species underwater! I'm gonna be like a marine bio dork for a second, but again, in the name of representation, that was so powerful to me. It was bigger than the love story, bigger than the going-on-shore story, seeing her underwater interacting with these animals in the way that women of color have been forever was really powerful. 

Cadet: I think “Part of Your World” is better than before. … Halle sang the hell out of the song. It gave me all the feelings and I teared up. For me, it made me think of how I show up into the world. As a Black, disabled woman, once I go out of my home, I am not in a world that is designed for me. All I really want is to be part of that whole frickin’ world, but I just I can't because I'm valued as less than. It can be the design of a room, it could be a parking spot, it can be so many things that I would just like to be part of. So it's nice to identify with this Ariel, my Ariel, because she’s talking about oppression and she’s talking about perseverance and she’s talking about existence.

It's a tie between that and the quote. “But a mermaid has no tears, and therefore she suffers so much more” speaks of the experience of Black women. Because we are always caretakers, always solving, and we want to do something for ourselves. We are part of a world that views us as angry Black women or strong Black women, right? It's this whole battle we have to prove that we are deserving of love. There's no time for tears for me as a Black woman. They knew what they were doing with that quote. 

I also love that the Alvin Ailey dancers (of the famed Black modern dance company, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater) choreographed “Under the Sea,” which I don't think a lot of people know. I love that there was drive and attention to have diversity outside of what we saw on the screen. 

Williams: Let’s not forget the journey to this point and how two years ago, when they announced casting Halle Bailey, there was so much backlash about having a Black Ariel. Now with the film finally out, there’s review-bombing that seems to be racially motivated. How does it feel to see people try to take away this moment from the Black community?

Cameron Gordon: I hate that it’s a distraction from this groundbreaking moment. I saw hateful comments not only in the headlines back when it was announced, but in the comments under Halle Bailey’s Instagram posts today, and any time they released a new trailer. It's really sad, but I guess it's to be expected. I feel like a lot of people are pushing this narrative that the world is a different place and not racist anymore, and it's a reminder of how much work we still have left to do, how much racism still exists today. 

Cadet: The Ariel response? Sounds about white to me. That’s how white supremacy works. In order to maintain supremacy and white dominant culture, everything all the way down to the cartoon characters need to uphold the power and privilege that white people have. And so this foils their plan.

Even though Disney has its ups and downs, it's a big move to have this type of representation, because things like this dismantle white supremacy.  … When we don't see images of ourselves as human beings who have power, who have value, who are queens, who are princesses — and they don't see those images either — that causes people to go into Halle’s page and tell her she is probably lots of different versions of the N word. 

Cameron Gordon: We talk a lot about how it impacts Black children to see Black protagonists in film and television, but we don't talk about what it does for white children. I think that it's almost as important for them to see Black people and people of color as protagonists in the movies they love as well. For one, it teaches them to not be afraid of people who are different from them, which can drastically improve the quality of their lives and their futures. But more importantly, it teaches them to view people from other cultures as equals and to treat them fairly. 

When children only see one demographic of people shown in the media, it teaches them which people in our society are valued and which people are not. If children who don’t get much exposure to Black people in their regular lives see more Black people in the movies they love, it is my belief that they will learn to value Black people and Black lives at an early age. 

Cadet: You're absolutely right. I think they should have an African proverb or story that becomes a Disney movie, not a remake of something else. But no matter what happens, there's a story here that's centered around a Black woman, and that can have a profound ripple effect. Ripples turn into waves. Our individual attitudes, behaviors or thoughts turn into actions. 

Some little white girl can watch this movie, and then she may realize that the Black girl she's been ignoring in class is cool, and they can have a completely different relationship. That that little Black girl is an actual princess.