Halle Bailey Clarifies Comments on The Little Mermaid’s Depiction of Ariel

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Halle Bailey Clarifies Comments on The Little Mermaid’s Depiction of Ariel

Actress Halle Bailey has taken to social media to clarify comments she made about the upcoming live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid is more “nuanced.”

In her original comments in an interview with Edition, Bailey said that her version of Ariel would be “more nuanced,” and that the new film changes “that perspective of just her wanting to leave the ocean for a boy. It’s way bigger than that. It’s about herself, her purpose, her freedom, her life, and what she wants.”

After some fan backlash from the comments, Bailey quickly took to Twitter to correct herself, noting that the themes and qualities of Ariel were always there in the original animated film, but are brought out more now. “[In] the original story those themes [and] qualities about Ariel were always there,” said Bailey. “You will just see more of that side of her in our film I think.”

Bailey went on to joke that she wasn’t against anyone falling in love, following backlash that her original comments seemed to suggest the original film wasn’t initially about Ariel wanting more from the start.

Disney’s animated The Little Mermaid made over $211 million at the box office and became a bestseller on home video, popularizing songs like “Under The Sea” and “Part of Your World.” The upcoming film is based on the short story by Hans Christian Andersen and the 1989 Disney animated film by Ron Clements and John Musker.

The Little Mermaid is set to premiere on May 26, 2023.