Much of the “anti-Bailey as Ariel” sentiment has centred on the live-action remake’s alleged failure to align perfectly with the original animation – a film that won Oscars for best score and song in 1990, and has since garnered mass nostalgia across the world.

Some have gone so far as to controversially photoshop the teaser footage, whitening Bailey’s skin and colouring her eyes blue alongside captions describing their version as the “proper” Ariel due to her superficial similarities to the original character drawing.

Other remakes and reboots have elicited similar uproar. Some audiences have reacted poorly to the casting of black actors in predominantly white worlds like Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Star Wars and Thor. Failing to acknowledge that black actors could simply have been the most talented during auditions, they instead label it a marketing ploy used to bleed money out of social justice movements.

“That is the deception of this campaign, which is not about protecting the integrity of art at all, but ensuring it serves a particular political purpose,” says Adam Serwer in The Atlantic.

Serwer says repackaging their opposition as defence for the original artform is misleading since much of their upset is likely hinged on their fear of not seeing their whiteness reflected on the screen.

It’s also pointless, he says, given the futility behind attempting to recapture the enchantment felt when watching Disney classics for the first time as a wide-eyed, innocent child – free of prejudice or bias.

Fighting back against concealed right-wing rhetoric, supporters have noted Hans Christian Andersen’s original story, where Ariel was described only as having “skin ... as clear and delicate as a rose-leaf”. With no reference to her ethnicity, creatives should technically be free to interpret the mermaid as they wish.

TikTok user Jaden Bricker also reminds us that mermaids are mythical creatures that appear in folklore spanning Europe, Asia and Africa, meaning their appearances would naturally differ. Not to mention they’re imaginary.

Technicalities and political strife aside, young black girls have been documented on platforms like TikTok showing their excitement at seeing themselves finally reflected on the big screen.

“She’s like me,” one girl says gleefully, her surprised reaction perhaps indicating a lack of diversity across films thus far, especially within Disney.

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For Bailey, these little girls’ reactions are all that matters. “I want the little girl in me and the little girls just like me who are watching to know that they’re special,” Bailey told Variety in August. “That they should be a princess in every single way.”

Disney did not respond to a request for comment.

The Little Mermaid will be released in cinemas in May 2023.

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