Little Mermaid teaser trailer gives first look at Halle Berry’s Ariel
Disney has finally offered a first look at its highly anticipated The Little Mermaid live-action movie, six years after development on the project started in 2016.
The Little Mermaid live-action trailer
On September 9th, the entertainment giant released a teaser trailer for the movie at this year’s D23 Expo, a biennial exposition event that showcases Disney’s upcoming live-action and animation projects from Disney and Pixar.
The short video starts with a glimpse of the rich and vast underwater kingdom of Atlantica and goes on to reveal Halle Berry’s version of Princess Ariel. Midway through the trailer, Ariel is seen swimming through the seas and entering her secret grotto, a large cavern where she keeps her massive treasure trove of human objects, antiques, artifacts, and other stuff that she has collected.
The clip also gives fans a quick glance of Ariel’s best friend, Flounder, an anxious yet noble tropical fish voiced by Jacob Tremblay in the flick.
Set in a grand rendition of the iconic song, Part of Your World, from the original animated film, the teaser ends with Berry’s Ariel expressively singing the line “Out of the sea, wish I could be … part of that world.”
Berry and director Rob Marshall were both present at the D23 Expo when the video was shown before the audience. The former revealed that it’s the first time she has seen footage of the film.
“I’m sure all of you in here can relate to Ariel and how special she is to all of us,” Halle said from the D23 stage. “Being a little girl swimming in the pool, imagining I was a mermaid, I never imagined that would come to life [like this]. … The three days filming Part of Your World was the most beautiful experience of my life — feeling all the feelings she feels, her passion, discomfort, everything she’s experiencing. It was so exciting for me to play those emotions and to have Rob directing me and being such a moving force on this film was really an honor.”
Oscar nominee Marshall added, “I have a special connection to this film. In 1989, I don’t know if you remember the excitement to hear a musical again. It was sort of dead — musicals were gone. Even though it was animated, we could hear people singing again and again. … When Disney asked me to do this, it felt like this incredible moment. It felt like fate.”
The Little Mermaid live-action plot
From a story by David Magee, Rob Marshall, and John DeLuca, The Little Mermaid tells the story of Ariel (Halle Bailey), the youngest daughter of King Triton (Javier Bardem), the ruler of the underwater kingdom Atlantica. Ariel, already fascinated by the world of humans, falls deeply in love with the handsome Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King) after saving him during a shipwreck, and resolves to meet him in the world above water. Her quest brings her in conflict with her father and in the clutches of the scheming sea witch Ursula (Melissa McCarthy).
The Little Mermaid live-action movie is based on Disney’s 1989 animated classic of the same name, which was itself based on a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen.
The Little Mermaid live-action cast
The Little Mermaid stars Halle Berry as Ariel, Jonah Hauer-King as Eric, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, Javier Bardem as King Triton, Noma Dumezweni as Queen Selina, and Art Malik as Grimsby. The voice cast includes Daveed Diggs as Sebastian, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder, and Awkwafina as Scuttle.
The Little Mermaid live-action music
The movie will feature songs created for the original film, as well as new ones penned by original composer Alan Menken, with lyrics by Hamilton’s Lin-Manuel Miranda.
The Little Mermaid live-action release date
The Little Mermaid is set to be open in U.S. theaters on May 26th, 2023.