Disney's The Little Mermaid Star Halle Bailey Calls Trailer Response Overwhelming

By Jenna Anderson

D23 Expo brought a look at one of Disney's most highly-anticipated upcoming movies, thanks to a teaser trailer for The Little Mermaid. The live-action film, which has been in the works for several years now, will be led by Halle Bailey as Ariel, and the first trailer put the spotlight on her in a pretty epic way. The footage showed her in costume singing a portion of the iconic song "Part of Your World", and quickly prompted an array of positive emotions from fans on social media. In a tweet on Friday night, which you can check out below, Bailey says that the fan response has been "so overwhelming and incredible", and that she's "so happy you're getting to see a peek of everything."

"I feel like I'm dreaming, and I'm just grateful." Bailey said in 2019 of landing the role. "And I don't pay attention to the negativity. I just feel like this role is something bigger than me, and greater, and it's going to be beautiful. I'm just so excited to be a part of it."

The Little Mermaid will be directed by Rob Marshall (Mary Poppins Returns), with a script from David Magee and Jane Goldman. The film is expected to feature original songs from the 1989 animated blockbuster, as well as new tracks composed by Alan Menken and Diggs' Hamilton co-star Lin-Manuel Miranda.

"There are things I've learned about how you have to work to integrate songs into story, and how it has to feel earned. It can't just be sort of put there, placed there, because you feel there should be a song," Marshall previously told ComicBook.com. "It has to be a song that's earned, that takes you there. And so as we're working on, in a way, fleshing out The Little Mermaid — Ariel has one song in the animated film — and so we're looking for maybe more material."

"Alan Menken and Lin-Manuel Miranda are coming on board to write some lyrics, so that's exciting, to sort of take what was there, which is so beloved, but also find a way to create a live-action version of it," Marshall said, adding "the lessons of creating an original musical have been very helpful so far."

Are you excited to see the live-action The Little Mermaid? What do you think of this first trailer? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

The Little Mermaid is set to be released in theaters on May 26, 2023.

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