A video of a little girl meeting Disney Parks’ new Ariel has warmed hearts everywhere.
The footage posted by the girl’s mom on TikTok showed the youngster, who is Black, dressed up in a sparkly blue Ariel dress visiting Disney Parks’ new Ariel, inspired by Halle Bailey’s version of the character in the recent live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid.
A text overlay on the video read: “Live-action Ariel has arrived at Disney Parks and I don’t have the words to describe how good this feels as a Black girl who never got the opportunity to meet a Black princess as a child.”
The mom also captioned the sweet video – which showed the little girl in awe as she meets Ariel – with: “I absolutely love this for my daughter […] a new normal […].”
Representation and diversity has played a huge part in the latest Disney release of The Little Mermaid, with 22-year-old Bailey – who has the starring role as Ariel – revealing on her YouTube channel that it was important for young Black girls to have someone who looks like them appear on the big screen.
“As a Black person, you just expect it and it’s not really a shock anymore. I want the little girl in me and the little girls just like me who are watching to know that they’re special and that they should be a princess in every single way,” Bailey said. “There’s no reason that they shouldn’t be. That reassurance was something that I needed,” she added.
Bailey also noted that it was vital that she keep her dreadlocks and natural hair for the movie, telling Ebony Magazine recently:
“It was super important for me to have my natural hair in this film. I was really grateful to [director] Rob Marshall, because he wanted to keep my locs. It’s always important to have somebody to cosign. I’ve had my locs since I was five, so they’re a huge part of who I am. We need to be able to see ourselves,” she said, adding: “We need to be able to see our hair on big screens like this, so that we know that it’s beautiful and more than acceptable.”
Bailey also previously spoke to Glamour about how the movie’s hairstylist Camille Friend and makeup artist Kat Ali – both women of color – worked together to ensure that Bailey felt comfortable on set, saying: “[Ariel still] has red hair, because that’s a very iconic part of her, but I really did admire the fact that because I’m a Black woman and I have locs, [the producers] wanted to incorporate that into Ariel’s look.”
“[Camille and Kat are] both women of color, so I felt very comfortable. They know how to take care of me and my hair and makeup. I’ve been on sets before where that’s not the case,” Bailey revealed.
Seeing the happiness on the little girl in the TikTok has shown just how much power there is in representation.
