Congrats! The New Ariel From The Little Mermaid Is Black, Halle Bailey Stars In the Disney Remake

Twitter is going cray! Halle Bailey has scored the iconic role of the red-headed soul singing mermaid from Under the Sea.  Halle joins several black actresses who have been making headlines for being casted in female lead roles that previously went to white actresses.  There is a red-head coincidence, which one twitter user mentioned:

I’m all for these Black Actresses snatching up the rolls of white characters with red hair! Quvenzhané Wallis played Annie. Zendaya playing MJ. NOW Halle Bailey bout to play ARIELLLLLLLLLLLL?!?! pic.twitter.com/xMQ3EVVh5X

— 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔞𝔱𝔱𝔦𝔱𝔲𝔡𝔢 𝔞𝔡𝔧𝔲𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔯 (@imnotk3vin) July 3, 2019

Bailey currently stars in Freeform's Grownish as Skylar Froster, with her sister Chloe.  She has been writing, recording, and performing songs with her sister under the moniker Chloe X Halle, and has been co-signed by none other than Queen Bey herself.

dream come true... 🧜🏽‍♀️🌊 pic.twitter.com/sndjYUS6wO

— chloe x halle (@chloexhalle) July 3, 2019

Hollywood is surely changing in the way it once presented opportunities for Black artists.  Beyoncé will portray Nala in The Lion King remake which is out this month.  Zendaya can be currently seen in Spider Man: Far From Home playing the character, M.J. and it will be a long time before we forget the greatness that was Marvel's Black Panther.  Despite mainly positive responses there were some who questioned the skin color issue as Ariel is white skinned in the animated version.  Read some of the commentary below:

No hate whatsoever on PoC, but Ariel is an ICONIC character, that is known and loved with her original look.
Red-haired, white, and a green fucking tail. This is not a role for a PoC, if a white woman played Tiana or Pocahontas, y'all would feel the same thing #TheLittleMermaid https://t.co/tCN3EcQTW1

— Pierre Jennaoui (@Pierre_Jennaoui) July 3, 2019

This is bullshit. Ariel is a white redhead.

— Ramon (@ramomc99) July 3, 2019

Little Mermaid is based on danish tale. Danish people are WHITE, with either red or blonde hair with tinted red in it. Hell would break loose if they cast ScarJo for Mulan, but it’s okay to re-cast white characters? People in Denmark deserve their representation. https://t.co/IVJaqHdLHq

— ً (@StormbornNika) July 3, 2019

“The Little Mermaid” will incorporate original songs from the 1989 animated hit as well as new tunes from original composer Alan Menken and “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda. Miranda is also producing the film along with Marshall, Marc Platt and John DeLuca.

Bailey had previous big screen roles including Meet The Browns and Joyful Noise.  Filming production is scheduled to begin in April 2020.

Are you excited to see yet another classic turned action style by Disney?