The custom extensions were then hand-wrapped around Halle's natural locs and then additional tendril pieces were added to give Ariel's hair that ocean wave effect.
Obviously, modifications are required anytime you adapt animation to live-action, but Bailey and the beauty department had to reimagine Ariel as a woman of color too. Bailey and the team opted to keep her hair red—that was essential—but opted for copper locs to make it her own.
A major part of Halle Bailey's transformation for "The Little Mermaid" was her hair! The actress turned into a redhead to get into character as the beloved Disney princess Ariel. Keeping her locs was meaningful to Halle. She told Ebony magazine, "It was super important for me to have my natural hair in this film …
Halle Bailey's 'The Little Mermaid' Hair Transformation Cost At Least $150K
Is Halle Bailey wearing a wig?
According to Variety, Halle Bailey wished to stay true to her Black heritage and show her natural hair in the movie. So, hair extensions were used rather than a wig. Friend said it took 12-14 hours to finish Halle's hair.
The hair that was added was Keratin-infused, three different shades of red, and 30 inches long — which meant the price tag was high. “I'm not guesstimating, but we probably spent at least $150,000 because we had to redo it and take it out," Friend said. "You couldn't use it and we'd have to start again.
On the significance of casting a Black actress as Ariel
Sherri Hope Culver: To have a Disney character who is not just a princess but a live-action, real flesh and blood person that children can be inspired by is important. This is because people of color are less likely to see themselves reflected in the media.
In 1989, the year the film was released, her character was seen with light orange/strawberry blonde hair. Of course, people loved the movie and Ariel, and viewers expected the dolls and the character actors to match the movie. This is why Ariel was soon represented with the same shade of red hair in every way possible.
She ended up wrapping red hair around her over 24-inch natural locs. The hair wrapping took over 12 hours and was completed multiple times during filming.
Speaking to Glamour magazine, she said: “[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.”
Having red hair and blue eyes is the rarest hair/eye color combination possible. The odds of a person having both of those recessive traits is around 0.17%. Instead, most redheads have brown, hazel or green eyes, according to Medical Daily.
Halle Berry is showing off her stunning natural hair. “Sunday serve,” Berry, 56, captioned a Sunday, August 6, Instagram selfie in which she rocked an afro and a plaid red shirt.
In order to ensure that the actors looked like they were floating in the water, the crew used a technique known as "wet-to-dry". This involved a series of rigs, wires, tuning forks, and seesaws. A similar set of techniques was used in James Wan's Aquaman (2018), which also created underwater scenes with a blue screen.
Among the actress's list of must-have face masks, serums, and makeup, is the Virtue Restorative Treatment Mask. It's a hydrating and rejuvenating hair mask that provides a smoother and healthier look in just three minutes or less without weighing hair down.
Disney's Ariel is not the same as Anderson's little mermaid. The movie is loosely based on the fairy tale, so Disney has the freedom to give Ariel any skin color they want. In the 1989 movie, Ariel was born in the fictional underwater kingdom of Atlantica, which technically makes her Atlantican, not Danish.
There are several instances when Eric's mother Queen Salina (Noma Dumezweni), who is Black and adopted him as a child when he washed up from the ocean, chastises him for his obvious love for beings that are considered other.
Halle Bailey was the first to audition for the beloved and coveted role of Ariel in Disney's live-action “The Little Mermaid.” After Bailey belted out the classic showstopper “Part of Your World” from the original 1989 film, director Rob Marshall and the other filmmakers knew that she was the one for the role.
One theory is that each of Ariel's sisters represents different oceans that are home to various cultures and ethnicities. It's pretty problematic to have mermaids who all look the same representing such an expansive underwater world.
In the original, Ariel's character has fire-engine red hair. By contrast, in the live-action version, Ariel's hair appears to be a more muted shade of red.
Queen Athena is shown to be a stunningly beautiful and attractive mermaid with long, red hair tied in a partial ponytail, green eyes, and an aqua tail. Of all her daughters, her youngest, Ariel, resembles her the most.
To get Bailey picture perfect for the film, Bailey sat for 12 to 14 hours to wrap her locs, which the hairstylist said was the most reasonable time she could get it to.
According to Showbiz Galore, she was reportedly paid $1.5 million to don the tail and seashells, though some news outlets reported slightly more modest earnings of $500,000. Despite the online backlash about casting a Black Ariel, this project made Halle Bailey a household name, especially among young Disney fans.
