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.

What race is the original Little Mermaid?

The little mermaid in the book was white.

Here is how Hans Christian Andersen described the little mermaid: “They were six lovely girls, but the youngest was the most beautiful of them all.

What was Ariel's skin color in the original book?

In Andersen's fairy tale, the Little Mermaid is described as follows: "her skin was as clear and delicate as a rose-leaf, and her eyes as blue as the deepest sea." And if you're wondering if Andersen's Little Mermaid had that signature bright red hair that has become synonymous with mermaids, the answer is unclear.

What ethnicity is the new Ariel?

The new version stars Halle Bailey, most known for her role in the Grammy-nominated Chloe x Halle R&B duo, as Ariel in the actress's first starring feature film role. This casting of a Black woman as the iconic mermaid has made waves.

Is Ariel Winter Hispanic?

Winter was born on January 28, 1998, the daughter of Chrisoula (née Batistas) and Glenn Workman. Through her mother, she is of Greek descent, and through her father, of German descent.

The Little Mermaid as a Queer Allegory, Explained

Is Ariel supposed to be Greek?

Ariel's story really begins in Ancient Greece. According to lore, she is a nereid, one of the dozens of daughters of the sea-god Triton. This isn't the first time that the internet has been set alight over the suggestion that famous figures of antiquity could be anything but white.

Did the original Ariel have green skin?

In the original Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen the protagonist is described as having skin that 'was as clear and delicate as a rose-leaf'. So unless you want Ariel snot green, please stop pretending your 'concerns' are about authorial intent.

Why are Ariel's sisters different races?

All of king Triton's daughters represent their own seas all over the world and as such they are all different ethnicities in the movie. It is not specified where the movie takes place, i.e. where Ariel lives but it's obvious it's not in Denmark.

Why is Prince Eric's mother black?

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.

Is Little Mermaid in Jamaica?

The Little Mermaid is set in the Caribbean

But while filming took place on the Italian island in the heart of the Mediterranean, the action of the film is meant to take place in the Caribbean.

Which Disney Princess is black?

In Disney's nearly 100-year history, there has been only one Black Disney princess — Princess Tiana in “The Princess and the Frog,” a 2009 animated feature starring Anika Noni Rose.

Do all of Ariel's sisters have the same mom?

Of course, the animated mermaids are the daughters of King Triton and Queen Athena, but that may change in the live-action version with the implication that Ariel's sisters have different mothers.

Did the Little Mermaid 2023 flop?

The reported box office result of The Little Mermaid 2023 remake is about $560 million. On paper, these numbers look good. The film grossed over $298 million domestically and more than $263 million internationally.

Is Ariel's hair natural?

While Halle keeps Ariel's signature red hair for the film, she decided to keep her natural locs for the role but dyed them a copper colour instead. And she looks so good. “It was super important for me to have my natural hair in this film,” Halley told Ebony magazine.

Why is Ursula not a mermaid?

Rather, Ursula's appearance is radically different from her family, and she sports tentacles that look like a permanent black dress. It's possible Ursula is not a mermaid in appearance because she and Triton did not have the same mother or father. If they're half siblings, Ursula's tentacles make more sense.

Are Ursula and Triton siblings?

In this novel, Ursula is King Triton's younger sister who was betrayed by him as a child for choosing a tentacled form instead of a mermaid's tail, and grew up as a human in the town of Ipswich with an adoptive human father.

What are Ariel's sisters being renamed?

In the updated version, Ariel's sisters—renamed Karina (Kajsa Mohammar), Tamika (Sienna King), Mala (Karolina Conchet), Caspia (Nathalie Sorrell), Perla (Lorena Andrea), and Indira (Simone Ashley)—have slightly bigger roles.

Is Ariel's dad white?

The casting is beautifully “colour blind”, with the prince being white and his mother being Black (he is adopted). At the same time, the Little Mermaid's father is white, while her mermaid sisters are of various different races and ethnicities.

Was Ariel originally blonde?

“I remember the first thumbnail sketches,” Benson tells EW of the first iterations of Ariel. “She had blonde hair. She looked like one of the exaggerated faces from [the] Peter Pan era. She looked a little bit glamorous and a little bit mature to me.”

Why is Ariel's tail green?

The color of Ariel's fin was specially created by Disney.

It's not your average green tone — Ariel's fin is an original hue mixed by the Disney Paint Lab. The sea-green color is now named after her!

What is the dark theory of Ariel?

Ariel's Mother Was Killed By Pirates

The theory becomes darker with the suggestion that Captain Hook killed Ariel's mother, Athena. In The Little Mermaid II, Ariel has a flashback to her mother's death, when Ariel and her sisters were just children.

What language does Ariel speak?

That means Frozen's Elsa is singing in Norwegian, Ariel in Danish, Jasmine in Arabic, Mulan in Mandarin Chinese, and Rapunzel in German. In the second video, Belle is singing in French, Snow White in German, Megara in Greek, Anna in Norwegian, and Aurora in French.

Is Zeus and Ariel related?

Since Ariel in The Little Mermaid is Triton's daughter, and according to Greek mythology, Triton is the son of Poseidon, this makes Ariel the granddaughter of Poseidon. And who else is on that family tree? None other than Hercules's father Zeus, who is the brother of Poseidon.