Disney just released their first official trailer for The Little Mermaid starring Halle Bailey as Ariel, the titular little mermaid. The trailer shows that the highly anticipated remake of the 2D animated classic is set to include some beautiful VFX for the underwater kingdom, the mermaid tails, and Ursula’s tentacles.
According to Variety, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Alan Menken have come onto the project to create four new songs for the film. The four songs will be in addition to classics from the 1989 original, created by Menken and his longtime lyricist and collaborator Howard Ashman. Ashman is often credited for helping revive Walt Disney Animation Studios and was seen as an integral part of the company until his death due to AIDS in 1991.
The trailer uses the sequence of Ariel saving Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King) from a shipwreck as a framing device for the rest of the video. This leads to Ariel’s iconic belting of “Part of Your World (Reprise)” as the waves crash behind her. Throughout the trailer, characters like Sebastian (Daveed Diggs), Scuttle (Awkwafina), Flounder (Jacob Tremblay), King Triton (Javier Bardem), and the devious Ursula (Melissa McCarthy) are finally introduced, giving the audience a first-time viewing of the reimagining of these characters.
The Little Mermaid, directed by Rob Marshall, will be released in theaters on May 26th!
Check out the trailer “Fathoms Below.”