Okay. A mermaid can be Black or White. Literally does not matter other than, I think, for the viewers to have a better connection with the character. I am completely for that, but I think it would be better to make NEW stories, NEW movies, NEW CHARACTERS to emphasize change and connection with the audience. Let's make less of the remakes and bring in new princess stories, one that can bring in women (HECK, I WANNA SEE A PRINCE MOVIE FOR ONCE) of color and different ethnicities. Yes, we have Tiana in "Princess and the Frog" and Mulan in "Mulan," but I think making new shows/movies based off of a genuine connection to the audience would be better. A lot of the old princess movies were based on European novels and culture, why not try basing NEW princess shows/movies on cultural references from African countries, South American countries, Asian countries, etc. Let's stop changing old characters and start making genuine new ones.

Seriously? This is the third article on the subject in the last two days and it's not even that big of an issue.

Ok, first of all...mermaids go to the surface of the water and get plenty of sunlight! But that doesn't mean anything because they aren't real!! Secondly, none of these people...NONE of these people have even thought about Ariel since they were kids. They are just racists who are excited to have a "reason" to be racist out loud. Its pathetic

They are right. She would also have to have gills, layers of blubber, her eyes placed on the side of her head like a fish, no hair (can get caught in things, no evolutionary advantage), probably no arms, because they get in the way of swimming like a fish, no neck or a much smaller head for more balanced swimming, and wait, that's just a regular fish.

The "science" in this isn't even correct smh

People are mad that a black person is playing a mermaid and I’m just dissapointed that they didn’t cast a drag queen to play Ursula, a character who was based off a drag queen in the first place :/

WOW this is the most stupid argument I have ever seen. Using science on a fictional character. Damn, don't you ppl have anything else to do ?

imagine the outrage if they made a live remake of Princess and The Frog with a white Tiana.

21st century and people are more than bent out of shape over a woman of color being the lead of an animated movie with mermaids, an octo-woman, talking crabs and fish. this. is. sad.

There were quite a few threads on Twitter about how this remake would "ruin their childhoods" and I just had to ask if they ever wondered how many children of color had childhoods "ruined" because they grew up without any Disney princesses that represented them. I doubt they considered that.

Just a note: white people have dominated every form of media since its inception. White actors have played people of color in films and tv also since their inception. Folks need to take a step back and realize that for the film industry, though small, this is progress. Mermaids aren't even real, so get over yourselves.

To hell with the science of it, I've seen people saying it "ruins the original story/Ariel is Danish" Well... I hardly doubt bright red hair and an american accent is common in Denmark now is it? And if you're bothered by the "real story" then you shouldn't even like the original disney film either, considering in the real Hans Christian Andersen story she dissolves into sea foam and "dies" in the end, becoming a spirit who has to earn an immortal soul by doing good deeds for 300 years iirc. Not exactly the happy prince/princess ending disney gave us.

Can these scientific people explain me why a gold fish is colored like gold?? That would be interesting...

Disney is a highly progressive company. She could have been black and lesbian knowing Disney. Anyway, you either get past their casting choice or. . . .don't see the movie.

Did they notice they're talking about creatures that do not exist?

Scientifically these people aren't even correct - the only albino fish are at the very bottom of the ocean, and Ariel lives in a place where the sun still reaches her. Therefore she shouldn't be albino. I do agree with one of the other commenters though, I hope her sisters look similar to her or else it wouldn't make sense.

A white person isn't allowed to play a black character or adopt any aspect of black culture in fear of culturally appropriating. A straight person is also not allowed to play a trans character. Why then is an originally Danish character allowed to be changed completely?

I think she is beautiful and will make an amazing mermaid. Not all fish are white, the sea is full of colours

My only issue with her playing Ariel is that it's not consistent with the animated version. Disney went extremely far and tried extremely hard to accurately portray Middle Eastern culture and appearance in Alladin. They had Middle Eastern actors and clothing. In every other love action Disney film they have stayed true to the appearance of the animated character. When it comes down to it, Ariel is a white red head. Just as Princess Jasmin is a Middle Eastern woman with black hair and Tiana is an African American with black hair. It's not the fact that she is black that people are getting upset. It's because this is clearly a marketing scheme to get media attention for "portraying the black community." All it's doing is pretending like making Ariel black will fix racial issues. Make new princesses to create the equal representation we all want to see. Don't rewrite the casting of old classics.

It’s not about it being a black mermaid. It’s about the fact that Ariel is an extremely popular character and has a very distinctive look. Fans don’t want to see a yellow Sonic the Hedgehog or blue Pikachu or orange Ursula or neon green Mystique or for storm to have neon yellow hair. They just want live counterparts of their favorite fictional cartoons to look exactly like the cartoon. Same with books. There would have been backlash if HBO Game of Thrones gave Khaleesi blue hair. Not everyone is some sort of bigot just because they want it to be as close to the cartoon as possible. Its not like this is some random mermaid movie with new characters. There are also plenty of pale redheads who have said they got bullied for being such and that Ariel made them feel beautiful and represented. Either way, I do think some people are doing way too much and it’s not that serious. I think this young woman will win people over with her song renditions.

wow how racist can you be ? who gives a f**k what you say or think, Disney made a great choice and last i checked they are still making money with the choices they make. go cry on a reddit feed or tweet some other c**p

Fish has Scales, not skin, these people have no brain, it's normal they reach to call racism every time they can.

these people are crazy!! you are not automatically black because you live in Hawaii and believe it or not... Black people can live in Alaska... yes it's true.. Plus with this jacked up reasoning, wouldn't you think that the sunlight reflection on the water would make it especially important to have some sun protection when surfacing???? But only above the waist.. duh duh duh.... But... who doesn't remember that these are fantasy creations.. Ya'll are culturally blind and obtuse

Im still in middle school and even i know how melenin works