Little Mermaid posters! Halle Bailey stuns, Melissa McCarthy haunts, Flounder scares
The new posters for The Little Mermaid were released by Disney this week in anticipation of the film’s May 26 release.
Lead actor Halle Bailey looks sensational in the title role of the singing mermaid Ariel.
Melissa McCarthy is haunted as the evil Ursula wreaking havoc at the bottom of the sea.
But fans weren’t too thrilled with Flounder, who looks very different from his cartoon character.
The fish looks thinner than its 1989 version and some would say a little “creepy.”
Also featured were Sebastian, voiced by Daveed Diggs, Scuttle, voiced by Awkwafina, King Triton, starring Javier Bardem, and Prince Eric, played by Jonah Hauer-King.
Goddess: The new posters for The Little Mermaid were released by Disney this week ahead of the film’s May 26 release. Lead actor Halle Bailey looks sensational in the title role of the singing mermaid Ariel
She was also featured on the cover of 23 which came out this week
In the 1980s movie, Flounder was curvy, if a fish can be called that, and now it’s slimmer. Some joked on Twitter that Flounder had visited a plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills.
Flounder is voiced by Room actor Jacob Tremblay.
Meanwhile, The Little Mermaid director Rob Marshall has praised McCarthy for bringing “depth” to Ursula.
The filmmaker is candid about the decision to cast the ‘Bridesmaids’ actress as the iconic sea witch who steals the voice of Ariel (Bailey) in the live action reboot, and how ‘daunting’ it was to cast the right person in the role to get, which was originally inspired by drag queen Divine.
He told SFX magazine, “I love that she was originally inspired by Divine [Harris Glenn Milstead]the great drag actor, who was so original and so funny.
“I thought, ‘Well, who’s going to be able to bring the humor and the depth?’
She commands attention: Melissa McCarthy haunts as the evil Ursula who wreaks havoc at the bottom of the sea
“Because this is now a live-action piece, not only does it have to be a funny character, it has to have a lot of depth.
‘Who can do that and sing – really sing – and bring originality? I also wanted a woman of stature, that was important to me.’
Marshall praised McCarthy as a “terrific” performer even beyond her comedy reputation, going back to Ursula’s early inspiration for the 1989 original animated classic.
He added, “She’s a great actress, people forget that. They say, ‘Oh, she’s funny.’
Skinny now! But fans weren’t too thrilled with Flounder, who looks very different from his cartoon character. The fish looks thinner than its 1989 version and some say a little ‘creepy’
Crabby: Also seen were Sebastian, voiced by Daveed Diggs
The Funny Bird: Scuttle is voiced by Awkwafina
A new role for this Spanish icon: King Triton, starring Javier Bardem,
“This character is a hurt character and she was able to find all that depth and emotion, in addition to all the other colors.
‘We really used Divine as a source of inspiration, because that’s where it started.
“But the thing about Divine is she’s larger than life, and this character is larger than life, but at the same time, Melissa was able to bring humanity to it.”
McCarthy recently opened up about the influence on her character, describing her as “everything I want in a drag queen” and pointing out the “sadness” and “sharpness” combined with humor.
She added to Entertainment Weekly, “There’s a drag queen living inside of me. I’m always on the verge of joining her full time.”
The royal: Prince Eric, played by JonahHauer-King