Following the release of The Little Mermaid trailer two days ago, a mother named Candace shared a video to Twitter and TikTok, of her young daughter as she watched it for the first time. “You look so beautiful,” the girl reacts to Halle Bailey appearing as Ariel. In a heartwarming moment, she also comments on the turtles before soon discovering that Bailey is playing a mermaid.
“Who’s your favorite mermaid?” the mom asks off-screen, to which the daughter immediately names Ariel and connects the two. By the time Bailey performs the first notes of “Part Of Your World,” her facial expression is one of being blown away by seeing “the real her” version of the 1989 Disney cartoon mermaid.
As the video has gained over three million views, Bailey herself stumbled upon it and took to Twitter to share her own reaction to Candace’s daughter. “k i just sobbed watching this,” the actress and singer wrote. “she’s so sweet”.
k i just sobbed watching this thanks 😭💕she’s so sweet ❣️🥹 https://t.co/jKKdHkOvDe
— Halle (@HalleBailey) September 11, 2022
Candace went on to reply to Bailey, sharing some personal details that make the girl’s reaction all the more powerful. “She lost her father in December, and will be turning 4 in a few days, this is the happiest I’ve seen her in months. Thank you so much for this,” she said. In the additional replies to Bailey’s post, users also included videos that other parents took of their young Black daughters watching The Little Mermaid clip in awe.
Watch Bailey in the first official trailer for 2023’s The Little Mermaid above.