Obi-Wanma

Well, they did cast a non-arabic actress as Jasmine, and there was outrage in certain circles about it. It's really just the white people who didn't care about it, because she looks close enough for them and is super hot.

Draven

brayzie

The difference is, is that for the longest time, non-white actors had very little to no representation on the big screen, at least in regards to starring roles. And when roles called for someone of color, they still went with whites. The Kung Fu TV series stars a white guy, ninja films starred white guy ninjas, Egyptians in all historical epics are usually played by whites. So I can see why one is much more upsetting than the other.

I think most people didn't care about it.

It must be pretty insulting to be an actress and read headlines like "Dear Disney, casting Naomi Scott as Jasmine just because she’s brown highlights the Orientalist tendency of conflating all brown cultures." Yeah, because acting talent had nothing to do with it. No mention in the article that the original story of Aladdin takes place in China.
From Vox: In other words, while he had a Syrian source, a French guy with a European colonial view of Asia brought us the original Aladdin.

Sorraffy

If they don't cast a purple female for Ursula, i'm boycotting!

devilshalo

So is Arthur Curry, but no one seems to mind Momoa in the role.

TheBigDave

I wonder how they're going to handle the character in the parks and in merchandise.

Are they going to replace the current white Ariel with a black Ariel in the parades, shows and the Meet & Greet spots?

Are they going to sell both black and white versions of the Ariel toys, t-shirts, plushes?

Or will the black Ariel only exist in the live action movie?

Personally, I would have preferred to see them create a new character. She could have been a relative or friend of Ariel. That would give them so many more opportunities to use the character in future movies and TV shows. And she could appear alongside Ariel in the parks and on merchandise.

majorjoe23

Sonny Corinthos

We went to Disney World in late 17. They had a place in the park where you could go meet Ariel and have your picture taken with her. Of course my daughter wants a picture, so we stand in the line. When it was our turn, Ariel said she had some rules we had to follow before the picture was taken. She stressed three or four times that no touching (meaning her) was allowed.

I wanted to say, hey lady, I am here with my wife and daughter, I am not going to feel you up. She was smokin' hot, so I get she probably gets hit on a lot.

Deftones

I guess there is a #NotMyAriel trending on Twitter.

fujishig

Or Snow White herself. That would end the internet.

The amount of CG needed would have eclipsed their budget, and that's before even getting to the cost of the underwater scenes.

Nobody cares about orange suited Aquaman. Nobody.

brayzie

Michael Corvin

All the recent movies wallow in mediocrity because they are too tied to their animated counterparts.

I don't know anything about this actress/singer, but she looks the part. I'm probably more interested now than I was before.

What's it like living in 1950? The 1989 film is ONE depiction of a 100 year old tale. They could cast Jason Momoa in the role for all I care just to put a new spin on the tale.

fujishig

I would buy that if this wasn't just going to be a cut and paste job from their animated film. But I guess we'll see. We still need an Asian princess so they can stop shoehorning Mulan into that role.

Giantrobo

This Actress, currently on DCU's "Swamp Thing" is Danish... born and bred in Copenhagen, Denmark. Was Miss Denmark 2008

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3080233/

GoldenJCJ

Giantrobo

Yeah but, that didn't stop White folks from making Jesus a pale skin white dude did it? 33years in the hot Middle East sun and he's still white? But of course , Jesus is make believe...

Giantrobo

Halle plays "Sky" on teh "black-ish" spin off "Grown-ish" in this video she is the one in black singing with her sister. They are established singers.

Rare Breed22

First of all, Jesus was Korean. It's common damn sense. Second I was thinking with the success of Spider man far from home and the fact she was on the disney channel for so many years they would have chosen that Zendaya chick.

GoldenJCJ

fujishig

Since when did they care about either historical accuracy or trying to place their animated movies into a set period?

brayzie

Draven

islandclaws

Twitter is the worst thing to happen to modern society. It's just as dumb as the infamous #OscarsSoWhite.

Sonny Corinthos

Can you imagine the outrage had social media had been around in the 1970's when it was announced there are plans on filming a version of the Wizard of Oz featuring an all black cast? Get this, the name of the movie is going to be The Wiz! There would be #NotMyOz hashtags all over twitter.

joe_b

I don't know how good an actress she is, but her vocals are certainly on point for Ariel.


All of these live action Disney remakes have felt stale and unnecessary to me, so I'm not holding out much hope for this one. I'm not really a fan of Rob Marhsall's directing style to begin with. Still, this girl seems like a solid choice if they were determined to have a POC in the title role. I'm more concerned with the Melissa McCarthy news. Ursula is my favorite Disney villain, but I can't picture McCarthy being intimidating -- especially if she grows into a giant during the climax like in the cartoon.