In Anderson's telling and the original Disney film, the mermaid possessed white skin. In Disney's upcoming live action version of the story,
But, the casting has its critics as well, who argue Disney's original mermaid in the 1989 animated film — who was white — more accurately represented the character in Hans Christian Andersen's story. There are a lot of folklore tales about Black mermaids, though, and that mythology dates back hundreds of years.
Blonde Ariel
Did you know that Ariel was originally supposed to be blonde? TikToker @arthurhia covers all things dolls and recently let us in on some interesting info about the original Ariel. According to a video by this creator, the original concept art for Ariel shows her as a blonde.
Yes, in the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, he describes the mermaid as having a “white skin.”
Her skin was as clear and delicate as a rose leaf, and her eyes as blue as the deepest sea; but, like all the others, she had no feet and her body ended in a fish's tail.
While reading through Facebook comments about the new "The Little Mermaid" film, Suchovsky said, she learned that Africa "actually has a lot of mermaid folklore." She said she thinks it would be "really awesome" if, instead of remaking Ariel's story, Disney made a film featuring a Black mermaid based on African ...
Yes, according to science, mermaids are white because they live under water and have less melanin, which means a lighter skin colour.
In the 1989 movie, Ariel was born in the fictional underwater kingdom of Atlantica, which technically makes her Atlantican, not Danish. As Ariel is half fish, she cannot be categorized by our ethnicities and races.
The sea-green color of Ariel's mermaid tail was a hue specially mixed by the Disney paint lab; the color was named "Ariel" after the character. The choice of red as Ariel's hair color was the subject of dispute between the filmmakers and studio executives who wanted the character to have blonde hair.
Mermaids are a predominantly female race who live in the sea, split into the Southern Mermaids and Northern Warrior Mermaids. The Queen and her direct lineage live in the Coral Palace in the South. Mermaids' most well-known and desired products are birth charms.
In the original 1989 Disney animated classic, Ariel's character is White, with straight red hair.
During Development of "The Little Mermaid" Ariel was supposed to be blonde, but due to another movie called "Splash" having a blonde mermaid, Disney changed the hair to red to differentiate themselves.
The Little Mermaid action takes place under the sea, in the kingdom of Atlantica that is supposedly located in Denmark, where Hans Christian Andersen is from. This may be true for an original story and in fact there is even a statue of Little Mermaid in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark.
Ultimately, The Little Mermaid is fiction, and, as an imaginary character, Ariel can have skin of any color. Given that the cartoon versions of the princesses are dominantly white, Black and brown children will benefit greatly from being able to view more Disney princesses who look like them.
'The Little Mermaid' star Halle Bailey honored to make history as Disney's first Black Ariel - 6abc Philadelphia.
According to Oh My Disney, "The color of Ariel's hair was a point of contention among the team." While they originally wanted Ariel to be a blonde, some thought it was too similar to Hannah's character. Since red is a complementary color to Ariel's green tail, the choice was made. The rest is history!
In the original, Ariel's character has fire-engine red hair. By contrast, in the live-action version, Ariel's hair appears to be a more muted shade of red.
Ariel's story really begins in Ancient Greece. According to lore, she is a nereid, one of the dozens of daughters of the sea-god Triton.
"Yes, the original author of 'The Little Mermaid' was Danish. Ariel... is a mermaid," Freeform wrote in an impassioned post on Twitter and Instagram regarding the argument that the fable's original author Hans Christian Andersen's Danish ethnicity meant that Ariel couldn't be black.
Yes, mermaids are mythological creatures, but their African origins are real according to Jalondra Davis, an assistant professor of English at the University of California, Riverside. And some mermaids are Black.
Kelpie. Kelpies is a rare form of Mermaid found in Scottland which can be found in a mixture of fresh and salt water. They are aquatic shapeshifters and can only look semi-human when in their mermaid form.
Although traditions about and sightings of mermen are less common than those of mermaids, they are generally assumed to co-exist with their female counterparts. The male and the female collectively are sometimes referred to as merfolk or merpeople.