A New Little Mermaid
Who Created the Message
The message was created by Disney in order to promote their newest princess live-action film, The Little Mermaid.
What creative techniques are used to attract my attention?
First, this film is a Disney classic and begins with a class song from the original movie. This attracts an audience because it creates a sense of nostalgia. In addition, the trailer does not show the little mermaid until almost the very end. This sense of suspense is another way to attract the audience to watch through the trailer and pique their interest in it.
How might different people interpret this message differently than me?
There have been significant debates that went out about this trailer. A racial debate was raised when this movie trailer came out. Some people were critical of the little mermaid because Black because in the Disney original cartoon released almost 35 years ago, Ariel was white. Those critical of her color also argued that since she was underwater, the sun couldn’t reach her, so she wouldn’t have color in her skin. If you were on Tiktok when the trailer first came out for the live-action, there were tons of videos of Black boys and girls showing high levels of excitement that a live-action Disney princess was going to be a representation of their own color.
What viewpoints of world views are included or left out of this message?
The movie is a Disney princess movie so the message is more geared toward girls and women than boys and men. The message is also geared more toward those who are fans of Disney. I am not sure there are people left out of the message itself because it’s a movie trailer, but there are people who might not identify as much with it.
Why is this message being sent?
The message was sent as a promotion for the upcoming movie. I think it was purposefully designed to show Ariel right at the end of the trailer as a teaser that the new Little Mermaid is Black. I think in part Disney wanted to create a conversation when they did their casting and trailer producing.