Little Mermaid: Original Ariel actor defends casting of Halle Bailey in live-action reboot

Melissa McCarthy, Awkafina and Jacob Tremblay are also starring in the film

The actress who voiced Ariel in the original animated version of The Little Mermaid has spoken out in support of actress Halle Bailey, who was last week announced as the star of Disney’s live-action reboot of the movie and immediately experienced racist backlash.

Appearing at a Florida comic convention, actress Jodi Benson said that “the spirit of a character is what really matters”, adding: “What you bring to the table in a character as far as their heart and their spirit is what really counts.”

“We need to be storytellers," she continued. “And no matter what we look like on the outside, no matter our race, our nation, the colour of our skin, our dialect, whether I’m tall or thin, whether I’m overweight or underweight, or my hair is whatever colour, we really need to tell the story.”

Bailey, a singer and actress best known for her musical collaborations with her sister under the name Chloe x Halle, was announced last week as the star due to bring Ariel into the real world, but faced criticism due to her ethnicity.

A hashtag campaign, assisted by bots, saw #NotMyAriel trending, with others arguing that magical mermaid creatures who exist in fairytale underwater kingdoms have historically been white. Bailey herself has not commented on the backlash.

Benson voiced Ariel in the original Little Mermaid film along with several sequels and television spin-offs through the 1990s. She additionally reprised the role in last year’s Ralph Breaks the Internet, and can be heard voicing Barbie in Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3.