Reinventing the Disney princess business
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 26 May 2023
⏱️ 26 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
“The Little Mermaid” has debuted with Halle Bailey playing the titular character, Ariel. Culture reporter Helena Andrews-Dyer shares why this movie matters to Black girls, especially, and what Disney is doing with its successful intellectual property.
Read more:
The Washington Post’s culture reporter Helena Andrews-Dyer happens to be a mom of two Black children. That’s part of the reason she was so excited to see “The Little Mermaid,” which debuted recently.
But in today’s episode of “Post Reports,” there’s more to unpack about the live-action remake than just how it’s creating a moment for Black representation. Andrews-Dyer and host Elahe Izadi discuss why Disney is, once again, reusing a successful intellectual property.
The duo also comes to terms with some of the less-than-progressive statements that the animated version of “The Little Mermaid” has made in the past, and how Disney is trying to right its wrongs.
You can also read Post film critic Ann Hornaday’s three-star review of the movie here.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | My name is Jeanette. I am seven years old and I live in Foes, George, Virginia. |
| 0:11.0 | I am most excited about seeing a new area because most main characters are white, but this |
| 0:19.1 | one is brown, like my mom and has a coolery here like me. |
| 0:25.3 | This weekend, Disney's new live-action little mermaid hits theaters. A movie that's expected |
| 0:30.3 | to be a big hit. That's because lots of kids like Jeanette Mumford are very excited about |
| 0:37.0 | it. And so is post-pop culture reporter Helena Andrews-Dyer. |
| 0:41.5 | I've been excited since they released the trailer where we saw just a tiny snippet of |
| 0:49.5 | Halle Bailey singing part of your world. |
| 1:00.3 | And everyone lost their mind over like one note, right? |
| 1:04.8 | I was able to see the film last week. Now I'm excited to see what my two little ones think. |
| 1:29.7 | Part of the reason for all of this excitement has to do with the fact that Bailey is a young |
| 1:34.7 | black actress and she's playing the role of Ariel. Helena says this is a big moment for |
| 1:40.4 | representation, but it could also influence a core Disney business. |
| 1:45.9 | I feel like Disney's going to follow the money. They always are and if this movie does incredibly |
| 1:52.0 | well, we'll absolutely see more movies starring princesses who are of color. |
| 2:01.4 | From the newsroom of the Washington Post, this is Post Reports. I'm Ella Hay Izadi. It's Friday, |
| 2:07.7 | May 26. Today, we're talking about the new little mermaid movie, why it matters to parents |
| 2:14.6 | and kids and also how it is reinventing a big business for Disney princesses. |
| 2:21.6 | This is a live action remake, right? Disney has been doing that a lot over the past couple |
| 2:30.6 | of years where they're taking their old animated IP, Aladdin, Mulan, the Lion King and turning |
| 2:40.3 | it into a live action movie with actual human people, right? That's huge. One, Ariel, the |
| 2:52.2 | star of a little mermaid. Everyone's favorite mermaid princess is played by Halle Bailey, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Washington Post, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The Washington Post and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.