Disney’s Live-Action ‘Little Mermaid’ Teaser Trailer Reveals Halle Bailey’s Ariel (Video)

Disney unveiled the first live-action “The Little Mermaid” teaser trailer at D23 on Friday, revealing Halle Bailey’s Ariel singing “Part of Your World.”

Bailey swims around the ocean floor to the piano notes of “Part of Your World” before she shoots up through a tunnel toward the surface of the water.

We saw even more footage inside the room at D23 than what’s revealed in this teaser.

As introduced by director Rob Marshall, who was last at the D23 Expo to show off “Mary Poppins Returns,” the full “Part of Your World” sequence is very similar to the original film, with Ariel (Halle Bailey) browsing her collection of surface doodads. It’s incredibly moving and you could feel the room falling in love with Bailey as the song was progressing.

The footage, which Bailey says was filmed over the course of three days, was likely produced using a similar process to “Gravity.” (It might be labeled “live-action” but the amount of animation makes that distinction a little dubious.)

Flounder, voiced by Jacob Tremblay (“Luca”), looks freakishly real, continuing in the tradition of “The Lion King,” but the emotion of the scene is what really makes the sequence soar. Mercifully it is also not shot-for-shot, there is invention in terms of staging and the arrangement of the song (original composer Alan Menken has returned, this time assisted by an up-and-comer named Lin-Manuel Miranda).

“Getting this film, working with Rob, is such a dream come true for me. I’m sure all of you in here can relate to Ariel and how special she is to all of us.” Bailey said about the experience. “Being a little girl, swimming in the pool, I never thought I could see that come to life. I’m honored and super, super grateful.”

When speaking about the “Part of Your World” specifically, she said it was “the most beautiful experience of my life.”

“Feeling all of the feelings she feels, everything she is experience was so exciting for me to play those emotions and having Rob to direct me and be such a moving force in this film was an honor,” Bailey said.

“The Little Mermaid” swims to the surface in the summer of 2023.