The first detailed trailer for the upcoming Disney film “The Little Mermaid” starring Halle Bailey (22) debuted during the Oscars last Sunday. The preview video for the new live-action adaptation of Disney’s classic animated film of the same name currently has an unfortunate 1.2 million thumbs down or dislikes on YouTube (as of Sunday, March 19) – a clear result of the activity of toxic, racist trolls. Disney star Josh Gad (42) has now defended himself against this on Twitter and defended the various cast of the upcoming film.
The 42-year-old actor is best known as the original English voice of the lovable snowman Olaf in the two Frozen films, and also appeared in the Disney live action adaptation Beauty and the Beast (2017). Addressing the racist trolls, Gad wrote on Twitter: “Imagine being so broken and miserable in your life that your biggest concern is the skin color of a singing mermaid, which is a product of fantasy.”
The racist hostilities against “The Little Mermaid” first emerged in the summer of 2019, when the casting of the young actress Bailey became known. A teaser trailer from September last year has a pitiful 3.5 million dislikes on YouTube – a phenomenon that has recently been observed frequently. For example, the two fantasy series “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” and “House of the Dragon” that were released last year were exposed to racist hostilities from toxic fans, who were also bothered by the various casts of the two major productions.
“Arielle, the Little Mermaid” starts in cinemas on May 25th.
