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<h2>Luckily, the real Ariel is just as sweet as we imagined she&#39;d be.</h2><p>Jodi Benson, OG Ariel in the 1989 &quot;The Little Mermaid,&quot; has finally spoken about the choice to cast Halle Bailey in the live-action remake and what she had to say is pretty amazing. &quot;Bright young women, sick of swimmin&#39;, ready to stand?&quot; Hell yes.</p><p>Since the announcement of black singer and actress Halle Bailey portraying the redheaded pale skinned mythical creature of the sea, most people have been excited and supportive. After all, Halle is adorable and has the voice of an angel. Here&#39;s evidence:</p><div class="oembedall-container sec-iframe sec-oembed-iframe"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NotMyAriel?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NotMyAriel</a>? Watch this video of Halle Bailey singing &quot;Unforgettable&quot; and you can change your mind 😉 We think she&#39;s got the perfect voice for Ariel! <a href="https://t.co/g18KYnWRq2">pic.twitter.com/g18KYnWRq2</a></p>&mdash; Dumpling Says (@DumplingSays) <a href="https://twitter.com/DumplingSays/status/1146996423784685568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 5, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div className="ad-splitter"></div><p>However, the internet can bring out the most hateful of hateful people and some even went as far as to make a <a href="https://www.someecards.com/news/news/racists-use-science-why-ariel-white/">petition against Halle</a>. A petition. For a character that is half-fish...</p><p>Fear not, though, Jodi Benson set the record straight at a convention in Florida when she showed her support for Halle:</p><blockquote> <p>The most important thing is to tell the story. And we have, as a family, we have raised our children, and for ourselves, that we don&rsquo;t see anything that&rsquo;s different on the outside. I think that the spirit of a character is what really matters. What you bring to the table in a character as far as their heart, and their spirit, is what really counts. And the outside package&mdash;&#39;cause let&rsquo;s face it, I&rsquo;m really, really old&mdash;and so when I&rsquo;m singing &lsquo;Part of Your World,&rsquo; if you were to judge me on the way that I look on the outside, it might change the way that you interpret the song. But if you close your eyes, you can still hear the spirit of Ariel.</p> <p>We need to be storytellers. And no matter what we look like on the outside, no matter our race, our nation, the color of our skin, our dialect, whether I&rsquo;m tall or thin, whether I&rsquo;m overweight or underweight, or my hair is whatever color, we really need to tell the story. And that&rsquo;s what we want to do, we want to make a connection to the audience. So I know for Disney that they have the heart of storytelling, that&rsquo;s really what they&rsquo;re trying to do. They want to communicate with all of us in the audience so that we can fall in love with the film again.</p> <p> </p> </blockquote><div className="ad-splitter"></div><div class="oembedall-container sec-iframe sec-oembed-iframe"><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/BzmZo_2AR6i/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="13" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:16px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BzmZo_2AR6i/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;" target="_blank"> <div style=" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div></div></div><div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display:block; height:50px; margin:0 auto 12px; width:50px;"><svg width="50px" height="50px" viewbox="0 0 60 60" version="1.1" xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g stroke="none" stroke-width="1" fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"><g transform="translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)" fill="#000000"><g><path d="M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631"></path></g></g></g></svg></div><div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style=" color:#3897f0; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;"> View this post on Instagram</div></div><div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"><div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"></div></div><div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div> <div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)"></div></div><div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style=" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"></div> <div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"></div></div></div></a> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BzmZo_2AR6i/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Leave it to the voice of Ariel herself, @jodi.benson to give an insightful, thoughtful response when asked her thoughts about an African-American actress being cast to play Ariel in the upcoming live-action version of &#34;The Little Mermaid&#34; at her @floridasupercon panel yesterday (Scroll through to see full response in 2 videos). She really put things in perspective! 👏👏👏 (PLEASE ONLY REPOST WITH CREDIT!) . . #jodibenson #littlemermaid #thelittlemermaid #ariel #princessariel #hallebailey #chloexhalle #thelittlemermaidliveaction #waltdisneystudios #disneystudios @disneystudios #disneyliveaction #mermaid #disneyprincess #dreambigprincess #disneyprincesses #partofyourworld #voiceactor #voiceover #voiceactors #mermaids #underthesea #mermaidlove #lapetitesirene #lasirenita #disneymovie #floridasupercon #instadisney #disneygram #disneyig #disney</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/part.of.my.disney.world/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px;" target="_blank"> Lauren Marshall</a> (@part.of.my.disney.world) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2019-07-07T03:12:32+00:00">Jul 6, 2019 at 8:12pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote></div><div className="ad-splitter"></div><div class="oembedall-container sec-iframe sec-oembed-iframe"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Jodi Benson won&#39;t have any of your racist nonsense <a href="https://t.co/W1cRXW9vG3">https://t.co/W1cRXW9vG3</a></p>&mdash; Toongrrl (@Toongrrl1990) <a href="https://twitter.com/Toongrrl1990/status/1148446485031182337?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 9, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div className="ad-splitter"></div><p>Jodi, princess of the land and sea, thank you for passing the Ariel torch with such grace. While the haters get their act together, please enjoy this video of Jodi Benson surprising a hardcore &quot;Little Mermaid&quot; fan at her wedding by singing &quot;Part of Your World.&quot; It&#39;s ok, we&#39;re all crying...</p><div><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RbH0OADz13o" width="560"></iframe></div><div className="ad-splitter"></div>

The original Ariel, Jodi Benson, responds to critics of new Ariel, Halle Bailey.

Luckily, the real Ariel is just as sweet as we imagined she&#39;d be.Jodi Benson, OG Ariel in the 1989 &quot;The Little Mermaid,&quot; has finally spoken about the choice to cast Halle Bailey in the live-action remake and what she had to say is pretty amazing. &quot;Bright young women, sick of swimmin&#39;, ready to stand?&quot; Hell yes.Since the announcement of black singer and actress Halle Bailey portraying the redheaded pale skinned mythical creature of the sea, most people have been excited and supportive. After all, Halle is adorable and has the voice of an angel. Here&#39;s evidence:#NotMyAriel? Watch this video of Halle Bailey singing &quot;Unforgettable&quot; and you can change your mind 😉 We think she&#39;s got the perfect voice for Ariel! pic.twitter.com/g18KYnWRq2&mdash; Dumpling Says (@DumplingSays) July 5, 2019 However, the internet can bring out the most hateful of hateful people and some even went as far as to make a petition against Halle. A petition. For a character that is half-fish...Fear not, though, Jodi Benson set the record straight at a convention in Florida when she showed her support for Halle: The most important thing is to tell the story. And we have, as a family, we have raised our children, and for ourselves, that we don&rsquo;t see anything that&rsquo;s different on the outside. I think that the spirit of a character is what really matters. What you bring to the table in a character as far as their heart, and their spirit, is what really counts. And the outside package&mdash;&#39;cause let&rsquo;s face it, I&rsquo;m really, really old&mdash;and so when I&rsquo;m singing &lsquo;Part of Your World,&rsquo; if you were to judge me on the way that I look on the outside, it might change the way that you interpret the song. But if you close your eyes, you can still hear the spirit of Ariel. We need to be storytellers. And no matter what we look like on the outside, no matter our race, our nation, the color of our skin, our dialect, whether I&rsquo;m tall or thin, whether I&rsquo;m overweight or underweight, or my hair is whatever color, we really need to tell the story. And that&rsquo;s what we want to do, we want to make a connection to the audience. So I know for Disney that they have the heart of storytelling, that&rsquo;s really what they&rsquo;re trying to do. They want to communicate with all of us in the audience so that we can fall in love with the film again.            View this post on Instagram           Leave it to the voice of Ariel herself, @jodi.benson to give an insightful, thoughtful response when asked her thoughts about an African-American actress being cast to play Ariel in the upcoming live-action version of &#34;The Little Mermaid&#34; at her @floridasupercon panel yesterday (Scroll through to see full response in 2 videos). She really put things in perspective! 👏👏👏 (PLEASE ONLY REPOST WITH CREDIT!) . . #jodibenson #littlemermaid #thelittlemermaid #ariel #princessariel #hallebailey #chloexhalle #thelittlemermaidliveaction #waltdisneystudios #disneystudios @disneystudios #disneyliveaction #mermaid #disneyprincess #dreambigprincess #disneyprincesses #partofyourworld #voiceactor #voiceover #voiceactors #mermaids #underthesea #mermaidlove #lapetitesirene #lasirenita #disneymovie #floridasupercon #instadisney #disneygram #disneyig #disney A post shared by  Lauren Marshall (@part.of.my.disney.world) on Jul 6, 2019 at 8:12pm PDTJodi Benson won&#39;t have any of your racist nonsense https://t.co/W1cRXW9vG3&mdash; Toongrrl (@Toongrrl1990) July 9, 2019 Jodi, princess of the land and sea, thank you for passing the Ariel torch with such grace. While the haters get their act together, please enjoy this video of Jodi Benson surprising a hardcore &quot;Little Mermaid&quot; fan at her wedding by singing &quot;Part of Your World.&quot; It&#39;s ok, we&#39;re all crying...

Luckily, the real Ariel is just as sweet as we imagined she&#39;d be.  Jodi Benson, OG Ariel in the 1989 &quot;The Little Mermaid,&quot; has finally spoken about the choice to cast Halle Bailey in the live-action remake and what she had to...