Girl’s Reaction to the New ‘Little Mermaid’ Trailer Has Become an Instant Meme

Whenever Disney announces that it's going to be making a live-action remake of one of its classic animated films, folks almost always are up in arms. Sure, it doesn't help that these remakes are often lambasted as "soulless" or just reheating the ingredients of the films that inspired them, but sometimes, there's some greater social controversy associated with the flicks.

Like the Emma Watson Beauty and the Beast remake that purportedly made LeFou (Gaston's sidekick) gay, which a lot of people weren't happy about. Or that Ariel's character in the new Little Mermaid will be played by Halle Bailey, and there were a number of folks who were ornery that the fictional character is now being depicted by a black actress.

After the new trailer for The Little Mermaid dropped, tons of parents began uploading their kids' reactions to seeing the teaser footage, and judging from the TikToks, it seems like a lot of them are really stoked to see the movie.

Some of the reactions are providing moments of unintentional hilarity, like this one child's reaction which has instantly become a meme.

The post was originally uploaded by TikToker @kassielayne3, but it was re-uploaded by Twitter user @ParissAthena. In it, we see the original poster's child watching the trailer on TV, smiling as she looks at the screen. She does notice that she's being recorded, and gives several looks to the camera while doing so.

The one-liner she gives at the end of the clip is what has throngs of people on social media cracking up, however. She says: "Was it just me or was that Whitney Houston?"

One Twitter user, who posts under the handle @TheDejaKing wrote: "Nothing could’ve prepared meee that grown woman Southern accent, the awkward glances, Whitney Houston???, lmao what the hell is this omg"

Others just wanted to know how in the world a little child knows who Whitney Houston is, but a tweet with a screenshot from the comments section of @kassielayne3's now-viral TikTok written by her reads: "I did not expect this to be her reaction. I stopped filming & she told me she thought maybe they somehow made this in heaven. She loves Whitney."

Others thought that the viral moment was staged and that the very fact parents are uploading their kids' reactions to seeing the trailer was "racist."

"There’s nothing funny about this lol. You can clearly tell she was coached to say this. Everything is staged & corny due to social media."

"It’s rubbing me the wrong way that she even felt the need to record a blind reaction to something so normal is if it’s not just a woman with darker skin? It’s giving the opposite of what she intended"

Ever since debuting on September 9, 2022, the trailer has amassed over 12 million views (as of this writing) on Walt Disney's official YouTube channel. The movie is set to release on May 26, 2023. The official description is as follows: "The youngest of King Triton’s daughters, and the most defiant, Ariel longs to find out more about the world beyond the sea, and while visiting the surface, falls for the dashing Prince Eric. While mermaids are forbidden to interact with humans, Ariel must follow her heart. She makes a deal with the evil sea witch, Ursula, which gives her a chance to experience life on land, but ultimately places her life – and her father’s crown – in jeopardy."

The film also stars Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, Javier Bardem as King Triton, Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Daveed Diggs as Sebastian, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder, and Awkwafina as Scuttle.