With Disney steadily trickling out their real-life remakes of their animated classic over the past few years, redheads the world over have eagerly awaited news of The Little Mermaid. Who will step into the shoes (or should we say, tail) of redhead Princess Ariel??

The character has long been a symbol of ginger pride since the 1989 movie, which is based on Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytale of the same name, whose Ariel character actually had blonde hair (fun fact there).

And in an unexpected twist, it was announced by Disney that Princess Ariel’s character will be played by singer Halle Bailey, one half of duo Chloe x Halle.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Just Announced: Halle Bailey has been cast in the upcoming live-action reimagining of The Little Mermaid.

A post shared by Disney (@disney) on Jul 3, 2019 at 2:31pm PDT

As always, there is much discussion and debate on social media around these announcements. Everyone has their idea of Ariel and how she should appear, but while everyone expects her to follow a certain ‘look’, it’s refreshing to change things up.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

dream come true… 🧜🏽‍♀️🌊 #thelittlemermaid

A post shared by chloe x halle (@chloexhalle) on Jul 3, 2019 at 1:56pm PDT

Princess Ariel will always remain a ginger icon, and we wholeheartedly agree with Morgan Jarrett:

As a white-skinned redhead, I have very strong feelings about #TheLittleMermaid. Ariel changed my ginger world. The mean “jokes” ended. I became envied for my hair.

And you know what? I want little black girls to experience that same feeling with new Ariel. 👑

— Morgan Jarrett (@msmorganjarrett) July 3, 2019

As we know, red hair crosses all races, so who knows, maybe gingerness will still feature in the film. We can’t wait to find out!