Disney Junior

“The Little Mermaid” Animated Show Greenlit By Disney

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The Little Mermaid, Disney’s Halle Bailey-led live-action remake of the 1989 animated classic, has been a huge success. At the time of writing, the film has made just under $418 million worldwide since its May 24 release. Despite underwhelming performances in East Asian markets, Disney has yet another smash hit on their hands. By comparison, the original film made $211 million. Currently, The Little Mermaid is the 76th highest grossing Disney film of all time. However, the poor Asian perfomance may prevent the film from crossing the billion-dollar mark. All of Disney’s other live action remakes, The Lion King, Aladdin, and Beauty and the Beast, all made at least $1 Billion at the box office.

One response to this is rumors of more live-action remakes. Most recently, film outlets are reporting that Disney is moving forward with a live-action remake of Bambi. However, it appears that Disney is also eager to capitalize on the newfound appeal of its Little Mermaid IP. This means that fans are about to get a lot more of the reimagined character.

Little Mermaid Prequel Greenlit on Disney Junior

Multiple outlets have reported that Disney has greenlit Ariel, a new animated series that will serve as a prequel to The Little Mermaid. Aimed at a preschool audience and premiering on Disney Junior, Ariel will follow the eponymous mermaid princess during her early years. The show will reportedly include appearances from the likes of King Triton, Ursula, Flounder, and other fan-favorite characters.

The show is in the earliest stages of development and will be impacted by the ongoing WGA strike. Therefore, very few details are known about the project. However, due to the jump back in time, it’s unlikely that Halle Bailey will be returning to the project. It’s one of several projects that Disney has commissioned in line with the release of The Little Mermaid. A number of books depicting a Black Ariel have also been released. No release window for the show has been announced. Furthermore, as mentioned, unless work was already completed, the WGA strike will hold up development on this project. Follow all the latest entertainment news here at HotNewHipHop.

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The Roots’ Questlove And Black Thought Are Teaming With Disney Junior For An Animated Short Series

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Questlove and Black Thought both keep themselves plenty busy outside of The Roots, and now the pair is teaming up for yet another new endeavor. This time, it’s Rise Up, Sing Out, a series of animated shorts they’re making with Disney Junior.

The series, which is set to premiere later in 2021, will feature music from the pair. Press materials describe the show, “Presenting important concepts around race, racism and social justice for the youngest viewers, the series consists of music-based shorts that are designed to provide an inspiring and empowering message about noticing and celebrating differences and providing a framework for conversation.”

In a joint statement, Questlove and Black Thought said, “It is an honor to work with the Disney Junior team to help create a series of shorts that will empower and uplift the future generations in the way we know best, through music. We hope these shorts will encourage the young audience to recognize and celebrate our differences as human beings while learning the tools to navigate real-world issues of racial injustice.”

Joe D’Ambrosia — senior vice president, Original Programming and general manager, Disney Junior — also said, “We recognize that many kids are experiencing a multitude of feelings around what’s happening in our world today and know that many families are struggling with how to discuss sensitive issues around race. Our goal with these shorts is to open up the conversation and provide families with the tools and knowledge to address these important topics with their preschoolers in an age-appropriate manner through music and relatable kid experiences.”