Heartwarming clips of young Black girls reacting to Halle Bailey as The Little Mermaid are going viral

Four days ago, Disney shared the teaser trailer for the highly anticipated live action remake of childhood classic, The Little Mermaid.

The clip takes viewers on a journey under the sea, following just behind Ariel and giving glimpses of her tail swishing before cutting to actress Halle Bailey gently singing lines from Part Of Your World.

Iconic.

While the teaser has been watched over 7 million times on the Disney Instagram account alone, it isn't just millennials who are excited about the remake - it has also sparked a touching trend on social media.

Parents have been sharing heartwarming videos of their daughters 'blind reacting' to the trailer, and as the young girls realise that Ariel is being played by a Black actress they become visibly moved and excited - proving just how important representation is, and how much it matters.

Clips of young Black girls watching the teaser in awe have been going viral on Twitter, with one little girl telling her mother: 'Her skin... it looks like mine.'

Another young girl exclaimed: 'She's brown like me!'

Halle has responded to the reaction, taking to Twitter to repost one of the many videos and commenting: 'K I just sobbed watching this thanks... she's so sweet.'

She also shared a compilation video of several clips, writing: 'People have been sending these reactions to me all weekend and I'm truly in awe. This means the world to me.'

During an interview with Variety earlier this year, the 22 year old spoke about how her grandparents encouraged her to take the role and the importance it would hold for younger generations, saying: 'It was an inspiring and beautiful thing to hear their words of encouragement, telling me, "You don’t understand what this is doing for us, for our community, for all the little Black and brown girls who are going to see themselves in you."'

In July 2019, Halle was announced as the first Black actress to play Ariel, and since the release of the trailer Jodi Benson - who voiced the character in the 1989 animation - has praised the singer's performance, writing on Instagram: 'Halle, you were absolutely amazing! I'm SO proud of you and your beautiful performance as Ariel!'

Halle will be joined by Daveed Diggs voicing Sebastian, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder and Awkwafina as Scuttle.

The Little Mermaid will be released in May 2023.