Later this month, the remake of The Little Mermaid — which has made sad losers uncomfortable by casting a Black woman — will be out. Apart from this, some have questioned whether Melissa McCarthy will work as Ursula, and now, a new TV spot may prove it.
The above clip was recently released and at about 40 seconds in you can hear the 52-year-old Oscar-nominated actress doing the work previously made iconic by Pat Carroll in 1989. There is not much beyond a brief snippet, but, elsewhere in the footage it is clear McCarthy is echoing the character’s demeanor Carroll put out perfectly years ago and was partly inspired by drag artist Divine. Whether she will be as humorous or funny as the original remains to be seen, but, several on Twitter remain confident.
Elsewhere in the discourse, a critic who has seen the film early says McCarthy is perfect in the role. Others say she seems like she is having fun, and, for a different early viewer, her work is like something a chef would create in the kitchen as a masterpiece, too.
The remake of The Little Mermaid premieres May 26. In addition to McCarthy and lead Halle Bailey (who is thankfully not letting bigotry beat her), others in the cast include Jonah Hauer-King as Eric, Daveed Diggs as Sebastian and Javier Bardem’s King Triton. Jodi Benson, who gave life to Ariel in the original production, is expected to have a cameo somewhere in the final film. Here’s hoping people like the songs better than Ursula’s makeup and McCarthy’s opinion the character is just damaged, not evil.