'Little Mermaid' is an upcoming fantasy-adventure and romance film featuring Chloe Grace Moretz as a "progressive" and relatable blonde Ariel. The announcement for her hair color gained online criticism from fans of the original Disney film that featured Ariel with red hair. Hans Christian Andersen's original fairytale did not specify hair color and proved the argument invalid.
According to Teen Vogue, Moretz admitted during an interview with Entertainment Tonight that she will keep her hair blonde for her new role as the iconic Disney princess Ariel. Ariel is best-known as a bubbly, naïve and ultimately red-headed mermaid in Disney's animated adaptation of the fairytale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen.
When the 18-year old actress was asked to elaborate further on her revisionist take on the popular undersea princess, she explained that her Ariel will be more "progressive for young women in this day and age". Moretz seemed to favor adapting Ariel's original hair color for the new film saying, "No - I want red hair!" but added, "We're going over the Hans Christian Andersen novels, so I'll actually have blonde hair." According to Metro, several fans of the original 1989 Disney film erupted in criticism online calling for an auburn-haired heroine.
In defense of the upcoming film, Andersen's novel did not specify the female protagonist's actual hair color. His fairytale was first published in 1837 and since then had been adapted into theater productions as well as in animated film. It told the story of a young mermaid sacrificing the life she once knew in order to become human and live among the land-dwellers.
According to Tech Times, it was only in Disney's animated film that audiences were introduced to a red-haired mermaid. Andersen's original novel only described his heroine as "[The] youngest was the most beautiful of them all. Her skin was as soft and tender as a rose petal, and her eyes were as blue as the deep sea, but like all the others she had no feet." No mention of hair was made.
'Little Mermaid' is an upcoming live-action adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's fairytale of the same name starring Chloe Grace Moretz in the titular role. It is scheduled to be released sometime in 2017 and will be directed by Rebecca Thomas.
