Disney Greenlights ‘Disney Junior’s Ariel’ Animated Series Inspired By ‘The Little Mermaid’

Joe Otterson TV Reporter An “Among Us” animated series is in the works at CBS Studios, Variety has learned exclusively. The studio, via CBS Eye Animation Productions, has partnered with Innersloth, the independent game studio behind “Among Us,” to develop the series. Owen Dennis will serve as creator and executive producer on the project under his overall deal with CBS Studios. Per the official logline, the series is based on the premise of the game, namely, “Members of your crew have been replaced by an alien shapeshifter intent on causing confusion, sabotaging the ship, and killing everyone. Root out the ‘Impostor’ or fall victim to its murderous designs.”

“The Little Mermaid,” the racial vitriol automatically comes with the territory. Even in an age where we watched Meghan Markle become a literal Princess and a member of the royal family with our own two eyes, the heated conversation around race rages onward.Whether it’s an album cover, film or TikTok dance, the racism, misogyny, and obsessive comments over what Black people can and can not become is exhausting and unnecessary.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent ANNECY —  In what looks like one of the biggest announcements at this year’s Annecy Animation Festival, Disney Branded Television has greenlit a new animated series for preschoolers, “Disney Junior’s Ariel,” inspired by the hugely popular story of “The Little Mermaid.”  The announcement is set to be made today by Ayo Davis, president of Disney Branded Television, during the Annecy Animation Festival, at a new project and sneak peak picked presentation across the upcoming slate of Disney Branded Television and Disney EMEA titles. The new series follows a young Ariel and features fan-favorite characters, including King Triton, Ursula, Sebastian and Flounder, as well as exciting new additions. “Disney Junior’s Ariel” is set to debut on Disney platforms worldwide in 2024.

Marta Balaga Disney Branded Television and Disney Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) looks set to reveal a slew of new titles at France’s Annecy Animation Festival. Apart from “Disney Junior’s Ariel,” a new series inspired by “The Little Mermaid,” pre-school adventure series “Magicampers” has also been greenlit.  Set at a day camp for magical creatures – its protagonists, Darly and Loomis, are half-pig and half-Pegasus, and half-donkey and half-unicorn – and created by Obie Scott Wade, it’s set to premiere globally on Disney+ and Disney Junior next year.

If you’ve not headed to your nearest cinema to catch The Little Mermaid yet, make sure you’re prepared with enough tissues to see you through. Disney’s live-action adaptation of the 1989 animated film was released last Friday, and even though it’s only been out for a week, it's already amassed more than $209 million at the box office and is currently sitting at the top spot as the number one movie in the world. Starring Halle Bailey as Ariel and Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, the film retells the classic fairytale of a mermaid who wants to know what life is like above the sea.

Naman Ramachandran Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” made a splashy debut at the U.K. and Ireland box office, topping the charts with £5 million ($6.2 million), per numbers from Comscore. In its second weekend, Universal’s “Fast X” held strong with £2.2 million in second place for a total of £10.2 million. In third position, in its fourth weekend, Disney’s “Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3” collected £1.5 million for a total of £31.6 million. Universal’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” earned £292,155 in fourth place in its eighth weekend for a total of £52.2 million. Warner Bros.’ “Hypnotic” rounded off the top five debuting with £217,252.

SPOILER ALERT: This interview includes details about Disney’s The Little Mermaid

had a multiverse long before they acquired Marvel: An unofficial House of Mouse detective sent shockwaves through Disney fandom after floating a rather dark fan theory that links the 1989 animated “Little Mermaid” with 1953’s “Peter Pan,” as seen in a TikTok clip with 6.6 million views.“I can’t believe I just noticed this In The Little Mermaid,” self-proclaimed “movie detective” Ivan Mars exclaimed in the caption to the vid. He frequently posts film-based conspiracy theories to his 2 million TikTok followers like some sort of cinematic “Da Vinci Code” — although users point out that many of his theories originated on Reddit.The latest target for Mars’ cinematic tinfoil hat was the animated “Little Mermaid,” a film that’s been revived in the public conscious with the release of the divisive, live-action adaptation starring Halle Bailey, 23, which took home $48.3 million on its opening night Friday.He specifically posited that Ariel’s mother Athena — who was killed by pirates, per the 2008 sequel “the Little Mermaid III” — was also in “Peter Pan.” Accompanying footage shows a scene from the 1953 classic, in which Pan cavorts with a red-headed dead ringer for Ariel in the Mermaid Lagoon, which coincidentally shares a name with the place where Athena was attacked in the aforementioned sequel.Due to the 36-year gap between “The Little Mermaid” and “Peter Pan,” fans have speculated that a young Athena would’ve probably looked a lot like her daughter at the time, according to Reddit.And given her demise at the hands of pirates, fans suspected that Pan baddie Captain Hook may been to blame.

Amid racist backlash toward Disney’s live-action remake of “The Little Mermaid”, Halle Bailey just received some love from singer and actress, Stephanie Mills, who originated Dorothy in The Wiz on Broadway.

this weekend! Halle Bailey, who plays Disney's live-action Princess Ariel, also went to see the movie incognito over the film's historic opening weekend.In a TikTok shared on Sunday, the 23-year-old star revealed how she remained undetected by fans, wearing sunglasses and a face mask. Bailey was able to snag a bucket of popcorn — decked out to celebrate the 's premiere of course — and get into a screening of the movie without anyone realizing who she was.

Paloma Faith, a singer and actress in shows like Pennyworth and Dangerous Liaisons, watched The Little Mermaid over the weekend and is calling out the storyline.

practicing to be a mermaid since she was a kid) or belting the ballad “Part of Your World.” Instead, she lists her castmates’ musical numbers: “Jonah [Hauer-King, who plays Prince Eric, his] song is wonderful — ‘Wild Uncharted Waters’ — his performance of that is iconic. And then ‘The Scuttlebutt’ is amazing.

“The Little Mermaid,” but not for any reason you’re likely imagining. Twitter users criticized the publication and critic Wesley Morris for saying that the children’s movie lacked “kink.”“Disney’s live-action remake of ‘The Little Mermaid,’ with Halle Bailey starring as Ariel and a diverse cast, ‘reeks of obligation and noble intentions,’ Wesley Morris writes,” the viral tweet read.

Melissa McCarthy and Javier Bardem are well aware of how iconic and beloved their roles in Disney’s live-action “The Little Mermaid” film are — and they were more than prepared to do them justice.

Refresh for latest…: Disney’s live-action take on The Little Mermaid is doing swimmingly at the domestic box office, with a three-day opening of $95.5M and a four-day projection of $117.5M. Factoring in the international box office bow of $68.3M, that makes for an estimated $163.8M global debut through Sunday. The offshore launch is lower than hoped for coming into the frame. But it bears noting there was something fishy going on in overseas markets with so-called review-bombing in such areas as France, Korea, Germany and beyond.

according to IMDB’s Box Office Mojo.It is expected to enjoy a $104 million three-day weekend, according to Deadline.The Post called the flick, produced in part by Lin-Manuel Miranda, “more lifeless than far better two-dimensional painted drawings.”“Fast X,” which was in the No. 1 spot last Friday, slowed down to second, with $6.3 million in sales.The 11-title “Fast and Furious” franchise already sped past $7 billion in the global box office.

The Little Mermaid” is making quite the splash at the domestic box office this weekend, with an opening day total of $38 million. The fantasy, which is opening in 4,320 theaters, is expected to gross between $120 million and $130 million over the four-day Memorial Day weekend. The musical remake, starring Halle Bailey as the mermaid princess Ariel, took in $10.3 million in previews on Thursday, ranking as the seventh-highest haul for a movie rated G or PG. That puts the film on track to gross well over $100 million over the holiday weekend. With a $250 million production budget, “The Little Mermaid” must bait box office success in order to make a reasonable return.

Halle Bailey is displaying some PDA! As  hits theaters, the film's 23-year-old star took to TikTok to share a video of her jumping into her boyfriend, rapper DDG's, arms and giving him a kiss.Bailey set the video, which she posted in celebration of the end of her press tour, to a remixed clip of Beyoncé singing, «I am going to see my husband / I'm happy, I'm happy, to see my husband.»«On my last day of press like...» Bailey wrote alongside the clip, adding laughing and winking emojis.on my last day of press like…

 gives audiences a mix of their favorite classics with modern tweaks, including three new songs and several updates to the soundtrack's iconic tunes.The music reflects the film's refreshed story, which director Rob Marshall, producer John DeLuca, and screenwriter David Magee have explained they tweaked to implement specific changes showcasing a more modern Disney princess, addressing criticism that the original film featured a young woman who was too wrapped up in a man, and giving Ariel more agency.The soundtrack features the vocal talents of the film's new cast, including GRAMMY-nominated singer Halle Bailey as the titular mermaid, Princess Ariel, Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, and Javier Bardem as King Triton, with Daveed Diggs as the voice of Sebastian the crab, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder, and Awkwafina as Scuttle.Lin-Manuel Miranda, who teamed up with legendary composer-songwriter Alan Menken to write the film's new songs, previously told ET that «getting to write music for these characters that are probably the reason I started writing musicals in the first place, was actually easier than I thought.»«But the hardest part was my own intimidation working with Alan Menken, and that was entirely self-imposed,» acknowledged Miranda, who also serves as a producer on the film, alongside Marc Platt. «But when it came to how these characters speak and what they say, I've known that all my life.