Yara Shahidi Said It's "Beautiful" That People Will Watch The New Disney Classics And "Feel Included In This Fairy Tale"

In case you missed it, there's been some BIG Disney news lately.

GIF of the animated version of the Little Mermaid swimming with Sebastian and fishes
GIF of the animated version of the Little Mermaid swimming with Sebastian and fishes

Disney

The teaser trailer for Peter Pan & Wendy came out two weeks ago, and we got our first look at Yara Shahidi as Tinker Bell!

Yara as Tinker Bell. Tinker Bell is wearing the familiar strapless green dress and has translucent wings
Disney

And the first full-length trailer for The Little Mermaid dropped Sunday, getting us even more excited to watch Halle Bailey as Ariel!

Halle as Ariel looking up
Disney

Yara and Halle are the first Black women to play Tinker Bell and Ariel onscreen — a huge win for Disney fans. They were both awesome in Grown-ish, and it's so cool that they're breaking barriers at the same time.

Halle and Yara arm in arm on the red carpet
Paras Griffin / Getty Images for Essence

Last night, Yara told the Hollywood Reporter that she's "so excited" to see Halle in this role: "If there’s anybody that is a princess just in real life, in the world, it’s Halle."

Halle smiling and waving in a sleeveless tulle dress
Mike Coppola / Getty Images

She added that her playing Ariel "made so much sense."

Halle as Ariel perched on a rock
Disney

Yara said that despite all the racist backlash they've both received, "What’s been beautiful is seeing the response to both of our characters and seeing how many people feel included in this fairy tale, while also maintaining the magic that we love in the first place."

Yara smiling in an off-the-shoulder flared gown
Rich Fury / Getty Images

She concluded, "I think oftentimes, people think of diversity and inclusion as threatening or jeopardizing the quality of the story, instead of seeing how beautifully they can be interwoven together to create something that impacts even more people, that lets even more people into stories that we love."

Close-up of Yara in an ornate outfit
Frazer Harrison / Getty Images

You can watch the teaser trailer for Peter Pan & Wendy here:

And the full-length trailer for The Little Mermaid here: