Disney has returned with a preschool iteration of “The Little Mermaid” and it has Taye Diggs voicing King Triton, 12-year-old Mykal-Michelle Harris holding her own as Ariel, and Amber Riley lending her voice to Ursula, the sea witch who is Ariel’s aunt.
Titled “Disney Jr’s Ariel”, it follows Ariel and her friends in Atlantica. Her world includes attending magic camp, which manifests in many life and educational lessons.
Ahead of the animation release, I got to chat with Diggs and Harris about their respective voice-over roles in a franchise that’s well-loved the world over.
The epitome of cool, Diggs said: “I feel very lucky and proud to be a part of a project like this. As everybody knows, King Triton is a major character in the film so obviously this character would be in the television programme as well.
“I take pride in the fact that, in our project, you get to see a different side of all these characters and it's been really fun digging into the fatherly side of the strong, all-ruling king.”
He added: “It’s been interesting to get more specific and see what it’s like to see a father and a daughter going through life challenges and triumphs.”
Interestingly, he completed his voice-over work in a studio by himself.
Diggs explained: “When you are watching the finished product it seems like we are all together when in actuality I’m in a studio by myself and listening to some people behind a screen telling me to be louder or softer. That is the magic of animation.
“When I’m by myself in the studio, it’s kind of freeing because I’m allowed to experiment and delve into a different kind of acting than I’m used to. That’s fun.
“It’s always cool when you get to experience new things and this is one of them.”
On the animation’s target audience, he added: “Me coming from music theatre, I’m a huge fan of singing and using song as a tool. So I think we have great music and the animation is top-notch.
“But most importantly for the preschoolers, they get an opportunity to see the characters they idolise in a more realistic fashion.”
Although he wasn’t at liberty to reveal what he has in the kitty, he did say, after joking that he was quitting, that he was shooting a movie, had just finished a series and was busy producing a few things as well.
Harris was just a ball of energy and such a delight to chat with, too.
She said: “I have always adored Disney princesses and Ariel is one of my favourites. And so I was just so excited to find out they were making a preschool version and that I get to voice Ariel.
“It’s so fulfilling. That dream that was so far out is now in front of me.”
Although she hasn’t bonded with the other cast in person, she said: “I have seen the first episode. To hear all their voices culminate in this beautiful project is incredible. It is so cool to be working with such big names.”
Harris added: “Being Ariel is so cool because I’ve not done a lot of voice-over work where I’m the titular character and so this being one of my titular character roles, I mean, come on …”
She continued: “I think that there are so many different things that you can take away from this iteration of Ariel like the beautiful colours, the culture, the food that you see with our chef Flounder (voiced by Gracen Newton), who is our main guy.
“There are so many lessons that it teaches, not just life lessons but also marine biology. We have Ms Danni Washington as Tantie Chantale, who is a marine biologist on the show. And she is a marine biologist off the show as well.
“It is so cool to also show a possible career path. It depends on who you are, what you like to see what and you take away from it. As an artist, I adore the character design and colours of this fantastical show.
“But some kids might enjoy the marine biology aspect, some kids might enjoy the lessons that they are taught. Some kids might like viewing the culture.”
∎ “Disney Jr’s Ariel” is streaming on Disney+.