Halle Bailey takes on "Part Of Your World" in the first teaser for The Little Mermaid

The first minute or so of Disney’s new teaser trailer for its live-action version of The Little Mermaid plays koi—ah, fish puns—with its protagonist Ariel, giving us only a few glimpses of singer and actor Halle Bailey as she and her CGI fish tail flit through an underwater world. But then, as the soundtrack hits one of its big moments, the trailer drops all that sneaky pretense, and instead gives fans exactly what they were presumably hoping to see (and hear) from the first real glimpses at the film: Bailey, front and center, unleashing her take on Howard Ashman and Alan Menken’s classic “Part Of Your World.”

It’s an impressive, big showing from Bailey, who was cast in the film back in 2019—a move that brought the same chuds out of the woodwork who always complain when people of color are cast in roles that were once depicted as white. At the very least, we’re pretty sure it’ll be harder for anyone to credibly argue that Bailey can’t handle her singing duties on the film.

Otherwise, The Little Mermaid looks basically okay: The film, directed by Rob Marshall, was always going to be a pretty CGI-heavy affair, what with the whole “making it look like our actors are underwater, and also mermaids, for half the movie” thing. The effects on display in the trailer aren’t earth-moving or anything, but there’s also nothing in there that immediately makes the eye recoil.

The Little Mermaid is currently swimming its way toward a May 2023 release date. In addition to Bailey, the film also stars Jonah Hauer-King, Javier Bardem, and Melissa McCarthy, plus Daveed Diggs, Jacob Tremblay, and Awkwafina as the voices of animal pals Sebastian, Flounder, and Scuttle, respectively.