PT Entertainment
Is Mickey Mouse on Team Meghan?
A reviewer who saw an early screening of Disney’s new remake of “The Little Mermaid” tells Page Six that it seems to dip a toe (or a fin?) into the Megxit debacle — and even contains what appears to be a dig at Kate Middleton.
The critic tells us that the film seems to draw a number of subtle yet plausible comparisons between Meghan Markle and Prince Harry on the one hand and the two lead characters, Ariel (who is Black in the new version) and Prince Eric (who is white), on the other.
But one scene in particular seems to get pretty literal. “Ariel has sacrificed her voice in order to get to the surface and [meet] Prince Eric. She can’t speak so he tries to guess her name,” they told us. “His first guess is Diana. His second guess is Catherine, but after [Ariel gives a disgusted] reaction, he [concludes] ‘OK, definitely not Catherine.’”
Our cinematic spy says there’s nothing in the movie’s internal logic to otherwise explain the mermaid’s extreme response, and, they add, “Disney would be disingenuous to imply those name choices were coincidental.” (Needless to say, Diana is the name of Prince Harry’s late mother and Catherine is the full name of his sister-in-law, the Princess of Wales, a.k.a., Kate Middleton, who is widely seen as Markle’s real-life nemesis in the ongoing saga of Meghan and Harry’s exit from royal duties).
Meanwhile, in her notorious 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Markle herself said she identified with the mermaid.
During “Meghan and Harry: A CBS Primetime Special” she recalled watching the classic 1989 animation during her troubled time in the UK after her 2018 wedding to Harry. “I went, ‘Oh my God, she falls in love with the prince and because of that she loses her voice,’” Markle said.
In the new fishy flick, Ariel is played by Halle Bailey and Johan Hauer-King plays Prince Eric. Melissa McCarthy plays villain Ursula this time around.
Markle was on dry land Tuesday night, being honored at the Ms. Foundation Gala in New York.
The movie is out on May 26.
