'Disney Jr.'s Ariel'
Disney Junior
The Little Mermaid is back! Disney announced Wednesday (May 8) that its animated musical series Disney Jr.’s Ariel — inspired by the Little Mermaid movies — will arrive on the platform at 9 a.m. ET/PT on June 27 and the next day on Disney+.
Additionally, Billboard can exclusively reveal the fun-loving, adventure-filled theme song for the series below. Set in the Caribbean-inspired fairytale kingdom of Atlantica, the series follows mermaid princess Ariel (Mykal-Michelle Harris) as she embarks on underwater fun with her family and friends, including King Triton (Taye Diggs), Ursula (Amber Riley), Flounder (Gracen Newton) and mermaid friends Fernie (Cruz Flateau) and Lucia (Elizabeth Phoenix Caro).
In addition to the TV show, Walt Disney Records will release a digital soundtrack on June 28. Music is in integral part of the series, with Anthony M. Jones (Tone), Sofia Quinn, Olivia Waithe, Chantry Johnson, Michelle Zarlenga and Rosemarie Tan all part of the songwriting team; Emmy winner Christopher Willis as composer; and Sean Skeete, a dean at Berklee College of Music, the Caribbean music consultant. Plus, show-inspired items including dolls, playsets, role-play, costumes, apparel, books and more from Disney Consumer Products will be available for purchase this summer.
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Also on Wednesday, Yvette Nicole Brown (Community), Melissa Villaseñor (Saturday Night Live) and Ron Funches (Undateable) were announced as recurring cast members on the series.
In addition to the premiere episode airing June 27 on Disney Junior and later on Disney Channel, an initial batch of eight episodes will be available on Disney+ the following day (Friday, June 28). Plus, a new series of two-minute shorts, called Disney Jr.’s Ariel: Mermaid Tales, will be featured across Disney+, Disney Channel and Disney Jr. beginning Wednesday, June 5, to build excitement around the new show.
The new series comes about a year after Bailey starred as the classic Disney princess in the 2023 Little Mermaid live-action film. In the movie musical, the spirited mermaid swims to shore (against her father’s wishes) and saves a prince from drowning, ultimately making a deal with sea witch Ursula to become human. Jonah Hauer-King played Ariel’s love interest, Prince Eric. Melissa McCarthy starred as Ursula and Javier Bardem played King Triton, Ariel’s father and Ursula’s estranged brother. Daveed Diggs, Awkwafina and Jacob Tremblay rounded out the cast as Ariel’s friends Sebastian, Flounder and Scuttle.
Ariel is executive produced by Lynne Southerland and is produced by Wild Canary in association with Disney Jr. Watch the opening credits and hear the theme song exclusively via Billboard below.