Melissa McCarthy talks Ursula, ‘The Little Mermaid’

has changed its rating system for the newly-released live-action “Little Mermaid” amid “unusual voting activity.”The Halle Bailey-led film has a 7/10 rating on the site. But a few crabby users — also known as review bombers — are allegedly giving the Disney flick negative scores for no good reason.“Our rating mechanism has detected unusual voting activity on this title.

Unless you’ve been living under a pop culture rock for the last couple of months, you’ll know that Disney’s live-action adaptation of the 1989 classic, The Little Mermaid has just dropped in cinemas. Everywhere. Starring Halle Bailey as Ariel, Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric and Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, there was no holding back on any aspect of this film.

Amazon’s Alexa will no longer sound like Samuel L. Jackson and Melissa McCarthy.

SPOILER ALERT: This interview includes details about Disney’s The Little Mermaid

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Alexa will no longer swear a blue streak for you in the voice of Samuel L. Jackson. Amazon has discontinued sales of the special Alexa celebrity-voice add-on packs from Jackson, Melissa McCarthy and Shaquille O’Neal, which have been able to tell jokes, report on the weather and deliver other responses to users of Alexa-enabled devices. According to notices on Amazon’s site, the trio of Alexa celebrity voice “personalities” are no longer available for purchase. The Alexa celebrity voice packs had cost $4.99 each. For customers who already bought them, the Alexa voices for McCarthy and Shaq are set to expire on Sept. 30, 2023, while the Jackson voice add-on for Alexa was deactivated as of April 30.

The Little Mermaid makeup artist is clapping back at hate over Ursula’s new look!

The Little Mermaid 's live-action remake of the 1989 animated classic has once again faced criticism, this time for its makeup choices. Disney received backlash when a timelapse video showcasing Ursula's makeup was shared, drawing negative comments from drag queens.The clip, posted on Twitter last week, sparked a debate among drag performers who argued that Melissa McCarthy's makeup should have been done by an LGBTQ+ artist.

Clapping back. The Little Mermaid makeup artist Peter Smith King is responding to backlash over Melissa McCarthy’s transformation into Ursula.   

The makeup artist behind Melissa McCarthy’s Ursula transformation is clapping back at critics.

“The Little Mermaid” made moviegoers want to be under the sea on Memorial Day weekend.

McKinley Franklin editor “The Little Mermaid” makeup designer Peter Smith King has responded to criticisms of the revamped Ursula look that Melissa McCarthy brings to life in the new live-action remake, specifically contending against a belief that a queer artist should have landed the job. Rob Minkoff, the character animator of the original 1989 film, pulled reference from the late drag performer Divine for Ursula. When speaking with Time, Minkoff said “Divine seemed like such a great, larger-than-life character, and it just seemed like a funny and quirky idea to take [Ursula] and treat her more like a drag queen.” Since the first footage of McCarthy’s Ursula was revealed, King’s iteration of the aquatic villain has been met with criticism from some drag performers. “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Season 14 contestant Kerri Colby responded to a video on Twitter, stating that “[this is] absolutely why we should hire up and coming queer artists with a pulse on the present and a vision for the future more often.”

A whole new generation of little girls are falling in love with “The Little Mermaid” and that’s thanks to Halle Bailey.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Thirty five years after the animated story of Ariel, a flame-haired siren of the sea who falls for a prince, charmed audiences, a live-action remake of “The Little Mermaid” dominated the Memorial Day weekend box office. The Disney release is on track to debut to a massive $118 million over the four-day holiday, with $96 million of that coming over the weekend. It ranks as the fifth highest Memorial Day opening in history. The film got a lift from many of the same moviegoers who first fell in love with Ariel when she flitted across the screen in 1988, as well as from the generations of fans who weren’t alive when the original movie opened, but who were nevertheless weaned on the classic from its various appearances on DVD, television, and later streaming. The live action “Little Mermaid” (and “live action” is doing a lot of lifting here considering the sheer tonnage of CGI required to bring Ariel’s ocean home to life), was directed by Rob Marshall and stars Halle Bailey as the title character. Melissa McCarthy plays Ursula, the malevolent sea witch who steals Ariel’s voice in return for giving her legs and a chance to canoodle with the dreamy Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King). Javier Badem, Awkwafina and Daveed Diggs round out the ensemble.

Melissa McCarthy‘s makeup artist for The Little Mermaid is responding to critiques of her appearance in the movie.

Charna Flam The Icons for the 2023 WeHo Pride Parade are Melissa McCarthy, “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” Laith Ashley, Niecy Nash-Betts and Jessica Betts, announced the city of West Hollywood and WeHo Pride producer JJLA, Jeff Consoletti. The recipients have been honored with the Drag Icon Award, the Breakthrough Icon Award, the Trailblazer Icon award and the Ally Icon award. Laith Ashley, a model, actor and activist has been named this year’s Breakthrough Icon Award. In 2017, Laith was the first transgender man to be featured in an ad campaign. Following his historic campaign, Laith starred in Taylor Swift’s “Lavender Haze” music video and volunteers for the FLUX nonprofit and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s transgender division.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor To bring Disney’s iconic mermaid princess Ariel to life in “The Little Mermaid,” costume designer Colleen Atwood constructed a life-sized tail that went from star Halle Bailey’s chest all the way down past her legs. “We made it to scale and 3D silk-screened the tail and painted onto that so you could get the nuance of the colors,” Atwood says. “We used different layers of sheer material, which gave the tail and scales an iridescent effect.” Her biggest challenge was blending the tail’s scales into Bailey’s skin. “I solved that by putting little fins made of fabric so there was a delineation between where the fish ended and the skin began,” she says.

The Little Mermaid” is making quite the splash at the domestic box office this weekend, with an opening day total of $38 million. The fantasy, which is opening in 4,320 theaters, is expected to gross between $120 million and $130 million over the four-day Memorial Day weekend. The musical remake, starring Halle Bailey as the mermaid princess Ariel, took in $10.3 million in previews on Thursday, ranking as the seventh-highest haul for a movie rated G or PG. That puts the film on track to gross well over $100 million over the holiday weekend. With a $250 million production budget, “The Little Mermaid” must bait box office success in order to make a reasonable return.

Halle Bailey looks amazing in The Little Mermaid, but her hair carried a hefty price tag.

 gives audiences a mix of their favorite classics with modern tweaks, including three new songs and several updates to the soundtrack's iconic tunes.The music reflects the film's refreshed story, which director Rob Marshall, producer John DeLuca, and screenwriter David Magee have explained they tweaked to implement specific changes showcasing a more modern Disney princess, addressing criticism that the original film featured a young woman who was too wrapped up in a man, and giving Ariel more agency.The soundtrack features the vocal talents of the film's new cast, including GRAMMY-nominated singer Halle Bailey as the titular mermaid, Princess Ariel, Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, and Javier Bardem as King Triton, with Daveed Diggs as the voice of Sebastian the crab, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder, and Awkwafina as Scuttle.Lin-Manuel Miranda, who teamed up with legendary composer-songwriter Alan Menken to write the film's new songs, previously told ET that «getting to write music for these characters that are probably the reason I started writing musicals in the first place, was actually easier than I thought.»«But the hardest part was my own intimidation working with Alan Menken, and that was entirely self-imposed,» acknowledged Miranda, who also serves as a producer on the film, alongside Marc Platt. «But when it came to how these characters speak and what they say, I've known that all my life.

is giving viewers the classic fairytale with several modern-day tweaks. The Rob Marshall-directed musical stars Halle Bailey as the titular, headstrong princess, a drastic departure from her previous depiction that initially garnered racist backlash.But Bailey's casting is only one of the changes made to the new live-action adaptation, which also stars Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, and Javier Bardem as King Triton, with Daveed Diggs as the voice of Sebastian the crab, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder, and Awkwafina as Scuttle.Here are 15 ways the remake differs from the original.

There’s a new Disney villain in town. Jessica Alexander stars as Vanessa, the human alter ego of Melissa McCarthy’s Ursula, in The Little Mermaid.