The Little Mermaid: POC Disabled Mermaid

Disney's mermaid character who was a person of color and disabled.

In The Little Mermaid: The Series (1992-1994), Ariel met a Latina deaf and mute mermaid named Gabriella. She appeared in two episodes and had her octopus, Ollie, as an interpreter of her sign language. The animators added her into the series to honor Gabriella Angelina Bommino, a 2-year-old who was a huge Ariel fan that ended up losing a battle with leukemia in 1993. They intended to show what Gabriella would have looked like as a teen.

In the episode "Wish Upon a Starfish," Ariel meets Gabriella and they go on a quest to find a starfish that grants a wish. Gabriella wished to be able to sing. It was released in season 2 as episode 6 on October 16, 1993.


In the episode "Ariel's Treasures," Ariel meets Gabriella again and shows her all of her treasures, including the new eggbeater that she finds. But Ursula had placed a curse on it. It was released in season 3 as episode 7 on October 29, 1994.


Link to the article about Gabriella Angelina Bommino.

If you liked this fun fact, you should check out my book which has over 3,700 fun facts in it about Disneyland, California Adventure, and Disney Movies.

www.DisneyGuy.org

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why Aren’t All of Them Disney Princesses? (updated 2023)

Image
Disney Princesses is a Walt Disney Company franchise, based on fictional characters that have been featured as part of the Disney character line-up. When Disney started the Princess Collection in 2001, these were the already-existing eight princesses that are still in the collection today: Snow White , Cinderella , Aurora , Ariel , Belle , Jasmine , Pocahontas , and Mulan . They weren’t the only ones in the original collection though. In the beginning, Tinker Bell, Esmeralda, Megara, Alice, and Jane Porter were all in the collection but were later removed as the guidelines for the princess requirements were refined. Tinker Bell left to start the Disney Fairies franchise. So, who is considered a Disney Princess in the eyes of Disney? This list is taken straight from Disney’s website www.Princess.Disney.com The official list consists only of these 13 princesses; 1.  Snow White      2.   Cinderella      3.  Aurora      4.   Ariel      5.   Belle 6
Read more

DISNEYLAND: Pirates of the Caribbean - History Of The Redhead and Female Pirates

Image
*Article was written on June 30, 2017 Disney is planning on changing the infamous Auctioneer scene in Disneyland’s Pirates of the Caribbean in 2018, along with Disney World’s Pirates. We get the frequently spoken line  “We wants the redhead,”  from this attraction. Pirates first opened on March 16, 1967, just four months after Walt Disney passed away. Walt was only able to experience the Auctioneer scene before his passing. “Walt visited the show building in Disneyland and went on a tour with Marc Davis and a few other Imagineers. The boats’ water channel was not filled yet and all the sets were frame worked, so they were able to walk through. The Auction Scene was set up with the Auctioneer moving about. This would be the last Walt ever saw of the attraction’s sets, because of his failing health and then eventually his death.” - Discovering The Magic Kingdom: An Unofficial Disneyland Vacation Guide 2nd Edition page 508 (set up in the Burbank studio) Marc Davis w
Read more

MOVIES: Jabba The Hutt Was A Human

Image
The original script to A New Hope describes Jabba as a "fat, slug-like creature with eyes on extended feelers and a huge ugly mouth", but Lucas stated in an interview that the initial character he had in mind was much furrier and resembled a Wookiee. When filming the scene between Han Solo and Jabba in 1976, Lucas employed Northern Irish actor Declan Mulholland to stand-in for Jabba the Hutt, wearing a shaggy brown costume. Lucas planned to replace Mulholland in post-production with a stop-motion creature. The scene was meant to connect Star Wars to Return of the Jedi and explain why Han Solo was imprisoned at the end of The Empire Strikes Back . Nevertheless, Lucas decided to leave the scene out of the final film on account of budget and time constraints and because he felt that it did not enhance the film's plot. The scene remained in the novelization, comic book, and radio adaptations of the film. When the film was re-released to theaters in 1997, George had the
Read more