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Olympia Ohanian is having a spectacular month. Weeks after her parents broke the exciting news that she’s going to be a big sister, the 5-year-old received another surprise: a Halle Bailey Princess Ariel doll inspired by the live-action “The Little Mermaid” remake. “What is it?” Olympia asked as her parents, Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian, watched her unwrap the gift at the dinner table. “Mama and Papa wanted to get this for you,” her dad replied. After looking the doll over once, Olympia’s eyes lit up with delight.
“LITTLE MERMAID! THANK YOU, DADDY! Thank you!” Olympia shouted. As she clutched the doll between a Barbie-pink manicure — a perfect match for her “Encanto” princess dress — Olympia couldn’t contain her excitement. Within seconds of opening the package, she let out an unintelligible shriek, jumping up and down enthusiastically to celebrate. “I’ve never had a mermaid doll before,” she said. Hardly able to stand still, Olympia handed the doll to her dad so he could help open the packaging. “I love ‘The Little Mermaid.’ I’m going to bring her to ‘Little Mermaid,'” she said, sharing her plan to bring the Barbie to the movie theater.
“Isn’t she beautiful?” Olympia’s dad asked from behind the camera. Overwhelmed with joy, the 5-year-old took a moment to process her happiness by resting her head on the kitchen table in silence. Her dad added, “This is the most important one,” likely referring to Bailey’s historic feat as the first Black actor to play Ariel and the second to be a Disney princess. (Anika Noni Rose was the first when she voiced Princess Tiana in 2009’s “The Princess and the Frog.”) “It’s about time that a role like this is played by a Black woman, by somebody who is just a part of this beautiful community. We deserve to have images that look like us and to see ourselves in the media on big screens and everything,” Bailey told POPSUGAR in March. “So I’m just grateful that we’re getting to see ourselves finally on such big projects.”
Though the film only premiered a few days ago on May 26, it’s clear from Olympia’s face that Bailey’s role in the film has already had a huge impact on an entire generation of Disney fans. See Olympia’s full reaction to the unexpected gift above.
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