Jodi Benson Breaks Silence About THAT Cameo In 'Little Mermaid'

Jodi Benson is best known for providing her voice to the Disney Princess, Ariel, in the 1989 animated film, “The Little Mermaid". Recently, she passed the torch (or dinglehopper if you will) to Halle Bailey as she portrayed Ariel in the new live-action "The Little Mermaid", which hit theaters last month and has been breaking records ever since.

For those who have seen the new "The Little Mermaid" movie, you may have noticed a special cameo in the film. Now, Jodi Benson, the original voice of Ariel, is breaking her silence on the cameo.

Jodi Benson took to Facebook yesterday to finally speak out about her special cameo in the new live-action "The Little Mermaid".

"Hey friends! SURPRISE!!! I have kept my special cameo appearance in our new live action amazing movie 'The Little Mermaid' a secret for 4 long years and now I’m so thrilled to finally share some wonderful photos with all of you!," she wrote on Facebook.

Benson appears for a brief moment about half-way through the film, when Ariel is visiting the market with Prince Eric. Ariel, portrayed by Halle Bailey in "The Little Mermaid", goes up to a stand and finds a fork, which she thought was a dinglehopper. The camera than shows the lady working the marketplace stand, which is Jodi Benson.

Benson literally hands over the dinglehopper to Bailey, which is extremely significant and truly a special moment for both actresses. "I had so much fun shooting this lovely moment with Halle at Pinewood Studios in England back in May of 2021," Benson continued to say. "Our incredible director Rob Marshall & producer John DeLuca invited me to join the cast back in July 2019. I spent almost a month in London & absolutely loved being on set & working with the brilliant Halle & Jonah, the talented cast & crew and my dear genius friends Rob & John-we’ve been friends for over 30 years."

The original Ariel actress continued, "This whole experience was so magical & unbelievably emotional for me. Truly a dream come true! I am so very proud of this stunningly beautiful & heartfelt film. Congratulations Halle❤️ thank you for loving Ariel like I do!"

Prior to the film's official release, Jodi Benson spoke out on Disney's decision to remake the 1989 Disney animated classic into a live-action film, which she said she was thrilled by.

“I’ve been part of the Disney family for so long; I completely trust our company. I do,” she told the magazine. “I had no hesitation that it was going to be breathtaking. And as soon as I heard Rob Marshall would be steering the ship, I knew we were in great hands.”

Regarding Halle Bailey taking on the new role, Benson could not be more proud of the 23-year-old. “Halle [Bailey] ‘s interpretation of Ariel is wonderful,” Benson said after she saw the movie. “I loved everything that she did with the film. I love the acting, the singing, and just the pure spirit. Her beautiful love for the character comes through. It’s just a beautiful, beautiful performance.”

She continued, “The casting has been done perfectly with all the characters. You just have to get to the heart of the character — that’s the most important thing.”

Disney’s live-action “The Little Mermaid” hit theaters on May 26, 2023. The film will star Halle Bailey as Ariel, Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, Javier Bardem as King Triton, Daveed Diggs as Sebastian, and Jacob Tremblay as Flounder.