Gabrielle Union's daughter wearing the 'Little Mermaid' costume shows 'representation matters'

Since the next Disney film's trailer was released earlier this month, social media has been flooded with footage of young Black girls responding to Halle Bailey's Ariel. The 3-year-old daughter of Dwayne Wade and Gabrielle Union kickstarted Halloween by dressing up as the newest Disney princess, reports PEOPLE. The video shared by Union and Wade on Instagram shows Kaavia James Union Wade wearing an Ariel costume with a purple seashell bikini top and a turquoise tail.

The caption reads, "You know we had to set off Halloween season right. May I present 'Ariel & Her Sea Legs' for awards consideration." Halle Bailey, the star of the latest live-action "The Little Mermaid" film, watched the cute video and commented in support. She wrote, "omg love it !" to which Union replied, "I told you at the party Kaav was OBSESSED!!! Thank you for shining so bright my 🖤."

Following the release of the teaser trailer, Bailey uploaded a compilation video on Instagram, celebrating the young Black girls who watched in wonder as they saw a Disney princess in whom they could see themselves. She wrote in the caption, "Seeing these little babies' reactions makes me so emotional." Kaavia is one of many young girls who are delighted to have Black representation in the Disney world. 

She told PEOPLE earlier this month, "The fact that now it's getting to be played by me, a person who looks like me, woman of color, I'm just like, wow, I'm so grateful what it will do for all the other little Black and brown boys and girls who will see themselves in me."

"Because I know if I had seen myself when I was younger, I think my whole perspective would've changed." The singer also talks about how she personalized an ever-famous character of Disney. She said, "Well, I can only be myself when it comes to taking on something this grand and great."

"Sometimes it can be overwhelming to take the character that everybody has loved and known for years and make it your own. But I just listened to the little girl that's in me, and I listen to her and make her happy, and then I know if I put my all and my passion and everything into it that I'll give it my best. And I feel like I did," she added. Aside from Bailey, the film also stars Daveed Diggs as Sebastian's voice, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, Javier Bardem as Triton, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder and Awkwafina as Scuttle, according to NPR.

Some on social media have used the hashtag #NotMyAriel to argue that casting a Black actress contradicts Hans Christian Andersen's original fairy tale, which was first published in Denmark in 1837. Bailey addressed the racist remarks in an interview with Variety. She said, "It was an inspiring and beautiful thing to hear their words of encouragement, telling me, 'You don't understand what this is doing for us, for our community, for all the little Black and brown girls who are going to see themselves in you.' " She added, "I want the little girl in me and the little girls just like me who are watching to know that they're special and that they should be a princess in every single way."