We've had 101 Dalmations, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, The Jungle Book, Aladdin, The Lion King, Dumbo and now it's The Little Mermaid's turn to get the live action remake treatment from Disney.
Casting rumours for the film have been swirling for months, with big names such as Melissa McCarthy being floated for Ursula and Jacob Tremblay as Flounder.
On Thursday, July 4, the film giants announced that they'd finally selected their Ariel - and 19-year-old R&B singer Halle Bailey was revealed as their choice, beating out numerous other young women for the lead role.
Her casting was met with pure joy from some fans, but unfortunately there were others who weren't so impressed with the decision.
A number of heartless Disney fans were displeased that a black actress had been cast in the role and as a result began claiming that mermaids must be white.
These individuals attempted to use their own 'scientific' reasoning to explain why merfolk should have fair skin.
One person said: "Mermaids live in ocean. Underwater = limited sunlight. Limited sunlight = less melanin. Less melanin = lighter skin colour. Because they live under water, which has no access to light beyond a certain depth, Ariel and every other mermaid in existence would be albino."
Another wrote: "Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't it physically impossible for Ariel to be black? She lives underwater, how would the sun get to her for her to produce melanin?!? Nobody thought this through..."
These claims were quickly shut down by a med student, who responded: "Just for y'all trying to use science to say Ariel can't be black (emphasis on try...)
"Melanocyte production isn't even dependent on sun exposure. It's dependent on genetics (normally the TYR gene. various enzymes, & the overall conversion of dopaquinone to melanin)."
Others tried to accuse the film makers of "black washing" the remake.
They commented: "White washing = a white actor (for example) gets a role for a black character.
"Black washing = the opposite.
"Disney's Ariel is white. So black washing."
Understandably, people were appalled by these kinds of tweets and the subsequent hashtag #NotMyAriel that began trending across the UK and US on Thursday evening.
Many couldn't stop themselves from ridiculing the bizarre 'mermaid science' and slamming people for being racist.
"Hey losers, mermaids aren't real so a black woman can play Ariel, it's not f***ing rocket science y'all. Some of these people literally use the excuse of 'hating an agenda' to mask their own racism," replied one user.
A second posted: "Lmfao tweeps are pissed, reason because being that Disney has cast Ariel as a black girl. Because you know... 'mermaid science'."
"Someone really said Ariel can't be black because of science. B**** there is a singing crab in the movie and you worried about scientific accuracy? STFU," proclaimed a third.
A different person added: "They're trying to impose an irrelevant claims saying 'I don't like ariel being black, it's not historically accurate she must be white', well I don't think anyone here in the world would pass the role of URSULA since she's purple."
To show support for Halle following the backlash, artists then began sharing their own animations and paintings imagining her as Ariel.
And the results are incredible!
Here's a look at a few: