[Photo of Ariel, the character that Danielle has dubbed for. Photo Credit to Pxhere]

Danielle, the member of a rising Kpop group called NewJeans, has dubbed the Korean version  of the Disney Movie, “The Little Mermaid,” released on May 26th, 2023.

It was the first time that a member of a Kpop group dubbed a film of this scale, which is why it was noted by various news outlets.

Disney casted Danielle after an audition that consisted of dialogue delivery tests and singing on the spot with only a sheet of music. 

After she passed the audition people were excited to see Danielle’s performance in the movie. 

However, though most people were excited, some worried about the “risk” Disney was taking by casting Danielle to dub the Korean version of “The Little Mermaid.”

As Danielle was the first Kpop idol to dub a globally released movie like “The Little Mermaid,”  it was natural for many people to be curious about the outcome. 

One concern that was raised asked questions of Danielle’s awkward Korean pronunciation.

Though she is a member of the Kpop group, NewJeans, debuting as a Kpop group does not always mean that the members’ nationality is Korean.

Danielle is Korean-Australian, born and raised by a Korean mother and an Australian father. 

As  she was mostly raised in Australia during her childhood, some people criticized that her pronunciations in the soundtrack were awkward and slightly inaccurate. 

Some critiqued that this could lead to inaccuracies in line delivery. 

Another concern was that, though she is an excellent singer and a dancer as a Kpop idol, she lacked experience in acting or dubbing.  

People also think that using Danielle to dub Ariel would be beneficial for the promotion and global spread of the movie  as Danielle has created massive musical hits and currently has countless global fans. 

Nonetheless, experts say that “dubbing” requires a different set of  professional skills since voice actors who dub need to immerse themselves in their character to fully deliver their characters’ emotions through their voices.  

Therefore, some people were doubtful whether Danielle would successfully dub the character Ariel without any experience in dubbing nor acting. 

Though there was some criticism towards using Danielle to dub Ariel, many still complimented her performance. 

People spoke highly of Danielle’s crystal clear singing voice and how it fit the characteristics of Ariel being a delightful and curious teenager. 

Though other voice actors may have better techniques in terms of dubbing and singers with more experience in singing soundtracks, many feel that Danielle has expressed Ariel’s feelings of curiosity about the outside world. 

Currently, the Korean version of “The Little Mermaid” has been a massive hit, drawing people’s attention and gathering enormous viewing audiences in theaters.