Little Mermaid star Halle Bailey says she has been left awestruck by people sharing videos online of young family members revealing their joy on seeing a Disney star who looked like them.

The first trailer for the live action remake movie, which hits the big screen next year, dropped on Saturday.

A TikTok video compilation, tweeted by Brazilian entertainment site Tracklist, has been shared thousands of times.

Bailey, who voices the lead role Ariel, said: "This means the world to me."

She posted: "People have been sending these reactions to me all weekend and I'm in truly in awe."

'She's brown like me!'
The trailer shows Bailey's Ariel appearing from the depths of the sea to sing the chorus of Part of Your World, a song which first appeared in Disney's 1989 animated film of the same name.

Reacting to the scene, one young girl in the TikTok video is heard saying: "She's brown like me!"

After watching another video, in which a different girl asked whether the mermaid was the real Ariel, Bailey noted: "I just sobbed watching this thanks, she's so sweet."