Simcoe County woman voices Disney's The Little Mermaid Arabic version

The Arabic version of Disney's The Little Mermaid was officially released Wednesday, and the voice behind the mermaid princess is a Simcoe County woman.

"It's beautiful to sing her emotions and her struggles and her questions and her wonders, so it was very challenging but so beautiful to do," says Springwater Township's Rana Adel.

Adel has been voice acting, singing and dubbing movies in Arabic for many years. But she says playing The Little Mermaid has been the highlight.

"When I saw the trailer of The Little Mermaid live action come out, I contacted the agency in Egypt, and I said you know what, I will come if you can get the movie to dub it. I will come and do it," says Adel.

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Springwater Township's Rana Adel (R) provides the voice for Disney's The Little Mermaid Arabic version released Wed., Sept. 6, 2023.

Her past work includes notable projects such as Barbie, Wreck it Ralph, Ducktales and The Incredibles.

"As you go into it, you learn that the more you absorb the character you're doing, the more you can convey it to the Egyptian community, or the Arab community or whoever is watching, in a way that they can also feel it," she says.

Alongside her impressive career, Adel sings on the worship team at the Harvest Bible Chapel in Barrie, which she joined when she moved to Canada from Egypt three years ago.

"Obviously, this movie is big, and everyone knows Rana because her voice speaks for itself. So knowing what she has done contributes a lot, but not just that, people really love her, and we're really glad for her,"

says Harvest Bible Chapel Worship Pastor Gabriel Dickens.

"In Egypt, I was always involved with the church, so coming here, I had hoped for the same thing. So it was beautiful when Pastor Todd instantly... when we came, he's like, why don't you join the worship team? So I did, and I love it," says Adel.

Adel is heading out to Egypt this week to work on another big project for Disney. She can't release any details quite yet, but she says it may involve another Disney princess.

To keep up with her work, follow her on Instagram.

The trailer for The Little Mermaid Arabic version can be found here.