There are many reasons that fans are so thrilled about the upcoming live-action remake of The Little Mermaid. Ariel’s story is one of Disney’s most classic tales and a favorite for many. The remake has a beautiful cast, starring Halle Bailey as Ariel, Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Melissa McCarthy as the sea-witch Ursula, and Javier Bardem as King Triton.
In addition to returning favorite characters, the remake will also feature new characters as the storyline expands. Another thing fans can expect are new songs, and of course, they’re going to be epic.
Comicbook.com reports that there should be four new songs by Alan Menken and Lin-Manuel Miranda, and the news has fans more excited than ever. While the songs from the original, like “Kiss The Girl” and “Under The Sea,” are incredibly catchy and on the playlists of Disney fans everywhere, the addition of new tunes will be incredible as well.
Menken had this to say about working with Miranda on the songs for the upcoming live-action remake.
“At first, Lin-Manuel Miranda was struggling to do Alan Menken-style songs, and he felt like, walking in Howard Ashman’s shoes was a daunting prospect. Then we wrote some songs that were in Lin’s wheelhouse and for me, walking in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s shoes was a daunting prospect, but we had a blast.”
Menken went on to say this about working with Howard Ashman on the animated The Little Mermaid.
“Howard had very strong feelings about making sure that we were always driving story forward, and always stylistically rooted in a world. Howard would really educate the animators, and sit and talk to them about how songs should drive a story.”
Ashman passed away in 1991, but it’s safe to assume that Menken brought that same idea and planning to the live-action remake when working with Miranda. Fans have been looking forward to this project for such a long time; it’s going to be an extraordinary experience for all involved.
The Little Mermaid is set to premiere on May 26, 2023.
