Lin-Manuel Miranda is explaining why he refused to write songs for Sebastian in The Little Mermaid. Continuing to add to its recent slate of remakes, Disney announced its plans for a live-action Little Mermaid in 2016. The original 1989 film was a critical and commercial success, with its music earning particular praise and winning the Academy Awards for Best Original Score and Best Original Song. The new iteration, directed by Rob Marshall and staring Halle Bailey as Ariel, will largely follow the same plot, but fans can expect more from this film when it comes to its music.
Lin-Manuel Miranda co-wrote new songs for the upcoming adaptation alongside composer Alan Menken, who scored the original. Miranda is following in the footsteps of the late Howard Ashman, the lyricist responsible for the animated film's music. Together, Menken and he have created four new songs to be featured in The Little Mermaid. Both have noted how the songs added to the remake resemble a blend of their two styles and confirmed that fans can expect singing from Prince Eric, as well as other characters this time around.
In a recent interview with Collider, Miranda talks about his admiration for The Little Mermaid and how Howard Ashman and Alan Menken helped shape his childhood. He states that working on this project was a wish fulfillment for him, but that he loves Sebastian's songs so much that he could not write anything new for his character (who will be by Hamilton's Daveed Diggs in this remake). Miranda goes on to explain that all of the songs fans know and love will still be in the film, but that Menken and he were able to find some moments to introduce original music as well. Read his quote regarding the creation of new songs below:
"Oh, man. So much of my work on The Little Mermaid was that wish fulfillment. I actually didn’t write any new songs for Sebastian the Crab because I love his songs so much. I was like, 'I can’t. Nope, not me. I can’t do it.' I did get to write for some of the other characters in that movie. Every song you love in The Little Mermaid is still in The Little Mermaid, we just found some new moments to musicalize. That’s really tricky."
There have been changes made to most of Disney's live-action remakes, and while some have been received negatively by fans, many were happy to see more than shot-for-shot recreations of the movies' animated counterparts. Films like Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin featured slightly different story elements, but the addition of new songs was also exciting. In some cases, the new songs from the remakes have gone on to become new favorites.
With all of the success behind Lin-Manuel Miranda's previous musical projects, his collaborations with Alan Menken is sure to result in exciting new additions. The songs from the original tend to rank high among Disney fans, and Miranda's resume and love for the film should ease any uncertainy about the inclusion of new music. The Little Mermaid's director Rob Marshall is also no stranger to the world of musicals, and the cast has sung his praises, further suggesting that the film's songs and musical performances are very much in capable hands. Fans can hear the new score when The Little Mermaid is released in 2023.
Source: Collider