A snippet of Princess Jasmine’s (Naomi Scott) self-empowerment anthem “Speechless,” newly created for Disney’s live-action Aladdin re-imagining, has reportedly surfaced in the form of a singing musical doll from JAKKS Pacific. The song, penned by returning composer Alan Menken and La La Land and The Greatest Showman lyricists Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, is “really about her strength, her independence, [how] she really wants to be sultan,” producer Dan Lin previously told Variety.
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“That’s always a buzz for me, performing in any way, shape or form, when it comes to singing and music,” Scott told USA Today of Jasmine’s “belter” solo number. “It’s a punch in the face. Let’s put it this way, it’s the hardest song I’ve ever sung in my entire life.” Scott, who has debuted EPS, singles, and music videos like “Lover’s Lies,” explained the song is really about Jasmine finding her own voice and stepping up as hopeful leader of her people.
“I mean, how timely is that? [Jasmine’s] not perfect. She doesn’t get it right all the time. It’s just showcasing that she gets to a point where, ‘It’s not going to be easy and I may lose this fight, but I need to step up,’” Scott said. “Of course I’m incredibly connected to it, but I really do feel like it’s going to touch upon some things and hopefully speak to young girls out there. That’s my aim, always.”
Scott also performs “A Whole New World,” Menken and Tim Rice’s Academy Award-winning love ballad shared between Jasmine and Aladdin (Mena Massoud). Performing the iconic love song was “kind of surreal,” in part from a sometimes “uncomfortable” shoot on the special effects-heavy sequence.
“Filming it, you’re surrounded by blue screen, you’re on this foam carpet that kind of moves and is really uncomfortable, and the wind’s blowing,” she said. “In people’s minds, you think, ‘Oh my gosh, that must have been the most magical moment,’ when really it probably wasn’t. Poor Mena’s not got very strong ankles so he’s kneeling on this flipping foam thing going, ‘When are we done?!’”
“That’s the reality of it,” Scott added. “But when I see it on screen is when I think it will hit me.”
Also starring Will Smith, Marwan Kenzari, Nasim Pedrad, Billy Magnussen, and Alan Tudyk, the Guy Ritchie-directed Aladdin opens May 24.
