The Little Mermaid is finally being released in theaters next week, and it’s set to include most of the songs written by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman for the 1989 animated film as well as some new additions by Menken and Lin-Manuel Miranda. If you’re eager to hear the songs sung by Halle Bailey and the rest of the cast, you’re in luck, because the soundtrack was officially released today on various streaming platforms. In honor of the new film,ย ComicBook.comย had the chance to chat with Menken, who broke down three of the movie’s musical additions.ย
“We all got together and there was originally a treatment that David Magee had worked on with Rob [Marshall] and John [DeLuca]. And then when I was finally brought in to see all that, we had meetings and Lin came in and we looked at where the existing songs were going to be, and then simply plotted out the other songs. One was for Prince Eric, and this is one where he’s longing to find this girl who saved his life,” Menken explained of “Wild Uncharted Waters.” He continued, “But also he had this longing for the sea, a passion for the sea, and this ‘uncharted waters’ where he’s going with his life. And that became, if you look here at the score, it’s all through the score that thematic material from that song.”
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“And then there’s the moment when Ariel’s first on land and reacting to each of the things, and she can’t speak so she’s singing in her head,” Menken explained of the next new song, “For The First Time.” He added, “And all this excitement about this and wonder about that. And then the last thing is heartbreak when Prince comes in, and because she can’t speak, he assumes, ‘Oh, she can’t be the girl.’ And so for the first time, she’s heartbroken.”
“And then the third, ‘Scuttlebutt.’ Which was just going to be this little throwaway song. And I gave Lin a little Caribbean piece of music, and then he rapped over it,” Menken explained of the third song.ย
The Little Mermaid (2023) Tracklist:ย
- “Triton’s Kingdom” by Alan Menken
- “Part of Your World” by Halle Bailey
- “Fathoms Below”ย by Jonah Hauer-King, John Dagleish, Christopher Fairbank, and Ensemble
- “Part of Your World (Reprise)” by Halle Bailey
- “Under the Sea” by Daveed Diggs and Cast
- “Wild Uncharted Waters” by Jonah Hauer-King
- “Poor Unfortunate Souls” by Melissa McCarthy
- “For the First Time” by Halle Bailey
- “Kiss the Girl” by Daveed Diggs, Awkwafina, Jacob Tremblay, and Ensemble
- “The Scuttlebutt” by Awkwafina and Daveed Diggs
- “Eric’s Decision” by Alan Menken
- “Vanessa’s Trick” by Alan Menken
- “Part of Your World (Reprise II)” by Halle Bailey
- “Kiss the Girl (Island Band Reprise)” by Alan Menken
- “Finale” by Alan Menkenย
You can check out the songs below:
The Little Mermaidย is being released in theaters on May 26th.
