Disney
The live-action The Little Mermaid, starring Halle Bailey and Jonah Hauer-King, will update some of the songs for the modern era, composer Alan Menken recently announced.
Songs like “Kiss the Girl” and “Poor Unfortunate Souls” had their lyrics changed to allow for approval.
“There are some lyrical changes in ‘Kiss the Girl’ because people were very sensitive to that idea [Prince Eric] would definitely force himself to do so [Ariel]’ Menken said in an interview with Vanity Fair.
Menken, who wrote the lyrics for the animated film, worked with Lin-Manuel Miranda to change some of the words.
In the scene where “Kiss the Girl” takes place, Prince Eric is prompted to kiss Ariel, who at that moment has no voice. “Poor Unfortunate Souls” also has a line that has been revised where Ursula says, “The men up there don’t like much chatter, they think a girl gossiping is boring, but on land ladies don’t get it much.” preferred to say a word.”
Menken added, “We have some edits in ‘Poor Unfortunate Souls’ regarding lines that might somehow make young girls feel like they shouldn’t speak inappropriately, although Ursula is clearly manipulating Ariel into giving up her voice.”
The Little Mermaid is in theaters May 26, directed by Rob Marshall and scripted by David Magee. Other actors in the film include Melissa McCarthy as Ursula and Javier Bardem as King Triton. The cast includes Daveed Diggs, Awkwafina, Jacob Tremblay and Noma Dumezweni.