The seaweed is greener in everybody’s lake today because Disney’s live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid has Hamilton on its side, so to speak. Alan Menken will team up with Lin-Manuel Miranda to write the music for the upcoming release, and Miranda will produce the film alongside Marc Platt. As of right now, Manuel’s also supervising the story. Deadline reports the film will have a mix of existing songs from the 1989 animated film paired with fresh music.
This is yet another step into the world of Disney for Manuel. He worked on Moana, and he’ll be starring in the Mary Poppins sequel. I have a hunch involvement in a new take on The Little Mermaid is exciting for Manuel. He’s expressed his adoration for the animated classic many times and points to it as the trigger for his career. When he was discussing Moana with Rolling Stone he said, “I’m here because The Little Mermaid fucked my shit up when I was nine, and I have never been the same since. Now I’m working with the original directors of The Little Mermaid on this animated musical, writing songs and chasing stories.” And now he’s working on The Little Mermaid with Alan Freaking Menken.
So far, the Disney’s live-action adaptations have featured different versions of the songs introduced in the animated source material. For example, Maleficent included a creepy take on “Once Upon a Dream” by Lana Del Rey. I’m curious to see what they’ll modernize, but given Manuel’s affection for the animated soundtrack, I have faith. And for now I’ll take this clip of him singing a snippet from “Under the Sea:”
Which songs from the animated movie do you think they’ll bring to the live-action film? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
Image: Disney
