If you can remember, every Disney princess movie usually opens up with a song to introduce the main character of the story.
In this case, The Little Mermaid had Daughters of Triton where we supposedly get our first glimpse at Ariel, the youngest daughter of the King of the Sea.
However, once Ariel’s part to sing came, she was nowhere to be found on stage, leading the story to where she actually was — looking for abandoned things from shipwrecks.
This not only let the audience know how in awe she was when it came to collecting her ‘thingamabobs’ in her own secret lair, fascinated as she learns more about the surface world.
Now, The Little Mermaid composer Alan Menken explains why they had to remove the pivotal song from the live-action remake.
“I think the thought process was a) we didn’t think [the song was needed] in this particular version,” Menken revealed in a recent interview with Comicbook.com (via Toonado).
Menken also shared that they wanted to highlight the more important solo song for Ariel: “And we definitely wanted the film to start with a much more of a live-action feel of the ocean and meeting Ariel and then we wait a little bit, make you wait until we get to Part of Your World.”
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“And I think that was, you know, it was an amazing choice because it just builds the power and anticipation.”
The composer added, “And part of that is also knowing you’re adapting something that’s already beloved. So you want to say, wait for it, wait for it, wait for it, and here it is. And when it comes, God.”
Menken does have a point, though. This is what makes adaptations special, after all. They change and improve things that the original animated version was not able to do.
Although The Little Mermaid fans could say otherwise, letting the live remake focus on Part of Your World is more than enough to let the world know how much Ariel loves talking about the world beyond the sea.
Disney’s The Little Mermaid live-action remake is currently slated to hit theaters on May 26!