Working on "The Little Mermaid," according to Alan Menken, was "a constant miracle." He and lyricist Howard Ashman were working together again to write music for a new movie while they were still enjoying the success of the stage adaptation of their bizarre show "Little Shop of Horrors."
What exactly are these two off-Broadway songwriters doing at Disney? We were in Glendale — not even on the fundamental part — in these little stockrooms that had been changed over for work on liveliness, taking a gander at the storyboards and giving subtleties to the illustrators about what we figure the design of the story ought to be. There was a yearn for what it was — a re-visitation of Disney liveliness, and to film musicals — and we were offered a lot of elbowroom to make, as a matter of fact."
Delivered in 1989, "The Little Mermaid" is to a great extent credited for starting off the Disney renaissance, a dash of acclaimed energized musicals that included "Excellence and the Monster," "The Lion Lord" and various others. The movie grossed a lot of money and won two Academy Awards for its music: both the original song ("Under the Sea") and the original music (also composed by Menken)
"Brazen, pretentious, a staggered swarm pleaser," composed Michael Wilmington in The Times' survey. "[ It almost brings Disney animated films back to the glory days of the 1930s and 1940s.
This meant that it took a lot of care to make a live-action version of the beloved classic, which starred Halle Bailey as Ariel, the undersea princess who gives up her voice for legs and the chance to find love on land.
John DeLuca, the producer, stated, "People love these songs so much." We didn't venture to such an extreme as to be offensive against them and do insane things. When you try to beef it up, you can sometimes go overboard, as we are aware. We want to pay respect to that, and then let it live in a live-action setting."
The new movie is able to transform the beloved compositions into musical numbers that are both visually and aurally stunning, regardless of whether they are set underwater or above it, thanks to the assistance of a well-known dance company, an orchestra that is made up of 86 people, and a seasoned percussionist.
