The Little Mermaid remake has cut another song from the original animated film. The 1989 film, featuring music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman, is being remade in live-action with Halle Bailey as the rebellious young mermaid Ariel and Melissa McCarthy as the dastardly sea witch Ursula. Earlier, it was announced that the film, which features new songs co-written by Menken and Lin-Manuel Miranda, had cut the opening number "Daughters of Triton" to preserve the film's more realistic feel until it came time for Ariel's first solo number.
Recently, The Hollywood Reporter sat down with director Rob Marshall to discuss The Little Mermaid live-action remake ahead of its release on May 26. During their conversation, it was revealed that a second song - the comic number "Les Poissons" where a chef attempts to chase down and cook the crab Sebastian - has been cut from the new film. Read his full quote below:
"It’s literally a Saturday morning cartoon section. If we had filmed it — I don’t know how we would’ve filmed it — it never would have played. It’s also a vacation from the story and has nothing to do with the story, so you can’t do that in a live-action film."
Is Cutting Les Poissons From The Little Mermaid The Right Decision?
"Les Poissons" is not one of the songs that are most synonymous with the musical legacy of The Little Mermaid. It has already been confirmed that the film's most iconic songs, including "Kiss the Girl," "Part of Your World," "Under the Sea," and "Poor Unfortunate Souls," will remain intact in the new film. However, its smaller stature doesn't necessarily mean it needed to be cut.
Other films in the past have proven that live-action films can possess sequences that feel like a "Saturday morning cartoon." From films like the slapstick epic Mousehunt to the wacky Scooby-Doo live-action films, directors have found ways to bring the essence of animation to more realistic settings. This decision would seem to indicate that the film's first priority is to preserve realism rather than being genuinely limited by the medium of live-action.
It's also true that the comic number is a digression from the main plot of The Little Mermaid. However, not every number is included in a musical because it is important to the plot. Other iconic Disney song,s including Aladdin's "Friend Like Me," do more to establish character and a playful tone rather than further the plot, but that doesn't mean they are unnecessary. While "Les Poissons" is less widely appreciated than that number, it remains to be seen how the film will play without it and if its overall tone suffers as a result.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
