A new clip has been released for The Little Mermaid, the live-action remake of the animated Disney film. The new clip was debuted during the MTV Movie & TV Awards and features Ariel (Halle Bailey) and Eric (Jonah Hauer-King) in a boat ride where the mermaid comes oh so close to landing a kiss from the prince. The scene is a part of the remake’s new version of the “Kiss the Girl” musical number. Also featured in the video are Ariel’s undersea pals, Flounder (Jacob Tremblay), Scuttle (Awkwafina), and Sebastian (Daveed Diggs). MTV posted the clip online and you can watch it below.
“Kiss the Girl” is one of the songs that has undergone some slight rewrites with its lyrics for the Little Mermaid remake. Alan Menken, who worked on the music with Lin-Manuel Miranda, previously confirmed how this and other songs had been updated, noting how “Kiss the Girl” had certain lyrics that could be seen as problematic in 2023, given today’s sensitivities with many filmgoers.
“There are some lyric changes in ‘Kiss the Girl’ because people have gotten very sensitive about the idea that [Prince Eric] would, in any way, force himself on [Ariel],” Menken told Vanity Fair. “We have some revisions in ‘Poor Unfortunate Souls’ regarding lines that might make young girls somehow feel that they shouldn’t speak out of turn, even though Ursula is clearly manipulating Ariel to give up her voice.”
Director Rob Marshall recently commented on the new song lyrics as well, noting in a press release, “We asked Lin-Manuel to make some slight adjustments to the original lyrics for ‘Kiss the Girl,’ because it’s important to remember that the culture and sensitivities have changed over the last 34 years, and it’s vital that we are respectful to those changes.”
It’s likely that one line that’s been changed from the original is when Sebastian sings to Eric, strongly encouraging him to kiss Ariel without saying so much as a word first. As the crab sings, “Yes, you want her. Look at her, you know you do. Possible she wants you, too. There is one way to ask her. It don’t take a word. Not a single word. Go on and kiss the girl.”
The Little Mermaid Will Also Introduce All-New Songs
Along with the original tunes, even with some of them having small changes, there will be new music in The Little Mermaid. Miranda previously teased the new songs that will be featured in the live-action remake, which he was able to flesh out with Menken.
“We wrote three or four original tunes, replacing none of the ones you like,” he said, via Variety. “All of those are in. There’s no bigger Little Mermaid fan than me. We found a couple of opportunities for some other music that I can’t wait to see.”
The Little Mermaid will be heading to movie theaters on May 26, 2023. You can view the full trailer below.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
