Now that Disney's live action remake of The Little Mermaid is in theaters, many fans are looking at how similar and different it is from the original 1989 animated film. Just like most adaptations, there are some changes from the original source material. One of the changes is not including some of the songs from the animated film, including "Les Poissons." In an interview with IndieWire, director Rob Marshall talked about the decision to not include the song.
In the original animated film, Sebastian (Samuel E. Wright) finds himself in Prince Eric's kitchen, with a chef who is creating a seafood meal. When the chef notices Sebastian, he turns his focus on trying to cook the crab. This leads to a series of slapstick comedy gags, similar to what is seen in Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry. In the interview, Marshall talked about how the scene works better in animation than it would in live action. "Well, that was the problem: [what] would that look like? That really is an animation concept," said Marshall. "It felt like Saturday morning cartoons. That kind of thing, you can really do in animation, but in a different genre, it just wouldn't work. It'd be so silly."
The pacing of the film was also important, since The Little Mermaid is the longest of Disney's live action remakes. Marshall also talked about how the song wasn't relevant to the story he was trying to tell. "Also, it takes a vacation from the story, full on," said Marshall. "So, you're like, well, why is it there? I think if we had filmed it, it would've been impossible to make work, but also it would've been [cut] out, because it has nothing to do [with the story in that moment]. It's a lovely song, but it just doesn't belong in a live-action film. That was the real reason." Another song from the animated film that wasn't included in the live action version was "Daughters of Triton."
The Live Action Version of The Little Mermaid Features Several New Songs
While some classic songs were not included in the new version of The Little Mermaid, the movie did introduce new ones created for the film. Ariel (Halle Bailey) had a new song about seeing the world that exists above the sea. Since the song was featured after Ariel had given up her voice, audiences heard her sing it in her head. Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King) also had his own song in the film, where he sings about trying to find the girl who saved him from drowning (who he didn't realize was Ariel). Awkwafina's version of Scuttle also had her own song called "Scuttlebutt."
The live action remake of The Little Mermaid is currently playing in theaters. Fans can also check out this recent Collider interview with Marshall about the film below: