Disney announced that Lin-Manuel Miranda and Alan Menken have been paired up to collaborate on writing songs for a live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid. The screenplay will be based on the famous Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale.
Here’s more from Deadline: “This one is being orchestrated as a mix of pre-existing songs from the 1989 Disney animated classic movie, for which Menken won two Oscars, sharing Best Song with Howard Ashman, and winning Best Score on his own. Menken has eight Oscars in his storied career. While Miranda has become all the rage since his record breaking Broadway show Hamilton became the hottest ticket and won 11 Tony Awards, he has a soft spot for The Little Mermaid, even naming his newborn son Sebastian, after the crab in the musical.”
The video embedded above features Miranda and Menken singing a medley of Little Mermaid songs for the “digital #Ham4Ham” show. Click here to watch a clip from the Disney animated film. In addition to The Little Mermaid, Disney has several other live-action projects in the pipeline including Peter Pan, Red Rose, The Sword in the Stone and Beauty & The Beast. (via Entertainment Weekly)