Jonah Hauer-King is The Little Mermaid‘s Prince Eric, and the actor is opening up about the process of becoming Disney royalty, supporting his friend Halle Bailey as she becomes Princess Ariel, and how amazing it’s been to be part of something so iconic and mesmerizing.
Of course, a retelling of a film from over three decades comes with updates in various pieces of the puzzle, and in the newest version of the fairytale, Hauer-King says that everyone on board has been supportive of each adjustment made from character traits to song lyrics. Hauer-King shared, with the Hollywood Reporter, that while he wasn’t made privy to the conversation taking place about the “Kiss the Girl” lyrics change, it definitely had to do with consent.
“My understanding is that there were some feelings around consent and asking to kiss someone, which makes total sense to me.”
Alongside the lyrical changes, it’s clear that the live-action version of The Little Mermaid will have some plot changes, too. This includes the relationship between Eric and Ariel, which Hauer-King says is more mature than in the animated version that debuted in 1989. Ariel and Eric will still be the iconic characters they’ve always been but updated versions of themselves that fit an evolving storyline.
Alan Menken also spoke about the lyric changes to Variety earlier this year.
“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]. 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.”
Things like consent and using your voice are two pieces of Ariel’s puzzle that have always been highlighted, and it’ll be interesting to see how Bailey, Hauer-King, and Melissa McCarthy breathe new life into their characters and the journey they’ll soon take together. A brave princess, Ariel will soon take on a layered trip to finding her happily ever after, and we can’t wait to see it unfold.
The Little Mermaid swims into theaters on May 26, so get your singing voices ready.