Congratulations on the film.
Thank you.
You've been invited back to do a couple of these live action
remakes and everything else.
What was your when you when you were first pitched this and coming back to do this,
what was your what was your reaction to it?
Well, first of all, they said when they said Rob Marshall, my reaction
was, yes, that's bucket list stuff.
He's such a good director, such a smart dramatist and great person to work with.
I was like, thrilled.
Then,
you know, the addition of Lin-Manuel Miranda into
that was just, Wow, what's this going to be like?
Let's see.
And I think it turned out pretty damn well.
And we had a great time.
And it's also serendipity that it was Lin because of the back story.
The people I know, I probably said it enough
that I knew Lin as a little boy because he went to the school with my niece.
And I always hear about this little boy, Lin-Manuel Miranda, who was obsessed
with The Little Mermaid
and so passionate about it.
And and now he is the adult, brilliant,
accomplished Lin-Manuel Miranda as my collaborator.
And I just love it.
On some of the older movies, they sometimes have the voice actor
And then I had someone singing the songs to some of the older Disney ones.
What was it like to have people like Melissa McCarthy coming in and actually
doing, doing, doing?
Oh, it was totally appropriate.
I mean, you know, you would never not speaking for sure. And
and I had only seen Melissa sing
on The Tonight Show where she did sort of a joke performance
of Colors of the Wind, where they had leaves blowing in her face.
So I didn't know how how wonderful her voice is.
There was just it was a such a joy.
Amazing.
Yeah. Yeah.
And you've got obviously, Halle Bailey and Daveed Diggs or performing these songs.
What's it like to have... and and Jonah Hauer-King who I don't know as well.
What's it like to hear these songs kind of re-imagined
and then brought to life by different people, different to what you've heard?
It's what I want.
It's what I live for now.
So it's. Yeah, you.
What you want is to have the songs be made new again for people.
So, you know, I always try to avoid anything that makes these songs feel like
we're just plugging them back in from, you know, from the original or.
Or from the Broadway show, for that matter.
It should be a unique experience to this film.
Yeah, there's a
there's been a little bit on the Internet about the Triton song (Daughters of Triton) being missing.
But I you spoke about how it's just if people can hear it
and maybe if, you know, someday, maybe we'll put it back in.
So just like we had this song in Pocahontas, If I Never Knew You sung by
a John
Smith to Pocahontas, and they took it to each other
and it was just we didn't really need a ballad in that spot.
And then when the film was rereleased, it was back in.
That's that happens
and then people have to judge for themselves.
The scene works really amazingly well without the song.
So, you know, the best of both worlds they got to have
how we're both in the studio with, by the way, Penelope Cruz
there and his kids were also that it was it was such a joy.
I just finally, I wanted to ask you about one of my favorite films
that you're about, which is Little Shop of Horrors.
Are you surprised there hasn't been a new version of that?
Well, there was going to be that had been trying to I don't know.
Well, yeah, it was just there were budget issues
and it would be great.
Sure.
I would love that.
You know, look, I
never cease to be amazed by the popularity of the things I've worked on
and so it's
I just sort of leave them alone and they come back.
I'm like, Newsies. Let's keep it up on Newsies.
The next thing I know,
it's back and won me the Tony Award for Best Score.
And it's like and it came because we said they didn't
they could not not do it because there is such just a man.
People were pirating the script
and doing the songs, you know, in their own little productions.
And Disney noticed that, not surprisingly, Hercules.
I mean, it's
these they do come back and and
so I'm beyond gratified that my work has so much staying power.
Yes, it certainly does. Thank you so much for time. Thank you.
Talking to you.