Halle Bailey Dreams Whozits and Whatzits Galore on New Version of ‘Part of Your World’

Halle Bailey has shared her new rendition of The Little Mermaid classic, “Part of Your World.”

The song is one of the most famous from the original animated Little Mermaid, with Ariel excitedly dreaming of life on land and trying to get a handle on some human vocabulary. Over a lush orchestral arrangement, Bailey delivers a mighty vocal performance that makes the new recording feel like a fitting tribute to the original, sung by Jodi Benson.

The soundtrack for the live-action remake of The Little Mermaid will feature new recordings of many of the songs Disney music vets Alan Menken and Howard Ashman wrote for the 1989 animated film. Menken also partnered with Lin-Manuel Miranda to write four new songs for the movie (three will appear in the movie, while the fourth will eventually arrive as a DVD extra).

Additionally, some of the classic Little Mermaid songs received lyrical updates to make them more appropriate for 2023. As Menken told Vanity Fair recently, “Kiss the Girl” was tweaked to make the romantic encounter between Prince Eric and Ariel less one-sided. Ursula’s big number, “Poor Unfortunate Souls,” was also changed “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,” Menken said. 

The Little Mermaid, directed by Rob Marshall, will finally hit theaters next month, on May 26. Bailey stars as Ariel, while the cast also features Jonah Hauer-King as Eric, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, Javier Bardem as King Triton, Daveed Diggs as Sebastian, Awkwafina as Scuttle, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder, and Noma Dumezweni as Queen Selina (Eric’s mother, and a new character for the film).