‘The Little Mermaid’ was released 35 years ago — yes, 35 years ago — on November 17, 1989, but it feels like just yesterday that we were singing along with Ariel during “Part of Your World.” The film’s star, Jodi Benson, is the powerful voice behind your favorite tunes from The Little Mermaid.
The story behind Jodi Benson’s ‘Part of Your World’ recording
The then 27-year-old showcased her strong vocals while working on the famous song, “Part of Your World,” which Ariel sings in the animation film. See the viral video of Benson recording the song below:
Unfortunately, the Ariel actress was not too happy with her performance. “I did not want to listen to the recording after I did it that day,” Benson explained of the recording. “It was painful for me, being a perfectionist coming from the Broadway stage of wanting to sing every note of its full value and perfectly with vibrato and a straight tone and the right kind of emphasis.”
But despite her perfectionist tendencies, Benson knew that Howard Ashman, lyricist and playwright, was what she needed to get the song just right. Indeed, Ashman had the Disney touch to make “Part of Your World” what it needed to be.
“He [Howard Ashman] really knew how to get everything out of me,” Benson said of recording the song. “I kept over singing the song like I was onstage with 1,500 people. And he’s like, ‘Just less. Less, less, less.’ He goes, ‘I have an idea. Let’s just turn out the lights, sit on a stool, put your head in your hands and just say the words.’ He was so incredibly brilliant.”
Why ‘Part of Your World’ was almost cut from ‘The Little Mermaid’
Despite the life “Part of Your World” has had, Benson shared that the song was almost cut from the film entirely. Although it seems unimaginable, the tune supposedly didn’t do well during test market screeners with the kids.
“Children were dropping their popcorn buckets and kind of running up and down the theater pathway; they appeared to be restless to him [head of animation Jeffrey Katzenberg] during the 3 mins and 43 seconds of the song,” Benson explained. “And so, he did a test market on that and he came up with the plan that we need to cut the song.”
But thanks to Ashman, the song remained, as he was not letting it go. Benson shared Ashman’s words: “Over my dead body. You’re not cutting the ‘I Want’ song of the entire film. You have to have a ‘I want’ song. It’s what you have to have in the beginning of the film otherwise you’re not gonna care about her. They’re not gonna fall in love with her and they are not gonna root for her until the very end of the film.”
All about ‘The Little Mermaid’
The 1989 animation film originated in 1837, written and published in Fairy Tales Told for Children by Hans Christian Andersen. But the adaptation most know follows 16-year-old mermaid, Ariel, who is tired of living life under the sea and wants to visit land.
After visiting the surface, which was forbidden by her father King Triton, Ariel falls in love with Prince Eric. Doing anything she must to meet him, she visits the sea witch, Ursula, who grants her legs at the cost of her voice.
Jodi Benson: Becoming the voice of Ariel
Becoming a Disney princess is a dream most little girls have growing up, but Jodi Benson is someone who made that dream come to life. The actress/singer first learned about the role of Ariel from Howard Ashman, who she’d been working with on the Broadway show, Smile.
Ashman recommended Benson for the part, but she still had to audition against nearly 500 other actresses. Benson ended up beating them all out, thanks to her unbelievable voice, winning the role of the mermaid.
Benson explained how she and her on-screen counterpart can connect, which is a personality trait she took when auditioning for Ariel.
“There’s nothing impossible for her,” Benson said. “And that’s who I am. I’m very tenacious. I will knock on a closed door until it slams literally in my face. So that’s how we connect.”
