Director Rob Marshall knew he had his 'Little Mermaid' in singer Halle Bailey

They knew their princess when they heard her.

Halle Bailey was the first to audition for the beloved and coveted role of Ariel in Disney’s live-action “The Little Mermaid.” After Bailey belted out the classic showstopper “Part of Your World” from the original 1989 film, director Rob Marshall and the other filmmakers knew that she was the one for the role.

“The first thing she did is she came in and sang for us. And she sang that song,” Marshall said during a recent virtual news conference. “She shut her eyes and started to sing the song.

“And I thought, I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I just thought she's so deeply connected to what she's singing about. It's so emotional. It's so beautiful. And I thought, [laugh] oh my gosh, we've been doing this for five minutes. Have we found Ariel? And we had.”

They did their due diligence and auditioned other actors, but they kept coming back to Bailey.

Alan Menken sings Halle Bailey’s praises

The casting won a stamp of approval from songwriter Alan Menken, who referred to Bailey’s talent multiple times and recognized the depth of emotion she brought to that particular song.

“And you see it in levels, right?” Mencken said. “I mean, we had our recording sessions, then [Marshall] allowed me to see the movie when it was just first put together very roughly. And Wyatt [Smith], the editor, kept tapping to bring over boxes of tissues for me. Because when we got to ‘Part of Your World,’ I was just weeping. Part of it is the, you know, missing Howard [Ashman] kind of reaction, and also just remembering the innocence of what we put in there originally, and now look at it.”

‘The Little Mermaid’ revived Walt Disney Studios’ animation department

“The Little Mermaid” (1989) not only began Walt Disney Studios’ Renaissance Era, but it also spurred a revival of classic songs for the studio courtesy of the work of Mencken and Ashman. The songwriting duo gifted fans with a soundtrack that included a number of memorable songs including “Under the Sea” “Kiss the Girl,” a Caribbean-tinged ballad sung by Sebastian the Crab (Samuel E. Wright in the animated movie and Daveed Diggs in the remake) and in subsequent films such as “Aladdin” and “Beauty and the Beast.” Ashman died from complications of AIDS in 1991.

Lin-Manuel Miranda helps with new songs

Marshall and his collaborators expand this version of “Mermaid” by more than 45 minutes, requiring more original songs. Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King), who didn’t have a song in the animated movie, receives accommodation with “Wild Uncharted Waters” and Ariel, who only had one song in the original, receives another with “For the First Time.” Even Scuttle, the seagull voiced by Awkwafina in the film, receives a tune in the form of the rap “The Scuttlebutt.”

Getting someone close to the stature of Ashman, a Grammy and Oscar winner who is considered a legend, would be borderline miraculous.

Enter “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, who has worked with Disney on other projects including “Moana” and “Mary Poppins Returns.”

Mencken described it as a collaborative process with Marshall, Miranda and producer John DeLuca in the mix. In his mind, it yielded memorable results.

“Then ‘The Scuttlebutt,’ which is just, that's a surprise gift of him, because I gave him this Caribbean tune,” Mencken said, “and Lin sort of did a rap over it that was so perfect. Used the music, but it had this rhythmic pulse to it. It was just pure Lin-Manuel Miranda.”

George M. Thomas dabbles in movies and television for the Beacon Journal.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Director Rob Marshall knew Halle Bailey was his 'Little Mermaid'