Will ‘The Little Mermaid’ get the EGOT for Lin-Manuel Miranda and set an Oscar record for Alan Menken?
Back in 1990, “The Little Mermaid” earned composer Alan Menken his first two Academy Awards for Original Score and Original Song for “Under the Sea.” In the years since, the storied songwriter has won eight Oscars, which is a record for the most competitive wins of any living person. Now three decades later, the live-action remake of the classic Disney film could help him extend that record with a ninth victory should he take home a trophy for any one of his new compositions for the movie.
But that’s not the only record a victory for a “Little Mermaid” song would set. Menken’s cowriter Lin-Manuel Miranda is only an Oscar win away from achieving EGOT, having previously won Emmy, Grammy and Tony Awards. He took home Emmys for the Tony Awards song “Bigger!” and for producing the “Hamilton” live capture for Disney+, Grammys for “In the Heights,” “Hamilton,” “Moana,” and “Encanto,” and Tonys for “In the Heights” and “Hamilton” as well. He previously earned Oscar bids for “How Far I’ll Go” from “Moana” and “Dos Oruguitas” from “Encanto,” but lost those races to “City of Stars” from “La La Land” and “No Time to Die” from the James Bond film of the same name, respectively.
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According to our current combined odds, the track “For the First Time” is the most likely “Little Mermaid” song to earn Oscar recognition. Performed by Halle Bailey as Ariel after she comes on land, it narrates her experiences as she makes her way from the shore to Prince Eric’s (Jonah Hauer-King) castle, including walking for the first time, getting dressed, and meeting the Prince, who invites her to stay. The uptempo wonder of the piece as Ariel describes the world around her turns somber at the end, as Ariel realizes all she has sacrificed to come to land and feels “lost” and “scared” for the first time.
They could also contend for “Wild Uncharted Waters,” a song performed by Hauer-King in which Eric reflects on Ariel rescuing him and his desire to see her again. The brooding, rousing number finds him departing the castle for the shore, and then onto his ship, sailing out into the tumultuous seas for another glimpse of the mermaid and to hear her “song” and “melody.” Their third new track for the film is “The Scuttlebutt,” a rap performed by Scuttle (Awkwafina) and Sebastian (David Diggs) in which the seabird wakes up Ariel and the crustacean to share gossip she’s overheard that Eric plans to propose.
A nomination for any one of these songs would mark the whopping 20th for Menken. In addition to the two he won for the animated “Mermaid,” he has two victories for “Beauty and the Beast,” two for “Aladdin,” and two for “Pocahontas.” He has other nominations for “Little Shop of Horrors,” “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” “Enchanted,” and “Tangled.”
If the duo go on to win, Miranda would be only the 18th person to competitively win at least one Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony, a list that includes other individuals known predominantly as composers and/or songwriters, including Richard Rodgers, Marvin Hamlisch, Jonathan Tunick, Robert Lopez, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice, John Legend and, yes, Menken himself.
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