“The Little Mermaid” Updated Its Lyrics, And 17 More Times Disney Changed Things Between The Animated And Live-Action Adaptations

I took the changes to "Be Prepared" personally.

🚨 Spoilers for a variety of Disney movies. 🚨

The release of a new live-action Disney movie can mean only one thing: a new wave of discourse over whether the changes and additions from the originals are welcome or if they are actually...kind of terrible.

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection

No judgment here! Here are some of the biggest changes made in recent Disney live-action history:

1. In the 2023 Little Mermaid, lyrics have been changed in "Poor Unfortunate Souls" and "Kiss the Girl." In particular, the moments where Ursula tries to convince Ariel that she will be fine without her voice because landmen prefer women "not to say a word" are gone.

Disney, Walt Disney Co. / Courtesy Everett Collection

In "Kiss the Girl," "Possible she want you too, there is one way to ask her" is changed to "Use your words, boy, and ask her."

2. In the 2019 version of Aladdin, the opening is changed from a peddler talking about a legend to the Genie telling the story of Aladdin years later to his two children. The lyrics to "Arabian Nights" are also changed, but it's not the first time the song received an update from its original theatrical version.

Disney+

The original lyrics of "Arabian Nights" are "Where they cut off your ear if they don't like your face / It's barbaric, but hey, it's home." In the video version, they were changed to "Where it's flat and immense and the heat is intense" — and still with the "barbaric" line. Conversely, the 2019 lyrics are "Where you wander among every culture and tongue / It's chaotic, but hey, it's home."

3. Also in the live-action Aladdin, the Genie has a love interest: Jasmine's handmaid, named Dalia.

Disney+

While there's no equivalent in the animated movie, there's a love interest for the Genie in the '90s animated TV Aladdin named Eden, who is also a genie. 

4. In addition, Jasmine wants to be the Sultan throughout the 2019 movie, which she succeeds in doing by the story's end.

Disney+

In the original, it's indicated that Aladdin will become the next Sultan. Remake Jasmine's motivations are partially tied in with the legacy of her dead mother (a character explicitly mentioned in this version), and she primarily wants to change the laws so that she can become Sultan — rather than her primary motivation in the original, which is to have a marriage based on love, on her own terms.

5. The 2020 version of Mulan is one of the most radically different remakes, starting with the fact that the live-action version isn't a musical.

Disney+ / Courtesy Everett Collection

However, there are orchestral nods to the original score throughout.

6. Li Shang is split into two different characters in the remake: Chen Honghui and Commander Tung.

Jasin Boland / Disney+ / Courtesy Everett Collection, © Disney+ / Courtesy Everett Collection

The change was made post-#MeToo in order to separate Mulan's commanding officer from her love interest. Instead, Chen is an equal rank to Mulan.

7. Oh yeah, and the 2020 version of Mulan is able to harness the mystical energy of chi — which only warrior men are supposed to have in this universe.

Disney, Disney+

Unlike in the 1998 movie, Mulan is already supernaturally physically gifted and doesn't instead excel through her feminine problem-solving. It's been pointed out that this version of chi is very different from how it's perceived in actual Chinese culture, which is as a vital energy possessed by everyone.

8. The 2015 version of Cinderella also isn't a musical. Prince Charming has a name here: Kit.

Walt Disney Co. / Courtesy Everett Collection

The Prince's backstory is a lot more fleshed out — we see him grapple with not wanting to marry a princess, and a scene where the king apologizes to Kit while dying. He's not the only character to have more of a backstory, as Lady Tremaine's desire for security is explored after the death of her beloved first husband.  

9. Kit and Cinderella first meet in the woods rather than at the ball.

Disney, Walt Disney Co. / Courtesy Everett Collection

Indeed, we see Kit hunting a stag — and Ella then tells him not to. Subsequently, they already know each other by the time it gets to the big ball.

10. The animals don't talk in the 2019 version of Dumbo. It's also not a musical.

Disney, Walt Disney Co. / Courtesy Everett Collection

Subsequently, it's humans who give Dumbo his name. This is another movie that's hugely different from its predecessor, with the humans who run the circus getting a lot more airtime.

11. The animated crows, which have been criticized for being a racist caricature, were cut.

Disney, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection

Dumbo does hold a black feather in the live-action version, which is seemingly a reference.

12. Dumbo doesn't get drunk and see pink elephants in the live-action version. Instead, he sees high-tech balloons.

Disney, Disney+

There's also a huge plot about the treatment of animals in captivity in the circus, resulting in the live-action Dumbo being freed with his mom into the wild.

13. Scar meets the hyenas onscreen in the 2019 remake of The Lion King. Two of the new hyenas are men.

Disney, Disney / Everett Collection

The original movie's hyenas have also faced accusations of perpetuating racist stereotypes. This version's hyenas are less comedic and more menacing, with Shenzi having her own face-off with Nala at the end of the movie.

14. Sarabi is also said to have rejected Scar in the 2019 version, and it's implied that Mufasa was the one who gave him his Scar.

Disney, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection

"Be Prepared"'s lyrics are also changed, and the song is more spoken than sung.

15. Pinocchio doesn't become a real boy at the end of the 2022 movie. His nose also only grows once.

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection

Well, the ending is ambiguous. Something about loving yourself.

16. In the 2017 Beauty and the Beast, Belle is made to be an inventor.

Disney, Disney+

She also teaches another little girl to read, much to the chagrin of the townsfolk. Conversely, her father is an artist rather than an inventor.

17. There is also a backstory given to Belle's mother, leading Belle to travel back in space and reflect on a plague-striken Paris.

Disney+

Adding to the locale, Gaston is also a war hero (and maybe has PTSD?).

18. And finally, LeFou is gay in the 2017 Beauty and the Beast, but this is only shown in one brief moment at the end when the sidekick dances with another man.

Disney+

 “We didn’t go far enough," actor Josh Gad later said. "I don’t think we did justice to what a real gay character in a Disney film should be.”

Which Disney love-action changes do you love? Hate? LMK in the comments!