How Aladdin remake has updated animated version’s music and lyrics for the better
- Disney’s 2019 version of the film starring Will Smith has modernised some dubious lyrics, and goes big on brand-new musical numbers
- Princess Jasmine has also a lot more to say – and sing – in this live-action feature
Princess Jasmine sang only one song in Disney’s 1992 animated version of Aladdin. And it was a duet. Sure, it was A Whole New World, arguably the film’s most famous song. But it wasn’t her own.
Speechless is a new song written for the character. The music video featuring Scott dropped on Friday and the British-Indian actress belts out the power ballad that addresses how her character was mistreated in the animated film.
You know, those cringeworthy scenes when she swallows sand while trapped in an hourglass and repeatedly has her righteous voice drowned out by the men around her.
“I will not be silenced / You can’t keep me quiet / Won’t tremble when you try it / All I know is I will not go speechless,” she sings in the video, as an orchestra backs her in the recording studio and scenes from the feature film play on.
Famed composer and songwriter Alan Menken, who wrote music for the original film, collaborated with songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (La La Land and The Greatest Showman) on the soaring power ballad.