ABC Will Go 'Under the Sea' with Little Mermaid Live Musical

ABC will present a live musical version of Disney’s The Little Mermaid on October 3, according to Deadline. In a unique hybrid, The Wonderful World of Disney: The Little Mermaid Live! will blend elements from Disney’s animated musical with live performances.

Celebrity artists are expected to be a part of the cast, performing Alan Menken and Howard Ashman’s songs from the 1989 film. Menken and Ashman won a pair of Oscars for their contributions to the film, one for the score overall and one for the song "Under the Sea." ABC's live Little Mermaid appears to be a different property from the in-the-works live-action Little Mermaid feature film.

The Little Mermaid, based on a Hans Christian Andersen story, focuses on a young mermaid named Ariel who wants nothing more than to live life on land. She gives away her voice to an evil sea urchin named Ursula in exchange for the chance to spend time out of the water, at the behest of her vocal friend, a crab named Sebastian. Jodi Benson voiced the title role in the animated film with Samuel E. Wright as the high-singing Sebastian and Pat Carroll as Ursula.

A 2008 Broadway musical adaptation featured Sierra Boggess as Ariel with Tituss Burgess as Sebastian and Sherie Rene Scott as Ursula. The Broadway version included songs from the film as well as trunk songs by Menken and Ashman and additional new numbers by Menken and Glenn Slater.

A 2017 nonmusical feature film based off of Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid is unrelated to the Disney musical properties.