Jacob Tremblay has looked back on his experience recording his performance as Ariel’s lovable sidekick Flounder in ’s new , and how he managed to avoid the ‘voice cracks’ of puberty.
The actor, now 16, did the majority of his work as Flounder in early 2020, just before the pandemic began and production on , which also stars , Jonah Hauer-King, Javier Bardem and , had to be halted.
Discussing his way into the film at the on Monday night, Tremblay told Metro.co.uk: ‘This was really like my first… because I was actually doing a film I did called Luca at the same time as this and that was also voice recording.
‘But the actual recording process was very, very different from this way – and it honestly felt like it was live-action, even though it was just voice recording.
‘Through Covid actually, it was really easy to kind of get into voice recording.’
Tremblay, who found fame in 2015 thriller Room alongside Brie Larson, portrays one of Disney’s most popular sidekicks in the slightly anxious Flounder, and the star was keen to pay homage to Jason Marin’s work in the 1989 animated classic.
‘I definitely watched the old film. It was really interesting because I wanted to embody that original performance because his character was so memorable because he was so caring for others – so I definitely wanted to embody that,’ he explained.
‘But working with everyone else in the recording booth – or I guess it wasn’t a booth, they had it set up like a stage really – but recording it with everyone there, it really helped my performance, every take was different.’
For The Little Mermaid, Tremblay got to record his part alongside Daveed Diggs and Awkwafina, who play Ariel’s other sidekicks, Sebastian and Scuttle.
The group enjoy some fun musical moments together but were kept separate for those.
‘It was actually the other way around. So, when we were recording, I was with Daveed and Awkwafina, but when we were separate it was when we were doing the singing,’ he said to Metro.co.uk.
As someone who hadn’t dipped his toe into musical waters before, Tremblay admitted to nerves – especially when it came to keeping his voice consistent.
‘I’d never done anything musical before so I was very nervous, but luckily – I say this all the time – but luckily my 12-year-old voice doesn’t voice crack as much as this one. As you know, I struggle to talk regularly so imagine me trying to sing!’
The upcoming Disney blockbuster includes to sit alongside the Oscar-winning efforts of Menken and lyricist Howard Ashman from the first time around.
Time and care has also been spent tweaking the words and message of original number Kiss the Girl, a song Tremblay plays a major part in.
‘There are some lyric changes in Kiss the Girl because people have gotten very sensitive about the idea that [Prince Eric] would, in any way, force himself on [Ariel],’ Menken confirmed to in March.
The new vibe of the song is very much Ariel’s friends encouraging the tentative romance along gently, with Flounder and Scuttle helping support Sebastian in his leading musical maestro role.
‘I loved it too. I think that it’s such a good scene. Being a part of this been so special,’ Tremblay added to Metro.co.uk.
has had some Disney fans up in arms as the fish has lost his ‘chubby cheeks’.
However, his voice performer has defended the new look, saying it ‘worked out perfectly’ and calling the animation team ‘geniuses’.
The Little Mermaid splashes into cinemas on Friday, May 26.
