Unreleased Songs/Score

Several pieces of music from the movie remain unreleased in any format from Disney. The most important and most puzzling is a short reprise of Ursula's song Poor Unfortunate Souls

Poor Unfortunate Souls

The Jonas Brothers covered "Poor Unfortunate Souls" for the Little Mermaid two-disk special special edition of the soundtrack, released on October 3, 2006 to correspond with the two-disk The Little Mermaid Platinum Edition DVD...

 which appears in the movie right before Eric and Vanessa's wedding. This song has been unofficially named "Vanessa's Song" but has never been recognized or named by Disney. The piece is sung by Vanessa (Jodi Benson). It has a short prelude of Scuttle humming (Buddy Hackett) and the ending laugh is by Ursula (Pat Carrol). A fan-compiled complete score (including song instrumentals) does exist and can be heard/seen on video sharing websites, but Disney has yet to release the complete score.

1. “Fathoms Below” (Instrumental) [1:41]
2. Main Titles (Full version as heard over end credits – the last 7 seconds haven’t been released commercially) [1:34]
3. Sebastian’s Fanfare [0:06]
4. Orchestra Tuning (Source Music) [0:17]
5. “Daughters of Triton” (Instrumental) [0:36]
6. The Shipwreck [3:09]
7. Scuttle, the know-it-all [1:14]
8. Ariel’s Restriction [1:47]
9. Following Ariel [0:42]
10. “Part of Your World” (Full Version - The version heard in the film includes about 25 seconds of score before the song starts) [3:23]
11. “Part of Your World” (Instrumental) [3:23]
12. The Grotto Revealed [0:12]
13. “Part of Your World Reprise” (Instrumental) [2:14]
14. Ursula’s Demented Plan / Ariel’s in Love [0:46]
15. Sebastian Pacing / He Loves Me [0:23]
16. “Under the Sea” (Instrumental) [3:11]
17. Somebody’s Gotta Nail That Girl’s Fins to the Floor [0:10]
18. Sebastian and Triton (This cue was included on the "Music Behind the Magic" CD set, but wasn’t included on any of the commercial albums) [1:38]
19. The Power of Suggestion [1:46]
20. Going to See the Sea Witch / Ursula’s Lair [1:26]
21. “Poor Unfortunate Souls” (Part 1 - Instrumental) / Ursula’s Deal [2:15]
22. The Subject of Payment [0:31]
23. Poor Unfortunate Souls (Part 2 - Instrumental) [1:14]
24. Taking Ariel’s Voice [0:39]
25. New Pair of Legs [1:10]
26. Soft Shell Sebastian [0:26]
27. Eric and Max Find Ariel [1:23]
28. In Eric’s Kingdom [0:53]
29. Sebastian in the Kitchen [0:10]
30. A Beautiful Maiden [1:06]
31. “Les Poissons” (Instrumental) [1:32]
32. Sebastian Versus Louis [0:40]
33. Dinner at the Castle [0:27]
34. Triton Worried [0:34]
35. “Kiss the Girl” (Instrumental) [2:40]
36. Ursula Takes Charge [0:39]
37. Vanessa on the Beach (with and without vocal) [1:00]
38. "Vanessa’s Song" [0:32]
39. "Vanessa’s Song" (Instrumental) [0:32]
40. Making a Plan / Crashing the Wedding / Ariel's Voice Returns / The Sun Sets / The Final Deal [4:21]
41. A Happy Ending (film version) [3:10]
42. A Happy Ending (sans Disney chorus) [3:10]
43. Eric’s Flute (Source) [0:10]

Total time of missing score excluding song instrumentals: 32 minutes and 39 seconds

Total time of missing score including song instrumentals: 51 minutes and 18 seconds

Score Composition and Orchestration

Alan Menken's first songs-and-underscore project garnered him an Academy Award for the best score of 1989. This would prove to give him a very high nomination-to-win ratio of awards. Alan was originally hired for the songs only, but after writing an underscore demo for the film's executives, his assignment grew.
The following are some details on the film's score overall:

• Almost all of the score features a section of music in the key of G major (including "Main Titles", the beginning portion of "Happy Ending", "Les Poissons", "Bedtime", and most instances of Ariel's solo aria). "Tour of the Kingdom" alternated between G major and E major throughout.
• In darker moments, and for Ursula's theme, the key of G minor is prominent ("Vanessa's Song", most of "The Storm", "Eric to the Rescue" among others).
• The French horn is used to symbolize King Triton (listen to "Destruction of the Grotto"), the oboe is used to symbolize Prince Eric (the beginning of "The Storm", as well as "Happy Ending" when Ariel is looking at Eric on the shore). Usually the brass section represents Ursula and the flute almost always portrays Ariel's vocal aria. Clarinets represent Scuttle.
• Synthesizers and electric pianos are used quite often in the orchestration (namely for the songs, like "Part of Your World"), but the grand piano is almost never used.
• Scuttle's leitmotif can be heard in the beginning of "Wedding Announcement", the scene after Ariel becomes a human and was the basis for "Beyond My Wildest Dreams" in the 2007 broadway production. This theme is used as a variation for the music when the animals are stopping Vanessa's wedding.
• Ursula's leitmotif is most obvious in the track "Flotsam & Jetsam" but it comes from the melody notes for the chorus of "Poor Unfortunate Souls". This theme is also used while Ariel is being transformed, and it played fast and supported by a harsh brass section.