How Howard Ashman Gave Ariel Her Voice In "The Little Mermaid”

After watching a preview of the scene where Ariel sings "Part of Your World" and expresses her desire to become human, Katzenberg wanted to remove the ballad from the film, fearing that it was too slow-paced to keep the attention of young viewers.

"I said to everybody, 'I think you really ought to think about cutting that song out of the movie,'" Katzenberg said in Howard. "And you know, Howard Ashman said, 'Over my dead body.'"

Former Disney Music Executive Chris Montan discussed Ashman's part in fighting to keep the song in the film when interviewed in the documentary. "Howard was very smart and said, 'Look, these movies launch off this kind of a song. Every one of the [Disney] movies had some version of it, whether it's "When You Wish Upon A Star," or whatever example you want to choose,'" Montan said. "'It may be temporarily kind of hard to make work, but in the big picture, you have to have this song. You have to have those ... moments.'"

In an archived interview, Ashman emphasized the importance of including an impassioned song like "Part of Your World" in a musical to get an audience invested in the protagonist's story.

"In almost every musical ever written, there's a place, it's usually about the third song of the evening, sometimes it's the second, sometimes it's the fourth, but it's quite early, and the leading lady usually sits down on something ... and sings about what she wants in life," Ashman said. "And the audience falls in love with her and then roots for her to get it for the rest of the night."

Ultimately, Ashman's determination in advocating to keep the song prevailed, and his direction combined with Benson's vocal skills resulted in "Part of Your World" being one of the most memorable moments of The Little Mermaid.

Roy E. Disney, the former Disney Company Vice Chairman and nephew of Walt Disney, likened the level of respect colleagues had for Ashman to his uncle in an interview clip from Howard. "I don't want to compare him to Walt, but, on the other hand, he had that kind of influence on everybody. It was a remarkable amount of influence. If Howard said it, you know, that was gospel," Disney said.