With the release of “The Little Mermaid” in 1989, Walt Disney Animation Studios began a period now described as the Disney Renaissance. The animated feature ushered in a decade of commercially and critically successful films that harkened back to the fairy-tale adaptations from the 1930s to the 1960s. The string of hits included “Beauty and the Beast” and “Aladdin,” each of which has continued to grow in legacy with remakes.
Of course, the cultural impact of each film is thanks in no small part to its soundtrack, and a large part of the soundtracks were written by one man: Alan Menken.
Menken, a Manhattan-born composer, got his start by writing for musicals and off-Broadway work. His career got a boost when he began collaborating with lyricist Howard Ashman, with whom he would write “The Little Shop of Horrors.” This show caught the attention of the higher-ups at Disney, who brought the duo in to write for “The Little Mermaid.”
It was their approach that introduced key Broadway traditions – like integrating music directly into storytelling and character development – that shaped the face of Disney and, ultimately, a generation of children’s imaginations.
“Songs should have an infectious melody and rhythm,” he told NPR. “[They] should elicit an emotion, of happiness, or of celebration, or of sadness, or of sorrow, or of love, or of laughter — whatever.”
Today, we’re checking out sheet music for three songs from Alan Menken’s catalog during the Disney Renaissance.
“Under the Sea” – The Little Mermaid
For “Under the Sea,” Menken and Ashman created the feeling of the Caribbean by utilizing a calypso beat, which originated in Trinidad and Tobago.
“Calypso music has a distinctive syncopated 2/4 or 4/4 rhythm,” according to Masterclass. “Common calypso instruments include a drum set, Latin percussion (such as bongos, congas, and timbales), bass guitar, acoustic or electric guitars, trumpets, trombones, saxophones, and multiple vocalists. Steel pan is also a common instrument in a calypso band.”
Calypso is also characterized by its rhythmic and harmonic vocals, often accompanied by lyrics that are witty or satirical. In this case, it’s the crab Sebastian trying to convince Ariel to stay in the sea instead of living on land.
“Beauty and the Beast” – Beauty and the Beast
The title track from “Beauty and the Beast” won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, the Academy Award for Best Original Song, and the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media. The song saw Menken teaming up with Ashman once again.
“All Howard and I did was to tell the story, which is very romantic,” Menken said in a 2010 interview. “The setting is timeless, and I just went to my gut, which is what I always do… I don’t think I had ever spent more time writing a song than with that particular one. It was the height of simplicity, and we knew we would have to write a song that could have a life outside the movie. So there was an extra dimension to the work we were doing and that really took a lot of time.”
“A Whole New World” – Aladdin
“A Whole New World” is the epitome of a romantic duet that’s sung by Brad Kane (Aladdin) and Lea Salonga (Princess Jasmine). With harps and strings driving the harmony, it creates a soft bed of music for the singers to open up. However, Menken admits that the magic of the song is hard to describe.
“You can’t calculate every element of what makes a song timeless,” Menken told the Recording Academy. “Sometimes it’s just something ineffable that happens in the room, that happened in the context of how it’s used, and it just takes off. Sometimes you can’t explain it.”
