The recipient of eight Oscars, eleven Grammy Awards, a Tony and a Daytime Emmy, few composers are as celebrated as Alan Menken. As one of the men behind many of the most famous Disney songs of the 1990s, Menken has earned legendary status over many generations. His latest work – the live-action remake of The Little Mermaid – marks his return to the 1989 Disney classic, and anyone who taps their feet from the film should check out these similarly popular films Alan Menken films.
The recipient of eight Oscars, eleven Grammy Awards, a Tony and a Daytime Emmy, few composers are as celebrated as Alan Menken. As one of the men behind many of the most famous Disney songs of the 1990s, Menken has earned legendary status over many generations. His latest work – the live-action remake of The Little Mermaid – marks his return to the 1989 Disney classic, and anyone who taps their feet from the film should check out these similarly popular films Alan Menken films.
Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
Decades later, Little Shop of Horrors remains a widely loved musical among fans of the genre. The idea of turning a Roger Corman-directed 1960 horror comedy into a wild and charming musical was brilliant. The Frank Oz-directed film adaptation would also be the first major collaboration between Menken and legendary lyricist Howard Ashman – a collaboration that would yield incredible results at Disney for years to come.
From the innovative puppetry techniques behind the monstrous plant Audrey II to the incredible cast – starring Steve Martin and stars like Bill Murray and John Candy – Little Shop of Horrors stood out from the start as a hilarious musical unlike anything else . Menken and Ashman’s new song for the film, “Mean Green Mother From Outer Space,” would bring them their first Oscar nominations, although it would be far from their last.
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
While Disney released hit after hit in the “Disney Renaissance” of the 1990s, “Beauty and the Beast” is considered the first animated film to be nominated for an overall Oscar for best picture. After struggling behind the scenes (and even getting a complete reboot at one point), it was this musical version, which Menken and Ashman teamed up, that would blow audiences away.
From Be Our Guest to Beauty and the Beast itself, the entire soundtrack of Disney’s 30th animated feature is firmly entrenched in the minds of an entire generation. Its endearing characters, beautiful animation and iconic soundtrack places it at the top of the Disney library and served as a more than worthy sequel to The Little Mermaid.
Aladdin (1992)
Aladdin is possibly Disney’s finest film, as it perfected the Disney formula to create a stunningly animated film that is funny, heartfelt and filled with brilliant music. Additionally, Aladdin captured audiences in the film arena while dominating the public consciousness with video games, a television show, and direct-to-video sequels. The combination of the uncomplicated but charming story and Robin Williams’ peerless wit resulted in a truly unique animated film that has captivated audiences to this day, making it one of Alan Menken’s finest films.
Since Howard Ashman passed away before Beauty and the Beast was complete, he only completed a few Aladdin songs with Alan Menken, meaning the rest was a collaboration between Menken and the esteemed Tim Rice of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat would be. The combination of these three incredible musicians would result in one of the most popular soundtracks in any Disney film, and maybe any film at all. Whether “A Whole New World” or “Friend Like Me” suits your style better, the soundtrack is simply filled with top-notch tracks.
Newsies (1992)
This is probably the strangest movie on the list as it’s one of the two live-action movies and stars 17-year-old Christian Bale, doing his best to sing at his best. Although the film adaptation of Newsies was later adapted into a hugely successful stage musical, Alan Menken did win an award Golden Raspberry award in the same year he received an Oscar. Menken did the music while Jack Feldman wrote the lyrics and while the result is more mixed there are some great tracks included.
It’s a bit clunky and silly, but “Newsies” has an odd charm that makes it a lot of fun to read again some 30 years later. Christian Bale leads a group of newsboys fighting for fair wages, which leads to all sorts of shenanigans – including Bale being screwed by an adult union buster. Both the movie and the enhanced music version are available on Disney+, so I recommend watching them back-to-back to get the full experience.
Hercules (1997)
“Thank god Herc was in a role” is one of the most recognizable opening lines for anyone growing up during the Disney Renaissance. This time, Menken collaborated with lyricist David Zippel and turned his attention to gospel music – after all, this is a story about gods. Even though Hercules came out at a time when this incredibly successful period in Disney’s history was coming to an end, it differs from all of the media giant’s other films and is still a wholly unique take on Greek mythology. There will also be a remake by director Guy Ritchie soon.
Everything from the gospel music to the sharp and almost pre-date comedy makes Hercules special. As if that weren’t enough, it’s backed up by incredible performances like Susan Egan’s “Meg”, Danny Devito’s “Phil” and to top it all, James Woods’ masterfully witty take on the Greek god Hades. It’s definitely different from many of his contemporaries, but Hercules is without a doubt one of Alan Menken’s most entertaining films.
Howard (2018)
The final film on the list is less of a musical and more a look at the incredible work behind some ’90s Disney classics. 2018’s Howard focuses on lyricist Howard Ashman and includes numerous footage of Ashman and Menken working together on projects such as The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, with many insights from Menken into the creative process and his partnership with the late Ashman.
From footage of the “Be Our Guest” recording session to interviews with Menken and others close to Ashman, Howard offers fans of these films and musicals an unprecedented insight into the hard work and creative genius that went into the songs, which they still sing to themselves today.