Alan Menken is an 8-time Oscar winning composer best known for his scores for Disney animated films like The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and Enchanted. He brought unique musical styles to Disney films that expanded their soundtracks. His scores are praised for clearly conveying emotion through the music alone. Menken collaborated frequently with lyricists like Howard Ashman and Stephen Schwartz. He strived to blend genres and pay homage to classic Disney musicals with his new compositions.

1. Alan Menken By Adrienne Cordero, Andria Jones, Carrie Money, and Christina Gitto

2. Alan Menken Bio Born July 22, 1949 in Manhattan Began college as a pre-med student, but left to study music at NYU Started his career writing for Broadway shows, but became better known for his work on films Has been nominated for 19 Oscars and won 8 (which is more than any other living individual)

3. Oscar Nominated Film Scores

4. Oscar Winning Film Scores

5. "Songs are a very familiar vocabulary to people and I've always believed that you should be able to understand not only the feeling, but the content of the song, by just hearing the music and not even the lyrics. What you're trying to say should be that clear." -Alan Menken

6. The Little Mermaid By Christina Gitto

7. The Little Mermaid Film is an adaptation of the Hans Christian Anderson fairy-tale Alan Menken was a risky choice for the composer, having never composed for a film before He collaborated on the score with Howard Ashman (lyrics)

8. The Little Mermaid Most of the score is in G major (some E major), except for the darker songs which are in G minor Specific instruments were used to signify different characters (French Horn for King Triton, Oboe for Prince Eric, Brass for Ursula, Flute for Ariel, Clarinet for Scuttle) Example scene (listen for the Flute and French Horn): click here

9. The Little Mermaid Songs flow from the dialogue in the film Characters run out of words to express themselves and must do so through song (example) Menken brought in unique musical genres that had not been used in previous Disney films (calypso in “Under the Sea” and reggae in “Kiss the Girl” (example)

10. The Little Mermaid Film won Oscars for Best Original Score and Best Original Song (1989) Strength of the score comes from a few different factors: Strong character associations Diverse musical styles Clarity of emotion (it is not always necessary to listen to the lyrics to understand the feeling behind the music)

11. Beauty and the Beast By Adrienne Cordero

12. Beauty And The Beast Based on the fairy tale La Belle et la Bête by Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont Composed by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, both composed for The Little Mermaid Won Academy Awards for Best Picture Best Original Score Best Sound Best Original Song for “Beauty and the Beast”

13. Beauty And The Beast Much of the score was written during pre-production process including the operetta-style song “Belle” played in the opening (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASpPOo034-E&feature=related) Songs mostly recorded live with the orchestra and voice cast performing simultaneously rather than overdubbed separately This style gave songs a cast album/Broadway type energy

14. Beauty And The Beast The score and songs retain the convincing atmosphere of magic even in darker parts of the film The French setting of story is recognized in the song for the film’s villain “Gaston” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsRDfiVP4eM) a French waltz-like piece heavy on accordion sound.

15. Beauty And The Beast Instead of using the Celine Dion and PeaboByson pop version of “Beauty and the Beast” the version used was sung by Mrs. Potts voiced by Angela Landsbury This version keeps in theme with the characters singing the songs and lends a sweet personal touch to the scene (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yJnvv_R2rk&feature=related)

16. Enchanted By Carrie Money

17. Enchanted Alan Menken was nominated for an Oscar 2007 for Enchanted He collaborated on the score with Stephen Schwartz who write the lyrics to six of the songs Menken composed Menken and Schwartz also worked together for Hunchback of Notre Dame and Pocahontas

18. Enchanted Menken and Schwartz found it was easier to just have the characters burst into song which is different than other Disney movies. The three songs Giselle (main character) sings contain references to earlier Disney films, Menken wanted to pay homage to earlier Disney musicals

19. Enchanted “That’s How You Know” is a self-parody of Menken’s compositions for his Disney features, specifically such big numbers as “Under the Sea” (Little Mermaid) (That’s How You Know)

20. Enchanted Menken admits his Disney songs are always “a little tongue-in-cheek” As the film progresses, Menken let the music get a little more contemporary, with music such as “So Close” and “Ever Ever After” (Ever Ever After)

21. Tangled By Andria Jones

23. Tangled “A few moments into "Tangled," a would-be princess breaks into song. Yet there's no orchestra and no singing squirrels, and "When Will My Life Begin?" is many moons removed from the typical grand, sweeping musical prologue that serves as curtain-raiser for most animated kids movies.” Rapunzel’s long-haired, freedom-dreamin’ heroine inspired Menken to incorporate the 1970s folk rock sound of Joni Mitchell​ and Cat Stevens for her music. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gt6uL_GW_fE

24. The End!