The Official Alan Menken Thread

[Tydirium 1,167]

Yeah, it’s also sad when you consider that even when it comes to CD releases, 40 minutes is nowhere close to a full disc. They could have provided an additional 34 minutes of material and still managed to fit it on 1 disc; instead, the CD is just over half-full. But yes, in the days of digital releases, there’s no reason not to just release most if not all of the music. Hart’s Peter Pan & Wendy last month was also missing a lot of material, but I still never would have expected that we would end up getting more music from that (50 minutes), than from Little Mermaid.

[Tom Guernsey 2,284]

2 hours ago, Tydirium said:

Yeah, it’s also sad when you consider that even when it comes to CD releases, 40 minutes is nowhere close to a full disc. They could have provided an additional 34 minutes of material and still managed to fit it on 1 disc; instead, the CD is just over half-full. But yes, in the days of digital releases, there’s no reason not to just release most if not all of the music. Hart’s Peter Pan & Wendy last month was also missing a lot of material, but I still never would have expected that we would end up getting more music from that (50 minutes), than from Little Mermaid.

...and the Little Mermaid remake soundtrack manages to be 3 minutes shorter than the original Little Mermaid soundtrack. The amount of music on Aladdin and The Lion King was at least pretty generous, but Disenchanted (and Enchanted for that matter) both got royally screwed over in the release stakes. My fingers remain crossed but as it stands, a very parsimonious release.

[1977 1,743]

Was the score release for the live action BatB announced around the same time as the song album?

 

3 hours ago, JNHFan2000 said:

Beauty And The Beast had a terrific release. But the releases after that got worse. More focused on the songs than score. Aladdin had less score. Lion King as well. Disenchanted had just a suite. I rtuly hope there's more score coming.

 

Menken keeps talking about in i terviews that this has always been his favorite. So why not give it proper releases. Especially these days with digital releases

 

You're forgetting, this is the company that thought Hermione could sing.

[JNHFan2000 2,959]

Look what showed up on New Zealand's itunes just now!

 

1 hour and 18 minutes. 40 minutes of the previous album plus 40 minutes of extra score.

 

https://music.apple.com/nz/album/the-little-mermaid-original-motion-picture-soundtrack/1688808328

[DemonStar 57]

That's so much better. 😎

[Tydirium 1,167]

I couldn’t be happier to have been wrong!

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

Still… its just one cd

[Thor 7,495]

Beyond the quantity issue that many of you seem to have, anything worthwhile to say about the score itself? I mean, everything is pretty much said about such a (deserved) classic as THE LITTLE MERMAID, but perhaps there are new things to say about the new version. Haven't seen the new film, and have no immediate need to, but I'm curious to hear some feedback on the score material.

[JNHFan2000 2,959]

The melody of one of the new songs in incorporated quite a lot. I like that. But other then that it's mostly in the style of the remakes of BatB & Aladdin.

 

I'm seeing the film tomorrow, so maybe it's different then, but I miss the sort of sassy parts of Ursula's theme and the magic is a bit lost. But who knows how I feel about it after seeing the film. 

 

At this moment the live action Beauty and the beast has the best score of the 3.

I actually just want a Hunchback live action film so that Menken can score that with his more grown up style of these days.

[1977 1,743]

I listened to a few score tracks this morning and really enjoyed them. I hope we get a CD release of the DE album.

[Groovygoth666 666]

The HSN release seems to be the standard soundtrack, but includes an exclusive track "Impossible Child", which doesn't seem to appear on any other release.

[Drawgoon 100]

On 26/05/2023 at 5:57 PM, JNHFan2000 said:

I actually just want a Hunchback live action film so that Menken can score that with his more grown up style of these days.

 

You're likely getting your wish in 2024, it seems.

 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9613354

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

12 hours ago, Groovygoth666 said:

The HSN release seems to be the standard soundtrack, but includes an exclusive track "Impossible Child", which doesn't seem to appear on any other release.

That is the unused bardem song i think

[JNHFan2000 2,959]

Yes, it is

[m4tt 5]

Hi Guys,

 

Do any of you have an idea about the possibility of a concert featuring Alan Menken in Europe during 2023 or 2024? Additionally, I'm curious if there exists a website where all of his concert information can be tracked?

 

Thanks,

Matt

[JNHFan2000 2,959]

The lyrics I'm not a fan of and Bardem can't sing, but the orchestrations and flow of the melody in the first part is pretty great.

Still wish we'd get instrumental versions of the songs like with 2019's Aladdin. Because the arrangements of the songs were very good.

 

 

[Kim_SSP 0]

 

On 8/9/2023 at 11:47 PM, JNHFan2000 said:

The lyrics I'm not a fan of and Bardem can't sing, but the orchestrations and flow of the melody in the first part is pretty great.

Still wish we'd get instrumental versions of the songs like with 2019's Aladdin. Because the arrangements of the songs were very good.

 

 

The melody is almost identical to a theme from Zimmer’s “The Lone Ranger”. I’m guessing this wasn’t done intentionally by Menken, though. 
 

Could this have been part of the reason why the song was cut from the film?

 

The theme I’m referring to comes in at approx. 7:30 into this cue: 

 

 

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

Dude it is menkens Sea Storm music from the original film!

 

and it is very fitting as one sailor in the original film says at the beggining that the weather is good because triton must be happy. So when he is angry they used the sea storm music.

[Kim_SSP 0]

26 minutes ago, Luke Skywalker said:

Dude it is menkens Sea Storm music from the original film!

 

and it is very fitting as one sailor in the original film says at the beggining that the weather is good because triton must be happy. So when he is angry they used the sea storm music.

Ok, now I feel like a twat..   It’s been 20+ years since the last time I watched the animated version. Thanks for the correction!

[fommes 153]

On 08/09/2023 at 11:47 PM, JNHFan2000 said:

The lyrics I'm not a fan of and Bardem can't sing, but the orchestrations and flow of the melody in the first part is pretty great.

Still wish we'd get instrumental versions of the songs like with 2019's Aladdin. Because the arrangements of the songs were very good.

 

 

Does anyone know where to place this song outtake chronologically, where it was meant to go?

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

I cant believe there is no officialy word about this.

 

Maybe after ariel gets asleep in her bed? Sebastian calls her hopeless child…

 

and the next scene is in the morning after

[CuriousMan 16]

Hi.

One thing I'm wondering:

While the complete cue list of The Little Mermaid has been leaked, have any of Menken's other cue lists been leaked? (Official cue names/numbers)

Anyone know please?

[Groovygoth666 666]

2 hours ago, CuriousMan said:

Hi.

One thing I'm wondering:

While the complete cue list of The Little Mermaid has been leaked, have any of Menken's other cue lists been leaked? (Official cue names/numbers)

Anyone know please?

The only others I'm aware of are Pocahontas and Beauty and the Beast, but BATB is from the LTP concerts and incomplete. 

[4te 24]

On 25/03/2022 at 9:53 PM, Groovygoth666 said:

So I'm currently watching the second workprint of Aladdin (1992), it's weird seeing it with the temp tracks being mostly Last Crusade so far, with a Prince of Thieves and a Hook cue thrown in. Sometimes it's easy to hear when a composer copies a temp track, but Menken did a really good job of taking the idea the directors wanted and making his score completely different but working perfectly for the film. Last Crusade and Aladdin are two scores that I wouldn't have considered having any similarities but will have to listen closely next time I revisit Aladdin.

There's one piece of temp score from the workprints I'm still trying to identify! Does anyone recognize this one? Some say it sounds like Herrmann or Delerue.

 

It's in both versions of the workprint and this sequence became the "Ends of the Earth" score when Jafar becomes sultan (just after Prince Ali Reprise)

[Henry Sítrónu 494]

HERCULES had its world premiere last weekend in Hamburg.

 

 

 

 

[Bayesian 1,363]

I had no idea this was in the works. Very exciting! I hope we can look forward to an official cast recording. As Menken’s last contribution to the Disney Renaissance era (launched, of course, by he and Howard Ashman), it’s nice to see Hercules  get the live musical treatment. 

[filmmusic 1,827]

I am not sure if this comment would be considered racist (if it is, please delete it), but a black Hercules? 

 

[JNHFan2000 2,959]

I don't think that really matters. There's loads of gospel music in there, so it kimda makes sense.

 

A lot of roles on Broadway and the West End have been portrayed by black actors over the years.

 

Hamilton had black people in almost every role and I didn't see a problem there.

[Thor 7,495]

Since Hercules is a fictional character, and not a historic person, I suppose anything goes - especially in this day and age. Weird, yes, but not as weird as making Isaac Newton black(?) in the most recent DR. WHO.

[Tallguy 3,386]

"Greek" isn't a real ethnicity or nationality anyway.

[Thor 7,495]

I know some Greeks that would take issue with that, at least the 'nationality' bit.

[Tallguy 3,386]

I'm sure they would. But I'm pretty sure "Greek" (in the current climate at least in the USA) is not a PoC. 100 years ago? Heavens, yes.