As the owner of eight Oscars, 11 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 iconic Disney songs of the 1990s, Menken has cemented a legendary status for himself amongst a wide swath of generations. His latest work — the live-action remake of The Little Mermaid — marks his return to the 1989 Disney classic, and anyone who comes out of the movie tapping their feet should check out these similarly beloved Alan Menken movies.
Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
Even decades later, Little Shop of Horrors is a widely beloved musical by fans of the genre. The idea of taking a 1960 Roger Corman-directed horror comedy and making it into a wild and charming musical was an inspired one. The Frank Oz-directed movie adaptation would also technically serve as the first major cinematic collaboration between Menken and legendary lyricist Howard Ashman — a team-up that would lead to incredible results over at Disney in the years to come.
From the innovative puppeteering techniques behind the monstrous plant Audrey II to the incredibly stacked cast — featuring Steve Martin in a lead role and stars like Bill Murray and John Candy making appearances — Little Shop of Horrors stood out from the start as a hilarious musical that was unlike anything else. Menken and Ashman’s new song for the movie, “Mean Green Mother From Outer Space,” would nab the two their first Oscar nominations, though it would be far from their last.
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
While Disney was putting out hit after hit during the “Disney Renaissance” of the 1990s, Beauty and the Beast specifically holds the esteem of being the first animated movie to be nominated for the general Best Picture Academy Award. After struggling behind the scenes (and even being entirely restarted at one point), it was this musical version that included Menken and Ashman on the team 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 engraved into an entire generation’s minds. Its endearing characters, beautiful animation, and iconic soundtrack place it near the top of Disney’s library and served as a more than worthy follow-up to The Little Mermaid.
Aladdin (1992)
Aladdin may be Disney’s finest movie, as it perfected the Disney formula to make a stunningly animated movie that’s funny, heartfelt, and full of brilliant music. Not just that, but Aladdin grabbed audiences in the film space while also dominating the public consciousness with video games, a television show, and direct-to-video sequels. The combination of the straightforward but charming story and Robin Williams’ incomparable wit made for a truly unique animated feature that still wows audiences to this day, making this one of the very best Alan Menken movies.
As Howard Ashman passed away before Beauty and the Beast was finished, he only completed a couple of Aladdin songs with Alan Menken, meaning the rest would be a collaboration between Menken and the esteemed Tim Rice of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat fame. The combination of these three incredible musicians would lead to one of the most beloved soundtracks in any Disney movie, and perhaps any movie overall. Whether “A Whole New World” or “Friend Like Me” are more to your style, 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 entries and it’s led by a 17-year-old Christian Bale doing his best to sing his heart out. Though it would later be adapted into a wildly successful stage musical, the movie version of Newsies actually won Alan Menken a Golden Raspberry award in the same year that he received an Oscar. Menken did the music while Jack Feldman did the lyrics and though the results are more mixed, there are some great tracks present.
It’s a bit clunky and silly, but Newsies has an odd charm to it that made revisiting it some 30 years later a lot of fun. Christian Bale leads a group of paper boys in fighting for fair wages, leading to all sorts of shenanigans — including Bale getting socked by an adult union buster. Both the movie and the improved musical version are on Disney+, so I recommend watching them in a row to get the full experience.
Hercules (1997)
“Bless my soul, Herc was on a role” is one of the most iconic opening lines to anyone who grew up during the Disney Renaissance. This time, Menken worked with lyricist David Zippel and leaned into gospel music — this is a story about gods, after all. Though it came out when this incredibly successful period in Disney’s history was beginning to wind down, Hercules is unlike any other movie from the media giant and still stands strong as a wholly unique take on Greek mythology. It’s getting a remake soon as well, from director Guy Ritchie.
Everything from the gospel music to the sharp and almost ahead-of-its-time comedy allows Hercules to stand out. If that weren’t enough, it’s backed by incredible performances like Susan Egan’s Meg, Danny Devito’s Phil, and the peak of them all, James Woods’ masterfully funny version of the Greek god Hades. It’s definitely different from many of its contemporaries, but Hercules is without a doubt one of the most fun Alan Menken movies.
Howard (2018)
The last movie on the list isn’t so much a musical as a look at the incredible work behind some of Disney’s 90s classics. Focused on lyricist Howard Ashman, 2018’s Howard has a great deal of footage of Ashman and Menken working together on projects like The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, with lots of insight from Menken about 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 who were close to Ashman, Howard provides fans of these movies and musicals with an unparalleled look at the hard work and creative genius that went into the songs they still hum to themselves today.
