Hi folks! Welcome to my My Own Personal Nerdy Disney and Animation Scrutinizing Analysis blog. A blog where I'm analyzing several Disney films, Disney or Animation in general! These entries are just meant to be my analyses. Not reviews or statements. Just fun analyses! Though I'll make some personal remarks now and then, the content of these entries are meant to be depicted objectively. They're made for entertainment purpose only and the pictures/clips are copyright Disney or other companies.
Make sure to leave a comment if you like this site! And if there's something you think could be improved, please let me know. But in a constructive way, please. And just a note; I'm not a Native English writer, so my incorrect grammar may be notable.
And finally; If you haven't seen the films, beware of spoilers! And the funny lines aren't meant to be nothing than funny. So I hope you won't find them offensive. If so, I apologize
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| I'm Walt's stand-in :) |
If there's even been
a component from Disney that's been truly cherished, then it's their
music. And it's not strange to see why. Disney is usually known for the
romantic phrase "outstanding animation and memorable music
creates Disney magic". The music in Disney's properites is outstanding
at it's very best. But the earliest music has often set such a standard
that the following tunes have usually been compared to their
predecessors. And regardless of Disney being basically known for the
Broadway Formula, it's still a trope that Disney is associable with for
the mere reason for frequently using it.
Usually
in my entries I've happened to mention that Disney is often scrutinized
or cherished for their spcific components. Yet not coincidentially, the
music is often discussed at the last parts in my entries. Througout
Disney's long history there's been several songwriters who's
been regular tunesmiths and made their impact on Disney's legacy. Some
of them are actually well known (as for example the Sherman Brothers).
But it's remarkable how some of them haven`t been regular tunesmith`s in
a row.
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| I'm not Mozart, nor am I copying him :) |
Trivia & Backstory
Alan Irwin Menken was born July 22, 1949 in New Rochelle, New York (at French Hospital). Being the son of actress and writer Judy Menken and boogie-woogie piano-playing dentist Dr. Norman
Menken (in a family of several dentists), Menken lived in Astoria,
Queens and came from a Jewish background, mixed with Eastern European
and German ancestry. Alan was a two months premature, having a breech
birth. When he was 2 years old, he could vocally hit a note his father
played for him on the piano perfectly by Rodgers and Hart,
Gershwin songs book and some Broadway tunes. His father had the biggest
Collection of 33 1/3 albums of musical shows, going back to South Pacific. Alan tried to play the piano as toddler. And as hackneyd as it sounds, music is where Alan wanted to feel free and fly.
He
was more interested in creating his own tunes as a child, than
practicing the songs assigned to him by his piano and violin teachers. At age 9, at the New York Federation of Music Clubs Junior Composers Contest, his original violin composition Bouree was rated excellent by the judges. Menken started originally to play the piano with Mr. Higgs and later, Emily Harris. Afterwards
he took the violin, where his violin teacher, Areth Abraham, encouraged
him to compose. Menken was credited for his skills at his young age. He
thought first that conducting meant to point to the notes, making
himself tired.
He listened to Tchaikovsky's 6th Symphony and imagining what it was about, he realized that it was more than music. Instead of learning pieces, Alan would get the basic idea of a Beethoven Sonata or a Bartok`s Mikrokosmos.
He spend the rest of his practice time faking his own compositions in
those styles. When his teachers realized what he was doing, they wisely
suggested that it be encouraged.
Trivia & Backstory Part II
Alan went to NYU as a pre-med. Afterwards he went to school in 1967, having a teacher Lehman Engel. Who teached him the structure of a musical. In 1967 he was a concert
master for the New Rochelle High School.. taking orchestral occasional
musical liberties with variations on the themes of The Masters. He drifted
from Pre-Med to anthropology to philosophy, to finally graduating with a
Bachelor's degree in musicology from University College of Arts and
Science. In december 1968, he wrote his first full musical, Separate Ways.
produced at NYU. A fellow student, Elyce Wakerman, wrote the book.
Which was a rock musical about hippies living in an apartment building
with more conservative neighbors. 
In
1971, Alan was admitted into the BMI Musical Theater Workshop. Mentored
by conductor/composer Lehman Engel. Also in 1971, he wrote Children Of The World.
A rock ballet for the Downtown Ballet Company. In a review it was sai
that “His score has the vigor of protest. Yet it`s lyrical, affecting
and effective.”
Menken became afterwards a part of a community of writers who wrote for
a living. He performed in clubs and wrote jingles. And right out of
college he wrote a rock ballet, where the Downtown Ballet Company
commissioned him to do it. 
Afterwards he put together a band. A ballet dancer joined the company in 1972, Janis Roswick. Who later became
his wife (he greeted her when she was meditating and she wanted to get
her meditation done before greeting him), having written a song for her.
They married that same year.
Despite
how Alan’s plan was to become a rock-star/recording artist, he would
dabble in writing musicals. And through that workshop found his first
and best network for learning and growing into the composer we now know. During 1974 to 1978, BMI showcased Midnight, Apartment House (lyrics by Muriel Robinson), Conversations with Pierre, Harry the Rat, Messiah on Mott Street.
Alan`s Previous Work
Alan Menken is mostly associated with Disney. But happens to have a long
resume besides the House of Mouse. Between 1975 and 1979, Alan
performed on the New York City Cabaret Circuit. In addition to
showcasing his own music, he also acted as musical director and arranger
for other performers. He often played The Ballroom, Reno Sweeny and Tramps. He contributed material to revues like New York's Back In Town, Big Apple Country and The Present Tense. 
In 1979, Alan developed a review of his own material. In which he sang and played at the piano with 4 additional performers. Patch, Patch, Patch
opened in the Summer of ’79 at the West Bank Café. In what is now The
Laurie Beechman Theater. That review garnered rave notices. But with
Alan’s focus moving towards new partnerships, the show was never seen
past that run. In 1980, along with lyricist-librettist Steve Brown, Alan wrote this send-up of Flash Gordon as told from the point of view of Ming the Merciless called Atina, Evil Queen of the Galaxy. It was produced by Michael Bennett and directed by Tom O’Horgan.
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| At least it's not Patch of Heaven :) |
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| Not copyright Rihanna anymore :) |
In February 11, 1981, Real Life Funnies was written. Based on the village voice cartoon strip by Stan Mack. It opened off Broadway at the Manhattan Theatre Club. June 1982 saw The Dream On Royal Street, which was written with lyricist David Rogers to go straight into the stock and amateur market. Based on A Midsummer Night’s Dream,
it was developed and performed as part of the Theater Curriculum at
Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Lehman Engel accompanied Alan
to Dallas to critique and help, as part of his relationship with the
University's program. Sadly, it marked the last time they were to be
together. Alan considers Lehman his most vital and important teacher.
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| Ursula would've loved this :) |
Tom Eyen (Dreamgirls)
approached Menken with an original story about a group of dancers at
the Roxy Theater and the way their lives develop and interweave. The
story starts at the advent of World War 2 and continues to the 1970’s,
as their way of life disappears.
In December 16, 1984 Diamonds opens off Broadway at the Circle in the Square Downtown. It featured the poignant In the Cards with lyrics by David Zippel (who would later collaborate with Menken to pen for Hercules). November 24 1985, Personals opens off Broadway. With two songs penned by Alan, I'd Rather Dance Alone and I Could Always Go To You. Lyrics by David Crane, Seth Friedman, and Marta Kauffman.
Alan`s Previous Work Part 2
Alan Menken continued to work througout the late 1980's. The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz opened in Zellerbach Theatre, Philadelphia, September 1986. With Menken providing the music and lyrics by David Spencer. In 1989, he did Polly: The Wonderful World of Disney. Based on Disney's Pollyanna, inspired from the classic novel from the same name (Menken and Jack Feldman wrote a song for it called By Your Side). In 1990, Cartoon All-Stars To The Rescue was
a project that came to Alan and Howard Ashman as a request from Roy
Disney, Jr. to pen an anti drug song. “Back in the late 60's I would
not have been the poster boy for this cause. But when we were asked to
write Wonderful Ways to Say No, how could we say no?” 
And believe it or not, but Alan wrote music and lyrics for Measure Of A Man, the closing credits song for the Rocky V. film with Sly Stallone. Records in London with Elton John performing. Alan
was a Civil War buff growing up. Mostly based on the fascination of the
old photos of soldiers and politicians and the America of the 1860’s
had for him. So in 1992, when Peter Kunhardt asked him if he’d be
interested in scoring a mini-series about Abraham Lincoln for ABC,
simply called Lincoln, he was very inclined to say “yes”. His influences are pretty easy to identify; Aaron Copland and Randy Newman.
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| Without any r angers :) |
Also in 1992, Newsies from Walt Disney Pictures was released (a property that Menken
is practically synonymous with). With songs by Alan, lyrics by Jack
Feldman, score by J.A.C. Redford. And screenplay by Bob Tzudiker and
Noni White and starring a young Christian Bale. Newsies had about a two week run at the Box Office. Another release in 1992, Weird Romance
consisted of two one-act musicals with a curious mix of a science
fiction framework around traditional themes; The generation gap, a love
triangle and the archetypal conflict between those with power and those
who had none. Opening at the WPA theatre 6/14/92 with music by Alan and
lyrics by David Spencer. Alan wrote My Christmas Tree for Home Alone 2: Lost In New York, with lyrics by Jack Feldman. In June 1993, Life With Mickey was
released (with Michael J. Fox), where he's scored the film. And
collaborated with Stephen Schwartz (where his daughter Anna has a role).
Alan`s Other Works
In December 1994, A Christmas Carol
previews at the Theatre at Madison Square Garden. With original music
by Alan, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, book by Mike Ockrent. The show ran
seasonally for 10 years at the Theatre at Madison Square Garden. 10
years later, it was made for Television (With Kelsey Grammar, Jane Krakowski, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Jason Alexander). In
1997, Alan and Tim Rice were approached by the Jerusalem 3000 Committee
to write a work dealing with the life of King David. Instead of
performing the work at the Sultan’s Pool outside the walled city of
Jerusalem, King David had its premiere at the New Amsterdam Theater on 42nd
Street on Broadway.
In 2004, Noel was released (with Penelope Cruz). With original score and songs by Menken, lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and directed by Chazz Palminteri. In 2006, Menken composed the score for The Shaggy Dog. In 2009, Sister Act
opened to rave reviews on the West End in London. With lyrics by Glenn
Slater and Whoopi Goldberg (as the producer) took the stage for a brief
stint, this time playing the role of Mother Superior. Following up on a
successful run at the Paladium on the West End, Sister Act made a
successful transition to Broadway. Patina Miller
re-created her successful role as Deloris Von Cartier at the opening. 
Alan and David Zippel co-wrote a song for 2011's Captain America entitled Star Spangled Man. After 10 years in the creative process, Leap of Faith opened
and closed in a very disappointingly short period of time. Despite
the fact that it was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Musical. In 2013, ABC-TV's The Neighbors Sing Like A Larry Bird depicts
the aliens expressing their artistic side by writing their own Broadway
show.  |
| Well, Shaggy needed his dog avatar :) |
However, Menken happened to work for Disney properties that has no relation to any movies. For Tokyo DisneySea, he wrote an original song called Compass of Your Heart. For Sindbad’s Storybook Voyage. As well as an unproduced stage musical based on the story of The Snow Queen, long before it became Frozen.
Alan`s Resume From His Works With Howard Ashman to The Disney Animated Features
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| Don't worry, someone brushes my teeth for me :) |
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| It may not be a shop, but it's horror :) |
But of course what the duo was mostly known for, was 1982's The Little Shop of Horrors. Based on Roger Corman B-movie Classic (it moved to the Orpheum Theater and broke Box Office records for highest grossing off-Broadway show of all time). Horrors was eventually made into a film, released in December 1986 (who gave Alan his first Oscar nomination for the song Mean Green Mother From Outer Space). Horrors was revived again on Stage in 2019.
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| Well, I'm not so small anymore :) |
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| We had to share title, otherwise he would've eaten me :) |
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| We smashed the range :) |
Menken would contribute to following animated projects, as Home on the Range, Enchanted and Tangled. And regarding their overall legacy, there's no secret that