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| Menken |
Aladdin: (Alan Menken) If you thought the
controversy involving the phallic artwork for the poster of
The
Little Mermaid was juicy, then the subsequent battle between Walt
Disney Studios and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee was
full blown entertainment all by itself. Disney had been working on
adapting the Arabian folktale of "One Thousand and One Nights" for
several years (a timeless story of identity issues and lessons about the
value of wealth and attempting to be someone you aren't), and by the
time they were done with the acclaimed and popular animated musical, it
was slammed as being racist and containing a subliminal message urging
teenagers to take off their clothes. The stereotypical portrayal of a
primitive Muslim culture, as well as the Tom Cruise lookalike as the
primary character (opposite a big, angry Arab with a huge nose
personifying the villain), became a central issue. To make matters
worse, Disney broke an agreement the studio made with lead voice actor
Robin Williams involving the reduced salary he accepted for the project
in return for only minimal use of his name and character in promotional
materials. The studio eventually issued a formal public apology to
Williams and only then did he return to reprise his performances in the
movie's endless series of substandard straight-to-video, knock-off
sequels and other spin-offs. Flying on its own magic carpet ride in the
early 1990's, however, was the collaboration between Disney and composer
Alan Menken that had soared from
The Little Mermaid and
Beauty
and the Beast to
Aladdin in 1992 without even the slightest
hiccup. Despite the failing health of Menken's lyricist, Howard Ashman
(who passed away before the final cut of the film but is credited with
pushing the concept through to Disney in its earliest phases),
Aladdin maintained the outrageously profitable Disney musical
craze with viewers and listeners of all ages. Following the immense
quality of
Beauty and the Beast was no small task, however, with
the
Aladdin predecessor rivaling live action films at both the
box office and awards ceremonies (the latter of which even more rare
today than ever). Still, audiences were ready to soak up nearly anything
from Disney in 1992, and
Aladdin was yet another enormous box
office and music chart success story.
None of Menken's songs for this final entry in "The Great
Disney Musical Trilogy" would achieve the same lasting greatness as
those in the prior two, though, with
Aladdin suffering the most
significant neglect of the three from listeners and viewers in future
generations. The television cartoon spin-off of the film in particular
failed miserably with its musical adaptations, and the original
soundtrack album representing the movie fell badly out of print until a
moderately remastered reprint was issued with a different cover in 2001.
Finally, in 2004,
Aladdin was released on DVD, and in similar
fashion to the special edition of
Beauty and the Beast, an
expanded album of the
Aladdin soundtrack was released
concurrently. The original
Aladdin soundtrack pressing was among
the most common used bin finds ever in the history of CDs, which is
further evidence of the film and score's arguably poorer long-term
performance. But the songs in
Aladdin are top-notch, anchored by
all-around fantastic vocal performances highlighted by Robin Williams,
of course, whose talents in this project are extraordinary to say the
very least. Williams' infectious personality steals two of
Aladdin's songs, as well as its narrated opening, "Legend of the
Lamp." The soft inflection of Brad Kane's singing voice in the title
role has always been an attractive aspect of "One Jump Ahead" and "A
Whole New World," his tone strikingly different from the exotic voice of
Bruce Adler for the prelude sequence, "Arabian Nights," a sentimental
favorite. The interlude sequence of "One Jump Ahead" reflects a slower,
more contemplative phrase of the song that is as appealing as the
equivalent in "Belle" from
Beauty and the Beast. This interlude
sequence likewise receives a dedicated, longing performance in the short
but definite highlight, "One Jump Ahead (Reprise)." The second most
famous song from
Aladdin remains "Friend Like Me," the jazzy tour
de force led by an enthusiastic five-note brass phrase and Williams'
manic performance. Also nominated for a Golden Globe was "Prince Ali,"
among Menken's most ambitious career achievements that once again
utilizes Williams' services. Its Broadway-style constructs, most
obviously defined by the sequence that accelerates the tempo in grand
posture, make it an over the top extravaganza. The reprise of the song
allows Jonathan Freeman to gloat menacingly in a performance as Jafar
that rivals Tony Jay's contribution to
The Hunchback of Notre
Dame as one of Disney's more memorable villains.
The end title song in
Aladdin, "A Whole New World,"
is tainted nowadays by the famous reinterpretation called "A Whole Nude
World" that features filthy lyrics, but the integrity of the original
song remains intact for those who haven't been exposed to the
adult-oriented parody. As usual, the version of the song actually heard
in the context of the film, as performed by the characters, is vastly
superior to the pop adaptation for the credits. Altogether, the songs in
Aladdin are a solid lot, and, once again, Menken's reprises
provide arguably more compelling moments on both the album and in the
film than their extended versions. This includes the single bar from "A
Whole New World" heard in the score's finale as the music builds to the
standard choral conclusion. Unlike many of the Disney musicals from the
1990's, which often featured comparably popular songs and score,
Aladdin is a curious case in which the songs heavily overshadowed
the score, despite some quality moments in the latter. Menken's
pseudo-Arabian structures shine through in many creative ways in the
songs, whereas the score seems to return to cliched, non-ethnic cartoon
methodology more often than not. That said, the composer does quite a
masterful job of interpreting the melodies from the songs into the score
and even writing a few themes specifically for that background material.
A descending low brass theme for Jafar's villainy is heard in full force
throughout "Jafar's Hour" (and in true victory formation directly before
the "Prince Ali" reprise), in faint references in "The Ends of the
Earth," and again in massive form in "The Battle." A mysterious theme
representing the magic of the story grows out of the "Arabian Nights"
melody, both in "Legend of the Lamp" and "The Cave of Wonders." The
location in general is provided an Arabic theme in "Legend of the Lamp"
and "Marketplace." As for the melodies originating in the songs, Menken
makes frequent use of the descending pairs of notes from the interlude
in "One Jump Ahead," most notably in duets with the "A Whole New World"
melody in "The Kiss," "Marketplace," and "Aladdin's World." Those
descending pairs are elevated to noble tones in at the outset of "Happy
End in Agrabah," appropriately replacing the "Prince Ali" melody (which
is only really referenced in the score at the end of "Marketplace") in
that role. As usual, some of the stronger score cues are sprinkled
amongst the songs in the album presentation, including the extensions of
"One Jump Ahead" in "Street Urchins" and "To Be Free," the latter
introducing an idea that is a wholesome representation of the film's
overall message and matures in the finale cue.
On the whole, the score material in
Aladdin
foreshadows
The Hunchback of Notre Dame in that it resides
further over on the "scary" scale than its predecessors, emphasizing
wonderment over the slapstick comedy inherent in these works. The
players' performances are adequate but the soundscape, as usual for
these Menken musicals, is somewhat shallow. That is one of a few nagging
issues regarding
Aladdin that should be addressed. While the
vocals are afforded a decently wet ambient sound, mimicking a live
performance quite well, the instrumental support could have badly
utilized some reverb. Outside of this issue, there is also lingering
dissatisfaction over Disney's bothersome alterations to "Arabian Nights"
in response to the accusations by Arab interest groups' claims of
racism. The original film and album featured the lyrics "...where they
cut off your ear if they don't like your face" just before "it's
barbaric, but hey, it's home" in this song. Those lyrics were changed in
1993 (for the VHS release of the film) to a comment about the weather in
the desert, and the resulting flow of the song's introduction of the
location doesn't make sense. What does the heat have to do with
barbarism? Additionally, the voice of the replacement singer on the
altered recording (as heard on all subsequent DVD and CD releases as
well) simply does not match that of the original performer, causing an
awkward transition for just that one stanza. The insert is so blatantly
obnoxious that it makes one think that Arabs must have cut off the ears
of the executives at Disney regardless of their faces. There comes a
time when a piece of art should stand separate from nonsensical,
politically-correct protests, and while the Arab interest groups have
all the right in the world to complain, Disney should not have caved in
to their demands (nor should they have altered the line in the movie
that some people mistakenly heard as a call to teenagers in the audience
to take off their clothes, but that's simply a matter for the sound
mixers). The original lyrics and performance of "Arabian Nights" remain
superior and this is reason alone to hold on to the original 1992 CD
album. Another overarching problem with
Aladdin is congruency
problems between the speaking and singing voices of Aladdin and Jasmine.
The best performances in Disney musical history have come when the
speaking and singing voices are performed by the same actors, and it is
no wonder, therefore, that Williams' and Freeman's songs are highlights
here. On the soundtrack albums, this discrepancy in tone makes no
difference because of the lack of spoken dialogue, but in the movie it's
quite an obvious flaw.
The various album releases present the final nagging
issue with the
Aladdin soundtrack. A 2001 re-issue removed
Williams' character from the cover as originally demanded by his
contract, but the musical contents were the same. The 2004 "Special
Edition" album is a tremendous missed opportunity. Two demos of rejected
songs (performed by Menken & Ashman) appear at the end of the album, and
while these are interesting to a degree, there exists unreleased
orchestral score material that needed to be included on this album
instead. Those two demos were previously available on a Menken
compilation album, so they can't even be considered a significant
addition. That said, "Proud of Your Boy" is a strong enough ballad that
it should have made the final picture, reflecting Menken at his best
(it's too bad it wasn't applied to one of his later musicals instead).
As for the missing score material, the most obvious omission is the
enjoyable orchestral outburst of the melody of "Friend Like Me" heard at
the start of the end credits (in theatres, on VHS, and then on DVD), and
its absence is shameful due to the fact that the song's melody couldn't
really be interpolated for any extent of time in the rest of the score.
Fortunately, the recording could be transferred by fans directly off of
the DVD onto custom presentations. The same can be said of the snippets
of score material heard in menus on the DVD (always suspected to exist
before the DVD was released) that remain missing from the albums.
Additional pop versions originally made of the songs are also missing;
despite popular demand, two notable, more recent performances of two of
Aladdin's songs are not included on the expanded 2004 album. The
Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson pop version of "A Whole New World" is
not provided; nor is Clay Aiken's performance of "Proud of Your Boy."
All of this material is included as bonus content on the DVD, making its
absence from the 57-minute CD a bit puzzling. Some of the 2004 album's
advertising indicated a karaoke version of "Proud of Your Boy" instead
of "High Adventure" as the 23rd track. A separate karaoke-only album of
Aladdin songs is a cheap rip-off for people hoping to hear the
orchestral backing of the songs without the dialogue (also heard on the
DVD menus), but Disney obviously decided not to pay the original
musicians any further royalties and replaced the orchestra with corny
synthetic variants. Due to all of these factors, the 2004 album suffered
an understandable backlash from fans. The product is not what it was
hyped up to be, failing to rectify any of the issues plaguing the
previous ones. No truly comprehensive album for
Aladdin exists,
and Disney's inability to produce a proper album treatment of this
material forces listeners to return to the film itself as the only
satisfying alternative.
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- Songs and Score as Written for the Film: ****
- Music as Heard on the 1992 Album: ***
- Music as Heard on the 2001 and 2004 Albums: **
- Overall: ***
| Bias Check: |
For Alan Menken reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.64
(in 14 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.48
(in 58,126 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
The inserts for all of the pressings contain lyrics to the
songs, but they offer no extra information about the score or film.
