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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 over
Aladdin 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 in 2001 with a
different cover. 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 offered
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 of "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 Fats
Waller/Cab Calloway 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 gorgeous end title song in
Aladdin, "A Whole New World," is an extremely well-written love
song, its overlapping vocal lines very accomplished. It's 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
an admirably 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. The redemptive performance in "One Jump Ahead
(Reprise)" is a highpoint for Kane, and Freeman's snarling contribution
is limited to the wickedly entertaining "Prince Ali (Reprise)." 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. The full score reveals that Menken likely
considered the various passages of "One Jump Ahead" to be Aladdin's
personal score identity and thus leans heavily on that melody throughout
a significant number of the instrumental tracks.
Also dominating the score is Menken's descending theme of
menace for Jafar's villainy that doubles as the main suspense tool for
aspects of power and mystery in
Aladdin. Heard in full low brass
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." It is pervasive in
the score's lighter comedic and scheming cues for the character as well.
A separate theme of intrigue 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
Arabian-inspired 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 in that role. That song
really only influences the score cues immediately around it, though it
is referenced at the end of "Marketplace." As usual, some of the
stronger score cues are sprinkled amongst the songs in the initial 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 of freedom and
matures in the finale cue. On the whole, the score material in
Aladdin previews the techniques of
The Hunchback of Notre
Dame in that it resides further over on the "scary" scale than its
predecessors, emphasizing wonderment and suspense over the slapstick
comedy inherent in these works. There are several humorous asides in
score's midsection, though, with a few cues making stylistic references
to other genres or soundtracks for laughs. There is also light prancing
at times in brief filler cues, but Menken makes a point to really lean
heavily on his song melodies throughout the score. Some cues of only a
minute in length reference three or four such ideas, sometimes providing
keen foreshadowing of forthcoming songs. The instrumentation often
remains consistent between the songs and scores, with the exception of
sitar accents in "Aladdin and Jasmine Confront Jafar."
The players' performances are adequate but the soundscape,
as usual for these Menken musicals, is somewhat shallow at times. 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. This ambient quality was improved with
an expanded 2022 album, revealing more depth than on any of the previous
products. 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 dubbing on the altered recording (as heard
on all subsequent DVD and CD releases as well) simply does not match
that of the Adler's original performance, 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, as no truly satisfactory product has
ever existed. In 1994, the Disney assembled a 4-CD set of material from
The Little Mermaid,
Beauty and the Beast, and
Aladdin to illuminate the creation process behind them.
Accompanied by an oversized book in a thick, LP-sized box with the CDs
and pushed at the Disney theme parks, "The Music Behind the Magic"
contains two CDs dedicated to
Aladdin. The presentation is a
recreation of the film's narrative but with a mixture of work tape,
demo, and final versions of songs and score cues in mostly the story's
chronological order. A few unreleased final recordings were sprinkled
amongst these CDs, and in the case of
Aladdin, this material
consisted of a pair of unused songs that were fully recorded but dropped
from the film. This set dedicated a short, second CD to the original
demos of all the songs for a previous iteration of the film, included
here by Menken as a tribute to Howard Ashman's final work. The iterative
process shows that the film had long toiled with how to involve the
"Arabian Nights" song as a constant connective presence and, just as
importantly, a more prominent song presence for Freeman as Jafar. Menken
wrote two separate songs for Jafar, the latter, "Why Me," fully recorded
with orchestral accompaniment. The first version of the song, "Humiliate
the Boy," was a duet for Jafar and his parrot, Iago (also performed by
Freeman), and the actor's performance of the demo is amusing but exposes
weaknesses in the song's melody. By comparison, "Why Me" is a smart
extension of Jafar's theme from the score, and it's a long character
origin song; it was deemed too beefy, however, for its placement late in
the picture, and there wasn't an opportunity to squeeze in a
Jafar-specific song earlier into the narrative. Thus, in the end, the
filmmakers decided to replace "Why Me" with a straight reprise of
"Prince Ali" that became Jafar's only song performance. Likewise, it's
always seemed odd that Adler's performance opening the film is his only
one, and although he didn't record the full four reprises as original
planned, he did provide a final recording with orchestra for the fourth
reprise that was set to close the film. It's a brief and fantastic way
to bookend the soundtrack, and Adler's performance is exemplary. Its
accelerated pacing and dynamic percussion make it a necessary inclusion,
though one could understand why the studio and filmmakers didn't wish to
append anything after the typical choral crescendo ending the picture.
Disney did finally utilize the reprise at the end of third
Aladdin movie.
The 1994 "The Music Behind the Magic" set sounds great and
is appealing for its demos and rejected songs, but it contains no
additional score tracks. A 2001 re-issue of the 1992 product 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 of the more
notable demos from the 1994 set appear at the end of the album, "Proud
of Your Boy" a strong enough ballad that it should have made the final
picture or, at the least, the 2019 live-action remake film. (None of the
original rejected songs ended up in that 2019 version.) Frustratingly,
however, there still existed unreleased orchestral score material that
needed to be included on the 2004 album instead. The most obvious
omission was 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
could be said of the snippets of score material heard in menus on the
DVD that remained missing from the albums. Additional pop versions
originally made of the songs are also absent from the 2004 Special
Edition; despite popular demand, two notable, more recent performances
of two of
Aladdin's songs are not included on that expanded
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 was not
what it was hyped up to be, failing to rectify any of the issues
plaguing the previous offerings. It took another eighteen years for
Disney to finally provide a more comprehensive album for this
soundtrack, though even this noteworthy product did not combine all the
previously released song highlights into one place.
The 2022 "Legacy Collection" album for
Aladdin
followed a somewhat disastrous equivalent for
The Hunchback of Notre
Dame, and availability for the 2-CD set of
Aladdin was
equally challenging, forcing fans to seek the physical edition from
Disney's own online store. The minimal initial distribution for the CD
product is a tremendous shame for film score collectors, because the
"Legacy Collection" finally addresses the ills involving the score.
Clocking in at 110 minutes, this album is mostly a faithful presentation
of all the music heard in the film, combining the expanded score with
the songs to yield a smooth and thankfully chronological experience. The
mix of the 2022 album is particularly outstanding, the instrumentals
enjoying a much better range than the similar remastering of
Beauty
and the Beast. The vocals are afforded significant reverb as well,
with the strange exception of "Prince Ali (Reprise)," which is much
drier for whatever reason. Only Freeman's performance of "Why Me?" is
added to the collection as a bonus song, all the other demos and reprise
of "Arabian Nights" omitted despite ample time available on the CDs. The
performance of the opening "Arabian Nights" remains the sanitized
version, unfortunately; it would have been nice to hear a remastered
version of the original recording. Rather than emphasize the songs as
the 1994 set had, the 2022 product's main purpose is to release the bulk
of the score, and that's where the "Legacy Collection" is an outstanding
success. Not only is the glory of Menken's work for
Aladdin truly
exposed at last, but listeners can really appreciate the extent to which
he wove the songs' themes throughout each cue. As mentioned before, the
additional score tracks heard on this album for the first time reveal
the "One Jump Ahead" melody as the true heart of the score, its
applications universally splendid. The breadth of thematic references in
the newly released cues follow, and it doesn't take long to boggle the
mind. The Jafar, marketplace, and "One Jump Ahead" themes occupy
"Diamond in the Rough," while "Intro to Jasmine and Jafar" further
develops score's material for both characters with some amusement.
Heightened action for Jafar's theme against "One Jump Ahead" is
impressive in "Alchemy," and "Rooftop" teases "A Whole New World" but is
rooted in romantic "One Jump Ahead" phrasing, with contemporary
keyboarding and acoustic guitar deviating during the middle portion.
"Aladdin and Jasmine Confront Jafar" shifts "One Jump Ahead" to suspense
against Jafar's theme, and "Dungeon" emulates darker moments of
Beauty and the Beast with hints of "One Jump Ahead" interrupted
by sinister statements of Jafar's theme in the latter half.
The film version of the "The Cave of Wonders" cue only
matches the original album in its first minute, the rest dancing through
light comedy of little substance; the entirety of the subsequent "Search
for the Lamp" makes up the rest of what had been the original "The Cave
of Wonders" album track. Thereafter, "Confiding in Papa" provides a
brief burst of the Jafar theme and "Intro to Genie" moves from dreamy
"Arabian Nights" reminders to comedic "Friend Like Me" fragments, among
other Broadway and cartoon-inspired snippets. Pieces of "Friend Like Me"
and "One Jump Ahead" mingle lightly in "Provisos and Quid Pro Quo," and
"Jafar and Iago Scheme" takes Jafar's material into nicely ominous
offshoots. The "To Be Free" cue is expanded here, taking the freedom
motif into parts of "One Jump Ahead" and "A Whole New World." Straight
comedy includes a funny reference to "Under the Sea" from
The Little
Mermaid at 2:37 into "To Be Free," and the "Friend Like Me"
fragments overwhelm "One Jump Ahead" phrases by the cue's splashy end.
"Jafar Finds a Solution" revisits the Jafar theme's stewing with an
abnormally upbeat spirit, and "Journeyed From Afar" continues the
instrumentals of "Prince Ali" into funny but nervous fragments against
that Jafar material. The following "Sultan's Magic Carpet Ride" takes
the "Prince Ali" melody to wildly swirling ends, and those passages are
transformed to suspense in "A Very Impressive Youth," where Menken
returns to "One Jump Ahead" at the end with a yearning heart. Lovingly
flirting with the "One Jump Ahead" theme throughout is "Ali Comes
Courting," the score betraying Ali's identity by continuing to refer to
the character by his original motif. "Genie Rescues Aladdin" opens with
a fluffy burst of "A Whole New World," including the exact same
keyboarded intro, but turns dark, with Jafar's theme, "Friend Like Me,"
and "One Jump Ahead" all occupying the rest of the cue. Starting with a
whimsically romantic take on "A Whole New World" is "Sultan Under a
Spell," in which Menken revisits earlier aspirational Jasmine material
and "One Jump Ahead" before ending with Jafar interjections. "Maniacal
Jafar" again offers a percussively delicate "A Whole New World"
rendition but segues to the melody of "One Jump Ahead" and Jafar's theme
as comedic sidebars, the latter quite joyful. Once again opening with "A
Whole New World" in light shades is "Iago Impersonates Jasmine, later
dissolving to suspense nicely. The final new score cue at the climax,
"Jafar in Charge," features "Jafar's Hour" material in comedically
twisted mannerisms, building to a robust ending against hints of "One
Jump Ahead" as a preview of the subsequent battle cue. The mass of the
climactic material had been provided intact on the prior albums.
The 2022 "Legacy Collection" album not only does
overdue justice to the score from
Aladdin as it was heard in the
film, but seventeen minutes of alternate score takes are appended to the
second disc as well. A wilder variation with more Arabian flourishes
awaits in "Marketplace (Alternate)" while "Dungeon (Alternate)" is
seemingly more understated. "Intro to Carpet (Alternate)" is not very
interesting, though "Search for the Lamp (Alternate)" emphasizes the
"Arabian Nights" melody more, a notable spotting decision because that
theme does get somewhat short-changed in the score. Heavier, more
melodramatic tones burden "Jafar and Iago Scheme (Alternate)." As likely
an alternate take on "To Be Free," Menken's "Make You a Star
(Alternate)" explores additional "Friend Like Me" comedy antics and a
"Prince Ali" preview with a big ending, the same quick reference to
"Under the Sea" in the middle suggesting the cue's placement. Finally,
"Happy End in Agrabah (Alternate)" has fanfare moments with a little
less depth and a touch more contemporary style. Of all these additional
score cues, however, none is as important as "Finale," the long awaited,
snazzy instrumental performance of "Friend Like Me" gracing the start of
the end credits, and it's placed properly ahead of the pop rendition of
"A Whole New World" here. While the 2022 product doesn't include the
wealth of demos and other recordings that made the 1994 set so
appealing, it does finally provide all the remaining pieces necessary
for devoted enthusiasts to produce a truly comprehensive compilation of
Aladdin music. Granted, the music only heard on the 1992 and 1994
albums will not feature the same sound quality as the resounding
remastering of the 2022 set, and the lack of many of these song cuts on
the "Legacy Collection" is an annoying and somewhat senseless decision.
Still, "Why Me?" was included, and that's the most interesting alternate
song of the lot. While there has still never been a comprehensive album
of
Aladdin music, the 2022 set will suffice for most fans. After
the debacle of
The Hunchback of Notre Dame's "Legacy Collection"
album, you have to breathe a sigh of relief that
Aladdin didn't
suffer the same production fate. Collectors needed to shell out $30 or
more to obtain the 2022 set on CD at the time of its release, but it's
well worth it. If anything, the expanded album proves that
Aladdin is indeed a five-star animated musical, its songs superb
and its somewhat underrated score containing a wealth of intelligence
that was never exposed on the shorter albums. Menken's maturation and
improved recording quality show clear evolution since
The Little
Mermaid. One could argue that everything started going downhill for
the composer from here.
@Amazon.com: CD or
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- Music as Written for the Film: *****
- Music as Heard on the 1992 and 2001 Albums: ***
- Music as Heard on the 1994 Album: ****
- Music as Heard on the 2004 Album: **
- Music as Heard on the 2022 Album: *****
- Overall: ****
| Bias Check: |
For Alan Menken reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.71
(in 17 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.47
(in 59,664 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
The inserts of the 1992, 2001, and 2004 albums contain lyrics to
the songs but they offer no extra information about the score or film.
The 1994 "The Music Behind the Magic" set came in two variations; the
regular edition came with a 52-page book in large box while the red,
linen-bound special edition features a 60-page hardcover book (with
similar contents as the 52-page version, including lyrics) signed by
Alan Menken and Tim Rice and four beautifully illustrated picture CD's
in a custom collector's case. The integral booklet of the 2022 set's
packaging offers a long note from the composer along with a list of
performers, lyrics, and extensive concept drawings.
