In a new interview with People, Alan Menken breakdowns some of his most iconic Disney songs with some behind the scene tidbits.
The song that were covered in this interview include:
- “Part of Your World” from The Little Mermaid
- “Beauty and the Beast” from Beauty and the Beast
- “Proud of Your Boy” from Aladdin (cut from the film but added to the Musical)
- “A Whole New World” from Aladdin
- “Colors of the Wind” from Pocahontas
- “Out There” from The Hunchback of Notre Dame
- “Go the Distance” from Hercules
So four I want Songs (counting Proud of your Boy,) three romantic songs and “Colors of the Wind” which doesn’t seem to fit snuggly into a musical song category and is regarded as ballad.
A Bit on Out There
Let’s just laser in on “Out There.” At the time of Hunchback, Menken was collaborating with Stephen Schwartz. For Hunchback Menken did the score and Schwartz wrote the lyrics.
Cntrary to Menken’s typical work flow, it was the melody for “Out There” that came first. He recounts that he was playing what he described as a “classical piece” at his house and it was Schwartz that recognized that this melody as Quasimodo’s song which gave Menken chills, the sign of a great song. “Out There’ therefore is one of the few times for Menken when a piece of music came before a drama concept.
Now as a bonus Menken says he’s proud that they pushed the envelope on Hunchback’s score as he plays “Hellfire” and “The Bells of Notre Dame.” He also mentions the taking music and threading it throughout the score gives the overall work a color. One does get the sense from this interview that he is very proud of his work on Hunchback’s score.
Fun Fact – “A Whole New World” was almost “The World at my Feet”
