Publicity agents for Alan Menken, who composed the music for "Pocahontas," warn reporters not to mention the phrase "kids' music" around him. But one did.
"I would be less than honest if I didn't express a certain frustration when the animated projects are referred to as `for kids,' " said Menken, who also composed the music for Disney's Grammy-winning animated films "The Little Mermaid," "Beauty and the Beast" and parts of "Aladdin" with Howard Ashman, the lyricist."They're not kids' music," he continued. "And I get upset when someone comes up to me and goes: `Alan Menken, it's nice to meet you. My 3-year-old just loves your songs.' And I'm now able to translate that in my brain into, `I love your songs.' "
A mix of grand musical numbers, evocative instrumentals and pop songs, Disney soundtracks are becoming big business and have been dominating the top-10 spots on the music charts ever since Menken, along with Ashman, who died in 1991, started composing them in 1987.
Before "Pocahontas" was even released in theaters last month, 2.5 million copies of the soundtrack were shipped to stores (more than any other Disney soundtrack). It is currently the No. 2 top-selling album in the country.
The two pop songs on the album, "Colors of the Wind," sung by Vanessa Williams, and "If I Never Knew You," sung by Jon Secada and Shanice, are being played regularly on the radio.
Menken, meanwhile, is almost finished recording the music for Disney's follow-up animated feature, "The Bells of Notre Dame," for which he collaborated with Stephen Schwartz, the lyricist who also worked on "Pocahontas."
And Menken and David Zippel (best known as the lyricist for the musical "City of Angels") are almost done with the music for the Disney film after that, "Hercules."
Menken, 45, came to Disney with 25 years of writing musicals under his belt (including "Little Shop of Horrors," with Ashman) but absolutely no film experience.
"On `The Little Mermaid,' my first film score, I went back and looked at a lot of different animation, and it all touched me," he said. "It's so magical, and I really wanted to give `The Little Mermaid' that timeless feel so it would just take you out of your world. Now I think when they write Disney features, they think more about the craft of musical theater."
David Ogden Stiers, who is the voice of the gold-hungry Gov. John Ratcliffe in the film, said singing Menken's songs was an enjoyable but solitary experience. "All the work is done as individually as possible," he said.
"The orchestra, which is jaw-dropping, does the recordings alone and then the singers lay their tracks on top. Everything is absolutely separated. When I recorded the lyrics to `Savages,' I actually thought it was my own song. But then I saw the finished footage and saw that the Indians were singing, too.
"I was rather annoyed," he added with a laugh.