I loved Alan Menken's work in The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. In subsequent movies where he worked with Tim Rice, it became more obvious to me that I liked Howard Ashman more than I actually liked Alan Menken.
This was confirmed to me when I saw the theatrical version of Beauty and the Beast in which Alan made a few musical changes. Since I know the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack so well, the changes were painfully obvious to me. The first act I actually liked better than the movie and at the intermission, I even made a few comments to people that I think that Menken has possibly redeemed himself. The second act however confirmed to me that I really don't like Menken's musical style.
Tonight I went to Enchanted. This soundtrack has totally redeemed Alan Menken in my mind. It was so good that I did not even consider that he could have been involved until his name showed up in the end credits.
The best song on the soundtrack, That's How You Know, almost ranked him up there with with Hans Zimmer - well almost. Unfortunately, Alan has Home Alone 2 smeared across his resume - and that's going to take a lot of really good writing to cover up.
Ooo... I am looking forward to seeing "Enchanted" sometime. It looks really entertaining.
ReplyDeleteIronically, when the credits atarted rolling at "Enchanted" my comment to Cindy was "yeah, and is anyone surprised that Alan Menken's name is there? It was written all over the movie". I guess the answer is, yes, someone WAS surprised.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit, i have not followed what Menken's done by himself... I do know that the Menken/Ashman collaborations are some of my favorite disney movies, and had a very distinctive sound.
However, I still would put Hans Zimmer an orbit or two above Menken... I think half the soundtracks on my wish list have his name attached...
Btw- anyone thinking of seeing "Enchanted" should do so- what a hoot!