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The name may not ring any bells, but the music that Alan Menken has contributed to a succession of Disney hits certainly will. He tells FOCUS about his latest assignment on the beguiling Enchanted .
Before the 1989 release of The Little Mermaid animation was in a parlous state, expensive yet undervalued even at the spiritual home of the medium. Since Walt Disney proved his doubters wrong and produced the first
animated feature, Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs in 1937 the studio bearing his name had been synonymous with beautifully crafted, hand
drawn animation.
After Walt's death in 1966, before the release of the last of his animated greats The Jungle Book, the studio struggled to recapture past glories. But eventually, 23 years on, The Little Mermaid sparked a return to favour. It
paved the way for the now ubiquitous computer animation and today is more popular than ever with audiences.
It's interesting to note that just as animation has returned to the fore, the movie musical has also made a comeback. Both events are crucial to Enchanted, a high concept family adventure that plays with animation conventions as it pitches a fairytale princess (Amy Adams) into the harsh reality of modern day, live action New York. A delicious pantomime of slapstick, comedy and romance it offers an opportunity to poke fun at
Disney's history, and proved the perfect vehicle for Menken's singular
talents.
"Enchanted was one of the best concepts I've ever come across for a
musical project," he explains. "The idea that these animated characters
come through this portal in this real world is just a great conceit. This is like Disney growing up before your eyes, it was so much fun to go from the Snow White era to my era and into the contemporary world musically."
Menken's ability to catch a mood in a tune and have you humming it as you leave the cinema is the key to his enduring success. And his work does not end when these films make it to the screen. So many have a life beyond that, being translated onto the stage, as with The Little Mermaid.
"We've just opened on Broadway," Menken reports, "we're really proud of it and audiences love it. And then we have Sister Act, which opened in Pasadena last Fall, and then went to Atlanta. Now we're re-tooling it. The plan is for it come here, but that hasn’t been announced by the producers so I guess I should shut up.
"And we're working on a musical based on the Steve Martin movie Leap of Faith. That's being directed by Taylor Hackford, it'll be opening out of town about a year from now and come to New York in the spring of '09."
With his future as tuneful, and busy, as ever the results are sure to be enchanting.
ANWAR BRETT
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