- published: 01 Jul 2011
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Alan Menken (born July 22, 1949) is a pianist and composer of American musical theatre and film.
Menken is best known for his scores for films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. His scores for The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and Pocahontas have each won him two Academy Awards. He also composed the scores for The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Home on the Range, The Shaggy Dog, Enchanted, and most recently, Tangled. Menken has collaborated on several occasions with lyricists including Howard Ashman, Tim Rice, Glenn Slater, and Stephen Schwartz. With nineteen nominations and eight wins, Menken has won the third most Oscars of any person, after Walt Disney (twenty-two wins) and Alfred Newman (nine wins).
Menken was born in New York, NY to a Jewish family, the son of Judith and Norman Menken, a dentist. He developed an interest in music at an early age, studying piano and violin. He went to New Rochelle High School in New Rochelle, New York. He attended college as a pre-med student, but later changed his focus to music at NYU Steinhardt. After college, he attended the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop. He performed frequently in local clubs and worked as a composer of jingles and songs and as an accompanist.
Disney Song Medley by Alan Menken
Alan Menken Medley - Live - The Little Mermaid in Concert
Full Alan Menken Disney Songbook concert performance at 2013 D23 Expo
A Disney Medley in One Take
Alan Menken Disney Musical Renaissance Man Part 1
Digital #Ham4Ham 1/16/16: Alan Menken Medley
Proud Of Your Boy - In Studio With Alan Menken (from "Aladdin" Original Broadway Cast R...
The Best of Alan Menken
Alan Menken Disney Medley from "The Little Mermaid" at the Hollywood Bowl
The Hunchback of Notre Dame "Out There" - Sung by Alan Menken
They may offer you fortune and fame,
Love and money and instant acclaim.
But whatever they offer you,
Don't feed the plants!
They may offer you lots of cheap thrills,
Fancy discos in Beverly Hills.
But whatever they offer you,
Don't feed the plants!
Look out!
Here comes Audrey II.
Look out!
Here I come for you...
Here I come for you...
Here I come for you...
Here I come for you...
Hold you hat and hang on to your soul.
Something's comming to eat the world whole.
If we fight it we've still got a chance.
But whatever they offer you,
Though they're slopping the trough for you,
Please, whatever they offer you,
Don't feed the plants!