Título: Alan Menken
Seção: Disney Renaissance and later films
Background: Alan Irwin Menken was born on July 22, 1949, at French Hospital in New York City, to Judith and Norman Menken. His father was a boogie-woogie piano-playing dentist, and his mother was an actress, dancer and playwright. His family was Jewish. Menken developed an interest in music at an early age, taking piano and violin lessons.

Conteúdo: After graduating, Menken's plan was to become either a rock star or a recording artist. His interest in writing musicals increased when he joined the Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) Musical Theatre Workshop and was mentored by Lehman Engel. From 1974 to 1978, he showcased various BMI workshop works, such as Midnight, Apartment House (lyric by Muriel Robinson), Conversations with Pierre,Harry the Rat and Messiah on Mott Street (lyrics by David Zippel). According to Menken, during this period, he "worked as a ballet and modern dance accompanist, a musical director for club acts, a jingle writer, arranger, a songwriter for Sesame Street and a vocal coach. He performed his material at clubs like The Ballroom, Reno Sweeny and Tramps." In 1976, John Wilson reported for The New York Times that members of Engel's BMI Workshop began performing as part of the "Broadway at the Ballroom" series: "The opening workshop program ... featured Maury Yeston and Alan Menken, both playing their piano accompaniment and singing songs they have written for potential musicals." Wilson reviewed a performance at the Ballroom in 1977 where Menken accompanied a singer: "In the current cabaret world, a piano accompanist is no longer expected to merely play piano for a singer. More and more, pianists can be heard joining in vocally, harmonizing with the singer, creating a background of shouts and exclamations or even doing brief passages of solo singing."  Menken contributed material to revues like New York's 

user: What work did Alan do with Disney?

assistant: Menken and Ashman were hired by Walt Disney Studios to write the music for The Little Mermaid (1989).

user: How was his work on The Little Mermaid received?

assistant: The Little Mermaid opened to critical and commercial success and signaled a new Disney era called the Disney Renaissance.

user: What is the next Disney film that he worked on?

assistant: The two were working on Aladdin at the time of Ashman's death in 1991. Subsequently, Menken went to collaborate with Tim Rice to finish the songs for the film.

user: Did he win any awards for Aladdin?

assistant: The film won an Oscar in 1992 for Best Song: "A Whole New World". Menken also won the Oscar for Best Score.

user: Did The Little Mermaid win any awards?

assistant: The film gave them their first Oscar win: Best Song for the song "Under the Sea". Menken also won the 1989 Oscar for Best Score.

user: What non-Disney film did Alan work on?

assistant: Menken and Ashman wrote their next musical, Little Shop of Horrors,

user: What is another Disney cartoon film that Alan scored the music to?

assistant: His other film scores for Disney have included Home on the Range (2004), the Tim Allen remake of The Shaggy Dog (2006), Enchanted (2007) and Tangled (2010).