The Orchestral Standard

Episode 2: The Little Mermaid (1989 Film)
(Alan Menken, Howard Ashman)

The Alan Menken Series, Part Two

Warning: The Orchestral Standard contains plot spoilers. Reader discretion is advised.

For the purposes of this review, I will be discussing the 2014 Walt Disney Records Legacy Collection edition of this score, commonly found on iTunes or on Amazon.com for roughly $10.00.

Things were looking up for the Walt Disney Animation Studio when The Little Mermaid hit the silver screen in the fall of 1989. The famed animation studio with its illustrious history was on the brink of blinking into non-existence in the late eighties. You see, since Walt Disney’s death in the 1960s the house of mouse had moved largely from animation to live action. These were the films that were making the studio money. In addition, the animated films Disney was producing at this time were of marginal quality, failing to strike a chord with critics and audiences, and up until The Little Mermaid in 1989, these films were being totally outclassed at the box office by Steven Spielberg’s animation company at Universal, which was headed by Don Bluth, a former Disney animator. Furthermore, with the appointment of Jeffery Katzenberg to Disney from Paramount, the animation studio felt further pressure - Katzenberg was a businessman, not afraid to cut corners and get the most bang for his buck. As a result, the animation studio was moved off of the Disney main lot. The Little Mermaid was quite possibly the studio’s last shot. What’s interesting is that Katzenberg was originally opposed to the idea. Disney at the time was working on a sequel to Splash, another mermaid themed movie. He felt that they didn’t need two mermaid movies going at once. Still, once production on Oliver and Company had wrapped, The Little Mermaid was green-lit and production went on full ahead. Howard Ashman, fresh off an oscar nomination for his work on the 1986 film adaptation of Little Shop of Horrors, found out about the project while writing a song for Oliver and Company. He went to the creative staff at Disney and proposed that they let him turn The Little Mermaid into a Broadway-styled musical, the kind that Disney used to produce in its golden age. Desperate for a hit, Disney consented and Ashman brought on his writing partner Alan Menken to write the music for the songs. You could say that the rest is history. Menken and Ashman’s song-score has become forever ingrained in pop culture, never has there ever been a little girl born since the film was released that hasn’t at one time in their life been obsessed with this film and the overwhelming popularity of The Little Mermaid was immediate when it was released. Both Menken and Ashman won an oscar for their songs and Menken received his own Oscar for Best Score for this film, this being his first film score ever. The Little Mermaid was the first in a long string of successful animated films from Disney, an era known as the Disney Renaissance. Yes, things were finally looking up for the Walt Disney Animation Studio.

The musical content of The Little Mermaid is slightly more consistent than it’s predecessor, Little Shop of Horrors. Even so, there is quite a variety of musical genres represented in the musical’s song score, this time centering more on “sea faring” music rather than 1960s rock. The film itself, in comparison to Little Shop, is fairly straight forward. It is a retelling of Hans Christian Anderson’s classic story of forbidden love, told by Disney with charming optimism and a “follow your dreams” sort of message. This stands in contrast to the original story’s tragic ending, but as Disney’s audience tends to skew younger in age, this change seems appropriate. As such, Ashman’s lyrics here are just as clever but not as dirty as before. It isn’t dumbed down, it’s simply clean. Menken’s music brought even more to the forefront of this production as this is the first time that he has ever written a film score. Now, if I was an executive at Disney in charge of music and I heard that Menken wanted to write the score to the multi-million dollar last ditch effort movie that I was producing, having no experience in the field whatsoever, I would have been pretty skeptical. I would have brought in Jerry Goldsmith or James Horner, both of which had experience working with animation and Horner had worked with Disney on a number of projects in 1980s. Menken, however, was determined. He was a little bit irked when composer Miles Goodman, the film score composer for Little Shop, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Score using his material. At Ashman’s recommendation, Menken pulled all his efforts into learning how to write for film. After a successful “audition” session with the producers Menken was given the job. Now he needed to be more than a clever songsmith; he needed to be storyteller as well. Was he successful? Let’s find out.

The film opens with “Fathoms Below” and right away we get everything great and everything not so great about the music. What’s great is how well written the music is, there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the content of the music itself as it exists on paper. What’s not so great is the performance of the music. The mixing of the choir and orchestra is quite odd and frankly sounds incredibly cheap. The male chorus singing “Fathoms Below” sounds like they recorded one guy singing the song and then artificially made it sound like fifteen guys. It’s hard to explain the artificial nature of almost every ensemble performance in the score but the 1980s synths in the background don’t help any. To my knowledge this would be the only time that Menken made heavy use of synthesizers in his film scores. The orchestra itself sounds cheap as well. It sounds like there are at the most fifty players here, not a lot by any stretch of the imagination. If there were more then the mixer and recording technicians should be fired. It is rare that an orchestra sound so thin and lifeless for a major Hollywood production such as this. The brass are playing way too close to the microphones and the woodwinds are often out of tune. Honestly, I would sooner believe that this was an amateur symphony orchestra from Minneapolis and mixed by a couple of first year music production students than a professional Los Angles orchestra recorded on a scoring stage. This is unfortunate, but despite the problems in performance, the greatness of Menken’s music is only slightly tarnished.

So, getting back to “Fathoms Below”. This is a sea shanty in three, quite jaunty and it sets up the musical soundscape of the film very well. It is here that we learn about King Triton, the king of the sea, and his underwater subjects. The instrumental interlude of this song becomes a short theme or motif for King Triton or more specifically the wrath of King Triton. This song is rather short and leads right into “Main Titles”. This piece introduces and develops all the music present in “Part of Your World”. The choral-orchestral climax of this piece is incredibly well done, spine tingling at times, and it sets up the themes from “Part of Your World” as the main themes of the score, most often tied to the main character Ariel.

In “Fanfare”, a barely thirty second piece of score, we are introduced to another motif, this one for the more “kingly” side of King Triton. The next piece is the second song of the film, “Daughters of Triton”, a classical-styled piece, not unlike something Mozart would write. It features all the daughters of Triton singing their names, leading up to a big reveal of Ariel. The vocal performances here are shrill and not at all pleasing to the ear, but the song is thankfully short.

In the next score piece “Intro Ariel”, we get a bit more development of the opening phrases of “Part of Your World” as a theme representing Ariel and her fascination with the human world. Also present throughout this track and the rest of the score is an ascending sixteenth note figure, which also accompanies Ariel’s theme. The theme is passed through the orchestra several times as Ariel and her friend Flounder explore a sunken sailing ship. As Ariel retrieves several different items the two are attacked by a shark. The ensuing chase provides Menken an opportunity to show off his action music writing chops. The shark gets its own little five-note brass motif, unique to this scene. A very John Williams thing to do, writing a theme specific to a scene. The shark and Ariel themes wrestle around with each other until she and Flounder successfully evade the shark. This action music is enjoyable and kinetic.

The next score piece “Intro Ursula” is divided into two halves. The first half developing a theme for Ariel’s bird friend, Scuttle. This theme often dances in the woodwinds and strings. This plays as Ariel has Scuttle examine the human artifacts that she had retrieved from the ship. The second half of the piece devolves themes for Ursula, of which there are three separate entities. The first is the refrain from “Poor Unfortunate Souls”, the second is a short phrase for oboe, usually played as a lead into “Poor Unfortunate Souls” and the third is an entirely different theme played in the clarinets and bassoons. This third theme gets the most development throughout the score and it is just seething with cartoon villainy. It gets a final statement here in the strings before the piece comes to a close. This music plays over Ursula, a sea witch, the sister of King Triton, plots to use Ariel as bait for the King.

In “Triton Reprimands” we get a bit of material for the character of Sebastian, the sea crab, the king’s counselor. Sebastian doesn’t have a theme at this point in the score per se, but he is most often represented by a solo bassoon, the comedian of the orchestra. There is a statement of Triton’s wrath theme, along with Triton’s kingly theme as he reprimands Ariel for going to the surface. “Sebastian’s Dilemma” further solidifies the bassoon as his instrument as he follows Ariel and Flounder to Ariel’s grotto where she hides all her human stuff.

Now we get the third and possibly most well-known song of the film, “Part of Your World”. Led by the four-note ascending figure mentioned before, the various sections of the song appear in succession, each one more lovely than the last. The bridge section is particularly beautiful, filled with all the yearning you could expect out of a musical theater ballad. The climactic phrases are just as powerful, and Menken utilizes the pull back technique used in “Somewhere That’s Green” to great effect here. Jodi Benson’s performance here is youthful, a bit unrefined, consistent with what you would expect to hear from your typical sixteen year old girl, with just a bit of belt thrown in for some extra “oomph".

“Fireworks” opens with a short brass fanfare before yielding to a synthetic jig, a new theme representative of Prince Eric, the human man that Ariel falls in love with. The jig is fun, but sounds a bit silly with the synthesized accordion. Why they didn’t just get a real accordion player here is beyond me. The beginning of “The Storm” brings a more gentle version of Eric’s theme for flute. As Eric laments his inability to fall in love we are introduced to yet another new theme, this one a love theme for Eric and Ariel, a five-note rising and falling figure introduced on the oboe here. The theme quickly dissolves into some more action music as a storm all of a sudden erupts and attacks Eric’s ship. There is a swirling ostinato for strings and french horns underneath a descending brass theme, representative of the storm, easily identifiable by its opening three notes. The storm theme battles with King Triton’s wrath theme before the storm subsides and there are softer string performances of the love theme and Ariel’s theme as she rescues Eric.

The “Part of Your World (reprise)” sees Ariel singing of her love for Eric. The new lyrics are sweet and the instrumental bridge section here is to die for, one of the few times the orchestra really gets the performance just right. Her final statement (I don’t when, I don’t know how) brings the song to a grand finale, a triumphant statement in contrast to the softer ending of the original song. At the end of this track there is a bit of Ursula’s themes as she plots further.

“Ariel in Love” serves as a nice lead-in to “Under the Sea” with neat little reference to Ariel’s theme at the end. “Under the Sea” is a calypso number sung by Sebastian to remind Ariel just how awesome it is in the ocean. The opening steel drum figures instantly get you into the groove of things and I particularly like the chord changes towards the end of the refrain. The rap section shows off Ashman’s lyrical prowess and the energy of Samuel E. Wrights performance brings the song to a rousing finish. The only real problem with this song is the thin orchestrations - the orchestra takes a back seat to the steel drums and synths.

“Sebastian and Triton” goes just how you would expect. Triton’s Kingly theme plays off against the opening lick from “Under the Sea” which has now become an identity for Sebastian. Over the course of this conversation, Sebastian lets it slip that Ariel is in love with a human. In his anger King Triton goes over to Ariel’s grotto and blows up all her stuff with his magical fork. “Destroying the Grotto” has a lot of suspense music in it, with an agitated performance of Ariel’s theme towards the end. There’s a bit of a french horn flub at the end of this cue but it isn’t too noticeable.

The next two cues, “Flotsam and Jetsam” and “Ursula’s Lair” are mostly throw away lead up cues to “Poor Unfortunate Souls”. “Flotsam and Jetsam” features a solemn version of Ariel’s theme and more of Ursula’s themes. There’s just a hint of the love theme at the end of the cue. “Ursula’s Lair” features some of Menken’s more horrific writing in its first half with ascending woodwind lines and trembling strings. “Poor Unfortunate Souls” is Ursula’s villain song. She’s singing to Ariel, who has agreed to meet with her with the promise that she could make her dreams come true. Pat Carol’s deliciously evil performance is hilarious and at the same time horrifying. She has this deep, commanding woman’s voice that is perfect for this sort of a character. The song culminates in an incantation, complete with organ and pounding brass chords as Ursula turns Ariel into a human. The price for this miraculous transformation: Ariel’s voice.

“She’s Got Legs” features a lovely recorded version of “Part of Your World” in its opening. The rest of the cue includes the return of Prince Eric’s theme and Scuttle’s theme, in much the same way they were presented before. After a bit of Ariel’s theme we have a new theme presented, this one representing Eric’s Kingdom. “Sebastian Relents” is a short variation on Ariel’s theme. “On Land” narrates Eric and Ariel’s first official meeting. There’s an extended performance of the love theme that is quite lovely. The last third of this cue develops a secondary theme for Ariel, this one all fluttery and excited, meant to represent Ariel’s curiosity and excitement over the human world. “Miss Manners” simply states the love theme once more and gives a tender version of Scuttle’s theme.

Now, the next song “Les Poissons” is an example of an ongoing “subtle” racism towards the french culture that for some reason American culture is just okay with. Howard Ashman, bless his heart, was clever enough in his lyric writing to rhyme Les Poissons with “Hee, Hee, Hee, Huh, Huh, Huh” making fun of the heavy fake french accent of veteran Star Trek actor Rene Auberjonois. This song is a french waltz complete with the fake accordions from earlier in the score. As funny as the song can be, I still find it a little cringe worthy that we so openly make fun of french culture like that. The song transitions into an extended performance of the finale from Orpheus in the Underworld Overture, otherwise known as the Can-Can, which is about as corny as you can get, even in a children’s animated film score.

“Crab on a Plate/Bedtime” features a beautiful cello rendition of Ariel’s theme at about the forty second mark. After that is a romantic version of the theme from “Les Poissons” and a somber rendition of Triton’s Kingly theme. “Tour of the Kingdom” develops Eric’s Kingdom theme and is a true highlight of the score. Soaring piccolo trumpets aid the strings here as the theme develops throughout the orchestra with different variations (one’s even in minor!). After this lively interlude is the final new song in the bunch, “Kiss the Girl”, a calypso ballad sung by Sebastian, urging Eric to kiss Ariel. It's a fairly straight forward musical number and it pretty darn well describes what it’s like to be on a date, trying to kiss a girl. The uplifting, optimistic tone of the song makes it quite enjoyable, it's really nice “feel good” music.

The score begins to take a dark turn in “Ariel Left Behind”. The first section of this cue features a menacing rendition of “Poor Unfortunate Souls” in the horns. Ariel’s theme is expressed in the brass, with piercing strings accenting each phrase. Later we hear Ariel’s voice in Ursula’s body seducing Eric. Later we get further variations on Scuttle’s theme, Ariel’s secondary theme and even an wedding organ version of the Kingdom theme. The cue ends with some bittersweet strings. So if you haven’t noticed yet, I’m mentioning a ton of themes, just in this one cue. Menken is showing us so much through his music that it's difficult to keep track of each of the score’s various identities.

In the “Poor Unfortunate Souls” reprise Jodi Benson gets a shot at being Ursula which is kind of cute, this little voice trying to mimic Pat Carroll’s throaty undertones. “The Truth” starts the score in full action mode with minor variations of “Under the Sea” and Scuttle’s theme dominating the soundscape. The climactic six-minute “Interrupting the Wedding/Ursula’s Defeat” is a battle between all the major themes of the score, with Ursula’s theme at the forefront. Ariel’s theme gets a pained reprise in the middle of the second minute before succumbing to Ursula’s various themes. Even the storm ostinatos from the beginning of the score make a return. The large brass statement of the love theme as a particular highlight of this cue.

After the excitement dies down we get to the last cue, “Happy Ending”, the first of many awesome finale cues from Menken. It opens quietly, builds in excitement and finally bursts forth with dramatic statements of Ariels theme (and even a little callback to “Les Poissons”). A final choir rendition of “Part of Your World” caps the score off with blasting trumpets and thundering timpani.

In the end, the songs and score of The Little Mermaid is a tremendous achievement, not only for a film score beginner like Menken, but it would be impressive for even for the likes of Goldsmith and Horner. There are maybe just one or two too many themes present in the score, and it is rare that I ever fault a score for this, but the amount of repeating material becomes hard to juggle for both the composer and the listener. Still, with the themes being ever present and the music ever flowing, it's almost like classical ballet music. It’s that special kind of film music where you can imagine the characters and situations in your head away from the film. While not every number in this animated venture’s song score is a home run, the good ones are really, really good. The orchestra mix and performance is a problem, but the strength of Menken’s writing shines through anyway. Besides, the cheap sounding orchestra kind of fits the cheap looking animation of the film (at least by Disney standards). All in all, The Little Mermaid is a flawed product, but an enjoyable one, one that has fascinated and inspired two generations of children, one that marked the end of an era, and the the beginning of the era for Disney. Does The Little Mermaid meet the orchestral standard? Yes! Yes, it certainly does.

The Songs: ****

The Score: ****

Overall: ****