Frog Princess: Randy Newman IN, Alan Menken OUT

[george321]

According to jimhillmedia: http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hill/ ... /6661.aspx

The new head of WDFA, John Laseteer, has just taken Alan Menken (Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast) off the music of the Frog Princess (the return to 2D) and put on board Randy Newman(Toy Story, Cars) for music
But after reading the article I decided it just might work and maybe this change is for the better.
What are you're opinions?

[magicalwands]

I hope John knows what he is doing throwing Alan out. Then again, the songs written for Aladdin were way better than the Lion King. So maybe John thought Alan was losing his touch, or that he can only write songs if he had the late Howard Ashman beside him.

Now about Randy, I love the songs he writes, but I don't think it would fit with Frog Princess.

But whatever the decision, I hope it will be the best "Frog Princess" movie it can be.

[Escapay]

I hope John knows what he is doing throwing Alan out. Then again, the songs written for Aladdin were way better than the Lion King. So maybe John thought Alan was losing his touch, or that he can only write songs if he had the late Howard Ashman beside him.

The Lion King's songs were written by Elton John and Tim Rice. Menken couldn't possibly lose his touch if songs from another writing team aren't as great as his.

Anyways, ichabod already brought this up in the 4-page thread here

Escapay

[Disney's Divinity]

Let's just say, I own a copy of every Menken soundtrack. Cars is the only Pixar film I even considered buying the CD for. I'm sure, possibly, Newman might be able to write a good song, but what he's already shown the world is pretty dull.

[goofystitch]

Randy Newman's music has a distinct sound. He does good scores, but his actual songs sound like a Randy Newman song. Alan Menken, on the other hand, is very diverse and adapts a different style for each movie he does. Compare the songs from "Home on the Range" to the music from "Beauty and the Beast" and you will see what I mean. There is a quality that is unique to Menken, but it is versatile. I just don't feel that Randy Newman can pen 5 original songs that will fit well into the large cannon of Disney music and hold up nest to any of Menken's work. I personally skip the Pixar songs on Disney compilations because they get old after a while. How many times can you really listen to "You've Got A Friend in Me" before you want to turn it off?

[xxhplinkxx]

My hopes for this movie just went WAAAAAAAAAAY down.

Edit: Disney's Divinity, I LOOOOOOVE your sig!!!

[Owlzindabarn]

I think Menken has definitely worn himself out. Have any of you actually heard his incredibly tired score and songs for "A Christmas Carol?" In it, he steals from everybody in the business, including himself. The show is supposedly set in the 1860s and he has a song in there "Abundance and Charity" that sounds like an outtake from a 1930s Busby Berkeley musical. The score is loaded with redundancies and schmaltz. Bad, bad, music.

[ichabod]

A vision of Frog Princess' score perhaps? : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeJkR1n8eE0

With reworked lyrics, I can see it now! :

A Man is walking through the forest,
He's a prince and not a florist,
In the distance he sees a frog,
The little frog is sittin' on a log.

Disney princess drawn with a pencil,
She is standin' up vertical,
Ev'rybody say amen,
'Cos I am better than Alan Menken!

[yamiiguy]

Hopefully this is a rumour and will stay as one, the 90's Classics beat a Pixar movie any day.

[Simba3]

I was really excited about Menken being on this project, and I'll admit I was a little disappointed when I first heard the news, but I guess I am just going to wait and see and hope for the best from Newman. As long as it's 2D, I'll be happy.

[Disney Duster]

Well, Alan Menkin would probably try his best for his animated movie comeback, because he knows that if this 2-D animated feature doesn't do well, it could mean the real end of 2-D features at Disney. So I think if he was working on this he would try extra hard. Since he can adapt different styles, that would mean he could do the jazz style, too! But besides that...

Princesses are pretty. Randy Newman's music is not (that I know of, but I'm only going by the songs I've heard in Pixar's films).

[Jasmine1022]

It all depends what you like. To me, the music sounds totally different. Alan Menken's music is pretty, and Randy Newman's is different. Most of his stuff isnt terrible but I just dont like it. I prefer Alan Menken, and would much rather that he was in all my favorite movies, but I don't mind if Randy Newman does it.

At least... until the end when everything sounds redundant.

[slave2moonlight]

I like them both and I suppose it depends on the style of the movie. I didn't read anything on the subject. However, I am a little disappointed. I guess I naturally relate Menken's music more to fairytales, and I certainly feel there's more substance to his work than to Newman's. Newman's stuff is more fitting to a laid back, PIXAR style, heartwarming comedy. Menken is better for a lively, musical fairytale. I don't know what Frog Princess will be though. I just hope Lasseter(sp?) isn't going to make all Disney films feel like PIXAR films. Perhaps that is unavoidable though.

As for the Lion King soundtrack: easily one of the best soundtracks of all-time. In fact, that's the main reason I love that movie and consider it one of Disney's best (possibly right after Beauty and the Beast).

[Timon/Pumbaa fan]

Well, I don't have a problem with them getting rid of Alan Menken. While I really like him and like the majority of everything he's ever done, I have to admit I think he has made bad soundtracks(Pocahontas and The Hunchback being his worst ugh) and I actually understand Lasseter wanting someone new(me understanding Lasseter, say it ain't so ), my real complaint and is going with Lasseter's decision for Randy Newman(so much for likeing something Lasseter has done for once ).

I mean, just flat out: WHY??? Alan Menken hasn't really done much after the 90's, the only things he has done in the 21st century are "Home on the Range", the score for "The Shaggy Dog" and a few t.v. movies. Menken still has a very talented guy and is not out of ideas I'm sure. Newman, on the other hand, has been in so much from the late 80's to today, it's really quite a big number. MUCH bigger than Menken. And he's done a lot in recent years, including 5 Pixar movies(and some people complained Disney was repeating themselves just because they brought Phil Collins back for "Brother Bear" ). And either way, as said, Menken has a wonderful way of distinguishing himself from his past. Because even his weaker works have managed to at least allowed him to try new and different styles(like I said earlier I'm not at all found of Pocahontas or Hunchback, but a least he put effort and did new things in them which I respect). A Randy Newman song is a Randy Newman song. Even is he doesn't sing, you can usually tell when you're listening to a Randy Newman song or score(don't get me started on that repetitive score for "Cars" )

Now hearing it's about to be set in New Orleans with jazz style music, Randy Newman just feels so wrong. I think Alan Menken could've at least tried and even pull it off. Heck, if they wanted someone new why can't they get a jazz legend to help score?(unfortunately, many great such as Louis Armstrong or Ray Charles for example have passed away for quite a while now ) Or even just get someone in the business who hasn't worked with Disney much if ever?

Perhaps the real reason is because Disney is worried enough about going back to a medium they've trashed(I'm still not yet convinced 2D has been brought back).

[slave2moonlight]

Well, I don't have a problem with them getting rid of Alan Menken. While I really like him and like the majority of everything he's ever done, I have to admit I think he has made bad soundtracks(Pocahontas and The Hunchback being his worst ugh) and I actually understand Lasseter wanting someone new(me understanding Lasseter, say it ain't so ), my real complaint and is going with Lasseter's decision for Randy Newman(so much for likeing something Lasseter has done for once ).

I mean, just flat out: WHY??? Alan Menken hasn't really done much after the 90's, the only things he has done in the 21st century are "Home on the Range", the score for "The Shaggy Dog" and a few t.v. movies. Menken still has a very talented guy and is not out of ideas I'm sure. Newman, on the other hand, has been in so much from the late 80's to today, it's really quite a big number. MUCH bigger than Menken. And he's done a lot in recent years, including 5 Pixar movies(and some people complained Disney was repeating themselves just because they brought Phil Collins back for "Brother Bear" ). And either way, as said, Menken has a wonderful way of distinguishing himself from his past. Because even his weaker works have managed to at least allowed him to try new and different styles(like I said earlier I'm not at all found of Pocahontas or Hunchback, but a least he put effort and did new things in them which I respect). A Randy Newman song is a Randy Newman song. Even is he doesn't sing, you can usually tell when you're listening to a Randy Newman song or score(don't get me started on that repetitive score for "Cars" )

Now hearing it's about to be set in New Orleans with jazz style music, Randy Newman just feels so wrong. I think Alan Menken could've at least tried and even pull it off. Heck, if they wanted someone new why can't they get a jazz legend to help score?(unfortunately, many great such as Louis Armstrong or Ray Charles for example have passed away for quite a while now ) Or even just get someone in the business who hasn't worked with Disney much if ever?

Maybe the real reason is because Disney is worried enough about going back to a medium they've trashed(I'm still not yet convinced 2D has been brought back).

I agree with all this except about the Hunchback soundtrack. For me and many folks I've talked to, that entire film was a Masterpiece. Actually, now that they've restored "If I Never Knew You" to Pocahontas, a film I previously didn't care too much for, I now love it as well. I still prefer the fairytales, but it's a beautiful movie now and I love the music.

But it's very interesting for me to learn that this film is going to be set in New Orleans! I haven't read on the film much. This sounds like an opportunity for them to finally have a black Disney princess, as was brought up in another thread. It'd be so much better if they'd use someone with a New Orleans flair for the music. My vote is for Harry Connick, Jr., ha, but I'm just a big fan of his stuff.

[musicradio77]

Are you kidding? I like Alan Menken. He's the best composer for Disney films like "The Little Mermaid" and "Beauty and the Beast".

[The Merman]

Omg U crazy? Pocahontas a bad soundtrack? "colors of the wind"? and "Steady as the beating drum?"
Colors of the Wind is one of the best Disney score ever... even though the movie lacked something. But with Hunchback they cut the best song out which was "God help the Outcasts" and the rest was not up to Disney standarts. I lost faith in Alan when he produced the music for (do I dare say it? *shivvvvvvvvers*) Home on the Range. It is the only Disney movie I have seen only once and never gona waste my time on it EVER again. It has so many defaults, it has no feeling.

Rany Newman has made some nice scores but he surprised me with composing the music for Sea Biscuit. I associated him more with buddy pictures and music lacking the ability to bring Love. But in Seabiscuit he does a very good Job, very dramatic. I hope he can portray feeling in the movie for Frog Princess aswell + I hope that the Frog Princess it selve will be dramatic and heart warming, NOT a buddy picture! The best Disney movies are the once with a LOT of Drama and Love like Beaty and the Beast.

I really hope they would hire talent like James Newton Howard for a Disney picture. The soundtrack for Peter Pan 2004 is just AMAZING! It makes you feel like a kid, it make you happy and excited!!!

Phew Im done!

[Disney-Fan]

But with Hunchback they cut the best song out which was "God help the Outcasts"

I can assure you, that song is featured and is very much alive and kicking in the movie. They cut out the alternative song, named "Someday".

[Escapay]

Well, I don't have a problem with them getting rid of Alan Menken. While I really like him and like the majority of everything he's ever done, I have to admit I think he has made bad soundtracks(Pocahontas and The Hunchback being his worst ugh)

While I'm not outright disagreeing with your opinion, Justin, I can see how someone could dislike the soundtracks for those two. After all, Pocahontas and Hunchback of Notre Dame aren't your *typical* Disney animated films. They're very much grounded in reality, with a sense of fantasy thrown in (talking gargoyles and trees, pet raccoons, etc.). But at the heart of both is a story that uses music, a story that *relies* on music to help make it more effective. And it succeeds for some, but for others, the music is just...an interruption from the story.

(I'll give you "Colors of the Wind", though. Found it way too melodramatic in the lyrics and they overplayed much too much on the radio. Still, give me "Savages, Savages" over "Circle of Life" any day! )

Escapay

[toonaspie]

There's too much arguement about the music for the film that people are forgetting the most important thing thats going to be judged the hardest...story. there's been so much talk about music and making the heroine African American and like 0 talk about the story. i'm not talking about the forums, I'm talking about from Emeryville. Seriously I think this is just me, but I am concerned about alot of things. despite the fact that John Lasseter is in charge of WDFA and despite that he is a big advocate for succesful for 2D films, I have this nasty feeling about all of this. We've gotten like zero info on the actual story, the guy who is running WFDA who has more experience with 3D animated films than 2D, and I stand by the fact that 3D films (especially Pixar) have gotten so formulaic it gives me a headache. True the films were successful but I think it's all a mental thing. When a film is being made by Pixar, it automatically means $100 million in profits per film.

Anyway I read the jimhillmedia article again and I found alot of Lasseter's excuses for hiring Newman over Alan Menken to be bullcrap. One of his excuses is that he didnt want to be repetitive with things like having the same composer for Little Mermaid, BatB, and Aladdin. Well Randy Newman aint gonna work cuz it makes The Frog Princess sound like a formulaic Pixar film when you have Randy Newman, a guy who's done music for alot of Pixar, films doing a fairytale.

I'm not saying that Alan Menken is right for the job either...if anything, the guys at WFDA right now need to focus more on telling a good story and not trying to revive the glory that is the Disney Renaissance. The Disney Renaissance is over and passed. You cant go back and revive it. The only thing you can do is start disney Rennaisance II, even if it means having to get new composers, new directors, and starting off with something other than a fairytale. I dont trust the idea that returning to 2D with a fairytale is gonna guarantee anything. It's all about story. seriously though I need to stop ranting and wait till this comes out to be the judge of that but you can see why this all feels unsettling to me.

P.S. I do mean it when I say new directors. Musker and Clements did a good job with TLM and Aladdin but not such a good job with Hercules and Treasure Planet which is why I dont feel comfortable with them doing anymore Disney films.