Aladdin
Harlem jazz of the 1930s and Middle Eastern–tinged melody, Broadway-style marches and pop ballads stand shoulder to shoulder within the story of a single night in one city.
At a glance 🔭💭
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The makers ⏳🌊
- ComposerAlan Menken
Fitting jazz, marches and pop ballads into a single film, it won the Academy Awards for both Best Original Score and Best Original Song.
- LyricsHoward Ashman
He wrote the first adaptation of the story in 1988, and the three songs he left behind became the backbone of the film.
- LyricsTim Rice
Joining after Ashman's death, he wrote the lyrics for the new songs, including “A Whole New World.”
- DirectorsRon Clements · John Musker
Following “The Little Mermaid,” they shared directing and producing duties and settled where the songs would sit within the story.
- StarringRobin Williams
Voicing the Genie, his improvisation changed the pace of both the film and its music.
- StarringLea Salonga
As Jasmine's singing voice, she left us the film's duet version of “A Whole New World.”
I. A work of two lyricists
(Origins) The music of “Aladdin” began with one lyricist and was finished by another. In early 1988 Howard Ashman wrote and submitted his own adaptation of the story to Disney. “The Little Mermaid” had not yet opened. He set a number of songs to it with Alan Menken, but the project was shelved for a time, and the two moved on to “Beauty and the Beast.” (The composer) Menken made his name off-Broadway in New York, creating “Little Shop of Horrors” with Ashman. His great gift is the ability to change genres like a change of clothes. In “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” covered elsewhere in this series, he wrote chant and massive choral writing; in “Aladdin” he fit jazz, march and pop ballad into a single film. (Loss) In March 1991 Ashman died. Of the songs he left behind, three remained in the film: “Arabian Nights,” “Friend Like Me” and “Prince Ali.” The gaps left by a major rewrite of the script were filled by Tim Rice, the lyricist who, right after this job, would go on to write the lyrics for this series' “The Lion King.” Some fourteen songs were written in all, and seven made it into the film. (Direction) The directors were Ron Clements and John Musker, who had made “The Little Mermaid” together. Robin Williams's improvisation as the voice of the Genie set the film's pace, and the music was reworked to match it.
II. The desert peddler and the market boy
(Opening) The film begins with the song of a peddler crossing the desert. Ashman's “Arabian Nights” serves as a guide that leads the audience into Agrabah, the story's imaginary city. Over a rhythm like a camel's gait, a melody that sounds Middle Eastern bends and stretches out. His song finished, the peddler draws an old lamp from among his countless trinkets, and the story turns to that lamp's history. (Background) The filmmakers first meant to set the story in Baghdad, but because of the Gulf War they changed it to an imaginary city. That is why Agrabah appears on no map. Instead, the music creates its atmosphere. The orchestra is built mainly on Western instruments, but ornaments and percussion lay over it the scent of a foreign bazaar. (The boy) The hero, Aladdin, is a boy who steals a loaf of bread and flees across the market rooftops. “One Jump Ahead,” which he sings while giving the guards the slip, is the song Rice wrote lyrics for in this film. Originally this spot held an Ashman ballad Aladdin sang to his mother, but when the mother was cut from the script, the song went with her. (Solitude) Once the chase is over, the same melody returns, slow and quiet. In this reprise, a repeat of a song heard earlier, the boy gazes at the distant palace. The once-playful tune now speaks of loneliness. At the same moment, in the palace, Princess Jasmine, refusing the marriage arranged for her, dreams of the world beyond the walls.
The first song, in which a desert peddler leads the audience into the imaginary city of Agrabah. It is one of the three songs Ashman left behind.
- The song is short, barely over a minute. Rather than explaining the story at length, it serves as a prologue that establishes place and mood in one stroke.
- The melody bends and stretches, with many passages sliding between semitones, which makes it sound Middle Eastern. The foreign color comes from layering ornaments and percussion over a Western orchestra.
- The peddler's speaking voice was Robin Williams; his singing voice was the Broadway actor Bruce Adler. One character's lines and songs were split between two different people.
- Starting with the 1993 video release, one line of the lyrics was changed. This was in response to protests from Arab American groups; the original soundtrack CD kept the original lyrics intact.
Aladdin's song as he steals a loaf of bread and flees across the rooftops. Tim Rice wrote the lyrics.
- The quick tempo and short, clipped rhythms mesh with the motion of a chase leaping from roof to roof. The song itself is built like the choreography of an action scene.
- Aladdin's singing voice was Brad Kane. His speaking voice was provided separately by Scott Weinger.
- After the chase, a short reprise (a repeat of a song heard earlier) follows, slow and quiet. As the same melody shifts in tempo and timbre, playfulness flips into loneliness.
- Originally this spot held an Ashman ballad dedicated to Aladdin's mother. When the mother was cut from the script, Rice's song took its place.
III. The cave and the spirit of the lamp
(The meeting) Jasmine, who has slipped out to the market, runs into Aladdin, and the two recognize that they share the same predicament. But the kingdom's vizier, Jafar, captures Aladdin and sends him to the Cave of Wonders in the middle of the desert. What Jafar is after is the lamp deep inside the cave. (The cave) The orchestral cue for the cave scene is one of the longest tracks on the soundtrack. Brass and chorus paint a vast space, and the moment the warning not to touch the treasure is broken, the music pours down like collapsing rock. Here it is not a song but the orchestral score that does the work of an adventure film. (The spirit) Aladdin rubs the lamp, and the Genie appears. Ashman and Menken conceived the Genie as a Harlem jazz singer of the 1930s–40s, a figure like Fats Waller or Cab Calloway. “Friend Like Me” bears every trace of that conception. Stride piano, its left hand striding in great leaps, and big-band brass drive the song forward. (Improvisation) Once Robin Williams was cast, the song widened to fit him. On screen the Genie becomes a different character with every bar, and the music changes color in an instant to follow each transformation. This song sets the rule of three wishes, and from then on the story runs on that rule.
A show number in which the Genie, freed from the lamp, shows off his powers. Ashman's Harlem-jazz Genie lives on in it.
- Its backbone is stride piano, the left hand striding between low notes and high chords. Menken said he recalled the Fats Waller–style piano his father played when he was a child.
- A big-band lineup, with the brass blaring all at once, drives the song. The Genie's scat, humming the tune on meaningless syllables, is a trace that recalls Cab Calloway.
- Robin Williams poured out improvised lines between the sung phrases, and the animators redrew the Genie in dozens of forms to keep up with his pace.
- It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. In the Broadway stage version, James Monroe Iglehart stretched it into an extended showstopper, and in 2014 he won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his Genie.
IV. The march of Prince Ali
(Transformation) Aladdin's first wish is to become a prince, so that he can gain the rank to marry the princess. Disguised as Prince Ali Ababwa of an imaginary land, he enters Agrabah at the head of a grand procession. (The march) “Prince Ali,” one of the last songs Ashman left behind, is a Broadway-style march. The crowd's chorus, drums and brass fill the streets, and the Genie carries the song as both master of ceremonies and narrator of the procession. The audience knows that the grander it gets, the bigger the lie beneath it. (Failure) But Jasmine is unmoved by the procession. That kind of display was exactly what she had rejected. Still dressed as a prince, Aladdin hesitates, unable to show his true self. (Flight) The turn comes aboard the magic carpet. Aladdin holds out his hand and invites Jasmine to go see the world with him, and the two rise into the night sky. “A Whole New World” is a love duet written by Rice. It begins with each singing in turn, and gradually the two voices overlap; the structure itself traces their hearts drawing closer. The carpet passes over scenes that recall the temples of Greece, the Sphinx of Egypt and the rooftops of China. To a princess seeing beyond the palace for the first time, it is, quite literally, a new world.
Aladdin, now a false prince, enters Agrabah at the head of a grand procession. It is a march Ashman left behind.
- It takes the form of a march, with drums and brass marking a steady step. The crowd's chorus keeps swelling, building to a scale where the whole street seems to sing.
- The one carrying the song is not Aladdin but the Genie. Because a narrator introduces the hero in his place, Aladdin's own voice is absent amid all the splendor.
- This exaggerated splendor sets up the reversal to come. The same melody later returns from the villain's mouth with an entirely different meaning.
- It was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.
A duet for two people who set off into the night sky on a magic carpet. It won Rice and Menken the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
- At first Aladdin and Jasmine take turns singing, but as the song goes on, their two voices begin to overlap. The very structure of the song shows their hearts drawing closer.
- In the film, the song was sung by Brad Kane and Lea Salonga. Salonga had already made her name on the musical stage in “Miss Saigon.”
- Over the end credits plays a pop version sung by Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle. This recording reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1993.
- It won the Academy Award and the Golden Globe for Best Original Song, and it became the first and only Disney song to win the Grammy for Song of the Year.
- The melody returns in orchestral cues later in the film, serving as a leitmotif (a recurring melody that points to a character or relationship) for the bond between the two.
V. The march turned upside down
(Identity) On the night they return from their flight, Jasmine realizes that the prince is the boy she met in the marketplace. Aladdin once again talks his way out with a plausible story, and that small lie becomes a weight the rest of the story must carry. The third wish, once promised for the Genie's freedom, is put off amid his hesitation. (Reversal) In the end, the lamp falls into Jafar's hands. With the Genie's power, Jafar seizes the palace and exposes Aladdin's true identity before the crowd. What plays at this moment is the reprise of “Prince Ali.” A melody that was once a march of jubilation is seized by the villain and turned into a song of mockery. The same tune reverses its meaning depending on whose mouth it comes from. (Exile) Aladdin is flung to the ends of the earth. The cue included on the soundtrack as “The Ends of the Earth” carries this passage. The orchestra strips away the fever of the march and paints a cold isolation. (Showdown) Returning with the carpet's help, Aladdin confronts Jafar. In the cue “The Battle,” brass and percussion surge, and Jafar's power grows ever more immense. It is a fight that cannot be won by force. By what stroke of wit the story's ending is resolved is not revealed here. But the music does not adorn that moment with a great noise. At the point where the contest is decided, the orchestra instead takes a step back, leaving the audience's ears open so that the rule of wishes the Genie laid down earlier comes back to mind.
The scene in which Jafar, having seized the lamp, exposes Aladdin's true identity. The march of jubilation becomes a song of mockery.
- Rice set new lyrics to Ashman's “Prince Ali” melody. It is a rare moment in which the hands of two lyricists touch a single song.
- The same tune shifts its meaning from celebration to derision. Leaving the melody intact and changing only the singer and the tone, it announces that the tide of the story has turned.
- Jonathan Freeman, who played Jafar, sang it himself. He took on the same role of Jafar in the 2014 Broadway stage production, becoming the actor who links film and stage.
- At just over a minute, the short piece stands in contrast to the long procession of the original. Its brief, sharp length alone punctures the swagger of the parade in a single stroke.
VI. The third wish
(Promise) Once the commotion has settled, what remains is the one wish Aladdin has not yet used. Will he use it for himself, or for the promise he made to the Genie? The film's final choice is less about love than about friendship and keeping one's word. The cue titled “Aladdin's Word” on the soundtrack fills this place, and woven briefly into it is the melody of Disney's old song “When You Wish Upon a Star.” A film about wishes quietly quotes Disney's most famous wishing song. (Reunion) In the final cue, “Happy End in Agrabah,” the film's themes return one after another. The resurfacing of the love duet's melody confirms that the song heard earlier on the carpet was a marker for the two of them. This technique, in which a song's melody stands in for a character or relationship within the score, is called leitmotif. (Achievements) The film opened in the United States in November 1992. Menken won the Academy Award for Best Original Score, and Menken and Rice won Best Original Song for “A Whole New World.” “Friend Like Me” was also nominated for Best Original Song. The pop version by Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle that plays over the end credits reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1993, and the song became the first Disney song to win the Grammy for Song of the Year. (Stage) When the Broadway stage production opened in March 2014, the Ashman songs that had been cut from the film came back. The ballad for the mother and the song sung by Aladdin's friends were heard again on stage. In this way, the voice of the first lyricist, lost to the film, found its rightful place after some twenty years.
The orchestral cue for the moment Aladdin makes his choice about the last remaining wish. The emotion of the ending is conveyed through the score rather than through song.
- The melody of “When You Wish Upon a Star,” the song from Disney's “Pinocchio,” is briefly quoted. It is a moment in which a film about wishes pays quiet homage to Disney's most famous wishing song.
- The brass and percussion of the preceding battle scene recede, giving way to a soft, string-centered timbre. Instead of loud sound, low sound conveys the weight of the choice.
- In the final cue that follows, the melody of the love duet returns. The melodies built up over the course of the film are tied off here, one by one.
- Menken won the Academy Award for Best Music (Original Score) for this film. It was an award for the score as a whole, including scene music like this, not just the songs.
Lesser-known stories
The Library of Congress holds a typescript of Ashman's treatment dated January 12, 1988. In it, Aladdin is a boy of about fifteen, and the story is driven by his wish to show his mother that he can pull his own weight. The document also includes the lyrics of seven songs. This framing, which vanished from the finished film, became relatively widely known only after the records were made public. The song dedicated to that mother was “Proud of Your Boy.” When the mother was dropped as a character, the song was cut as well, and it remained almost unknown until it appeared on a 1994 demo recording. Menken later said it was the most painful of everything lost from the film, adding that this was because it was bound up with losing Ashman. The idea of portraying the Genie as a Harlem jazz singer existed even before Robin Williams. When Williams's name came up, Menken is said to have asked first whether he could sing like Fats Waller. The Genie's scat and stride piano are traces of that original conception. The imaginary city of Agrabah was not planned from the start. The filmmakers had intended to set the story in Baghdad, but when the Gulf War broke out, they changed it to a city found on no map. The film's exotic music is not a transcription of the sounds of a real city; it was composed for this imagined place.
Glossary notes 📚🔎
Reprise
(Etymology) The French reprise means to take up again, to repeat. The sense of bringing back something heard earlier is built right into the name. (In film·musical-theater music) In a musical, it means singing again, later on, a song performed earlier. It is usually shortened, and the lyrics, tempo or singer are changed to show how the situation has shifted in the meantime. In “Aladdin,” the villain Jafar re-sings the march “Prince Ali,” turning celebration into mockery. It is like a field-day cheer song that feels completely different on the day you win and the day you lose, even though it is the very same song. (Elsewhere) In fencing, a renewed thrust made immediately after a first attack misses is called a reprise.
Leading motive (leitmotif)
(Etymology) The German Leitmotiv means a leading (leit) motive (Motiv). It carries the idea that a short melody leads the listener to a particular character or idea. (In film·musical-theater music) A technique in which a short melody is assigned to a particular character, relationship, object or idea and is heard again each time that element appears. Even when the character is not on screen, the audience calls them to mind just from hearing the melody. In “Aladdin,” the love duet's melody reappears in later orchestral cues to point to the relationship between the two. It works on the same principle as a video game in which the same music always plays just before a boss appears, so that you know what is coming from the music alone.
Stride piano
(Etymology) The English stride means to walk with long steps. The name comes from the way the pianist's left hand strides across the keyboard. (In film·musical-theater music) A style of jazz piano that flourished in New York's Harlem in the 1920s–30s. The left hand alternates between a single low bass note and a chord in the middle register, producing an oom-pah beat, while the right hand plays a dazzling melody on top. Fats Waller is its best-known exponent. The bouncy feel of “Friend Like Me” comes from here. Imagine skipping rope with one foot planted on the ground while the other springs high, repeated very quickly, and you have something like the motion of the left hand.
Big band
(Etymology) The English big band means, quite literally, a large band. The name was coined to distinguish it from the small jazz combos of three or four players. (In film·musical-theater music) A jazz ensemble of ten or more players, made up of several wind instruments such as trumpets, trombones and saxophones, along with piano, bass and drums. It was hugely popular in the swing era of the 1930s–40s, and Cab Calloway led just such a band. Its hallmark is the sound of the horns blasting out all at once. Just as a cheering squad at a sports day sounds far more powerful shouting in unison than one person shouting alone, several instruments of the same kind play together to build a massive block of sound.
Scat
(In film·musical-theater music) A vocal technique in which a jazz singer improvises a melody on meaningless syllables instead of lyrics. In effect, the voice is used like an instrument such as a trumpet or saxophone. Cab Calloway and Ella Fitzgerald were famous for it. Traces of it remain in the passage of “Friend Like Me” where the Genie hums along to the tune. It is like humming just the melody, la-la-la, when you can't remember the lyrics of a favorite song, except that a jazz singer fits it precisely to the beat and spins it into a new melody.
Showstopper
(Etymology) The English show-stopper means something that stops the show. It comes from the idea that the applause after a song goes on so long that the performance cannot move on to the next scene. (In film·musical-theater music) In a musical, it refers to the number that draws the most fervent audience response. It is usually a song that brings together dazzling dance, long high notes and witty acting. In the stage version of “Aladdin,” the Genie's “Friend Like Me” is regarded as the quintessential showstopper. Think of a moment at a school talent show when one class's act was so funny that the applause and cheers wouldn't stop and the emcee had to wait a long while. (Elsewhere) In everyday English, it can also refer to a person or thing striking enough to stop people in their tracks.
Demo
(Etymology) Demo is short for demonstration, meaning a showing. (In film·musical-theater music) A simple trial recording that a composer and lyricist make to play for a director or studio before a song is formally recorded. It usually takes a spare form, with the composer playing the piano and singing. The Ashman and Menken songs cut from “Aladdin” survived only as such demos until they were later released on record. It is like showing your teacher a rough draft of a group project for feedback before making the finished version. (Elsewhere) In games and software, a demo is a sampler version released ahead of the full version, letting you try out part of it.
Score
(Etymology) Score comes from a word originally meaning to cut a line, and it referred to the full score, in which the parts for many instruments are aligned vertically on a single page. (In film·musical-theater music) In film, as distinct from the songs that characters sing, the whole body of orchestral background music laid beneath the scenes is called the score. On the “Aladdin” soundtrack, the tracks that are not songs, such as “Cave of Wonders,” “The Battle” and “Aladdin's Word,” make up the score. The Academy Award for Best Original Score is given for this score. It is like a video game in which, even when no character speaks, tense music plays when you enter a dungeon and relaxing music when you reach a village. (Elsewhere) In sports it means points, and on exams it means a grade.