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Alan Menken

(1949) Composer

81 quotes in 293 categories

Alan Menken describes how hearing 'Part of Your World' pulls him back to an innocent time of discovery. He works closely with collaborators, feeling each note in his gut and fighting for what sounds right. He also sees his songs as pieces of a larger mosaic that tell a story.

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Alan Menken is a composer.

Quick Facts About Alan Menken

Born: July 22, 1949
Profession: Composer

About Alan Menken

American composer (born 1949)... | Alan Irwin Menken is an American composer and conductor. Over his career he has received numerous accolades including winning eight Academy Awards, a Tony Award, eleven Grammy Awards, seven Golden Globe Awards, and a Daytime Emmy Award. He is one of 22 recipients to have won the competitive EGOT.

Quotes by Alan Menken

My first success was 'Little Shop of Horrors,' and I had been working for years on jingles.

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I'm a very style-driven composer, and I like to give every project its own unique stamp.

Composer

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There's such a rich trove of unheard Howard Ashman lyrics that we're so blessed to draw from.

Blessed

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I see my songs and shows almost like a mosaic - part of a bigger picture.

Bigger picture

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A lot of what I've done has a rock edge, even going back to 'Little Shop of Horrors.'

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I was always proud of the score to 'Newsies.' The movie is good, but it was under-budgeted.

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Songs should have an infectious melody and rhythm.

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Howard Ashman was an amazing lyricist and an amazing artist.

Amazing

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I love 'The Gospel Truth,' the song that opened up 'Hercules.' I thought that song was a lot of fun, and I…

Christianity

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In animation, the directors are part of a huge team of animators who all have opinions, too. It's a much more democratic…

Animation

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I'll always work with my collaborator in the room so I have a reaction on a note-by-note basis. I know in my…

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I'm very proud of 'Will the Sun Ever Shine Again.' That was a song written very close to the 9/11 event.

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The reality is that people need to be coaxed toward a musical. They need to understand why it's a musical.

Actor

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I have lots of personal feelings of my own, but at this stage in my life and career, I'm very much driven…

Career

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I always wanted to be a composer, and I sort of went in to NYU as pre-med because I just thought, 'Well...…

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Most things that I write are in very specific forms. A score will have a shape and profile, and then the more…

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When 'Newsies' first came out, it just crash-landed with a thud; it won a Razzie for worst song of the year, and…

Actor

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Part of the job is knowing how to use this medium in the most effective way for the story you're telling, so…

Genre

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I was always a composer since I was a kid, but the BMI Workshop is where the networking really all stems from.…

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For a while now, I try to ignore the hoopla, because if you buy into that, you have to buy into the…

Criticism

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There was a jingle house called Lucas/McFaul in New York, and they called me 'the demo king.' I almost never had the…

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Any musical form that has been around long enough to have cultural resonance beyond just being a cutting edge kind of communication…

Communication

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I'm an architect. Before you start pouring the concrete, you build a foundation that is solid so that when you take the…

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What I look for in a partner is a skill, a voice of their own so I have a strength to go…

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TV is a medium where I've been an outsider for the most part.

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Music can be witty, but it's not funny unless it's conceptually funny.

Funny

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Of my Disney material, 'Tangled' is my most pop-oriented.

Disney

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I have a team who I respect immensely, so if they have opinions, I'm interested in hearing them.

Football

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If you're writing for yourself as an artist, you are always pulling on your own experiences.

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Most of my collaborations, certainly post - Howard Ashman but even with Howard, are music first.

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When I write the music for any of my songs, I write as a composer-lyricist in my head.

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I always felt great about what I wrote for 'Newsies,' but 'Newsies' was a total flop.

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I'm not interested in being the producer of somebody else's song.

Being

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I have an awards cabinet in my studio where I keep my eight Oscars, my 11 Grammys, my seven Golden Globes, and…

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Music is a gestalt. Songs are a life force and they have specific vocabulary to them. You hear a few notes, and…

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The best parts about writing a show are [its] first, second and 10th anniversaries. Everything else is relative levels of hell.

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As a kid, I loved classical music. Composers like Beethoven were like rock stars to me. Then there were the real rock…

Beatles

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When I first started working at Disney animation, I can't tell you how many people said to me, 'Oh, man, take a…

Disney

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Composing easy? I find it easy if - big if - the idea is right, if I have the right collaborator, and…

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When I was younger, I'd get very invested in things. It's a hard lesson to learn, but you have to know that…

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Alan Menken by topic

Music (21) Song (16) Writing (13)