Aladdin (soundtrack)

Aladdin: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack for the 1992 Disney animated feature film, Aladdin''. ''The album was released by Walt Disney Records on cassette and compact disc in October 1992. In 1993, the soundtrack was intertwined with demos and work tapes and unreleased masters, as well as original scores in a four-disc box set entitled The Music Behind the Magic: The Musical Artistry of Alan Menken, Howard Ashman & Tim Rice. A remastered reissue with altered lyrics and new artwork was released in 2001. A special edition reissue featuring two previously released demos and new artwork was released in 2004.

The music on the album earned composer Alan Menken the Academy Award for Best Original Score and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score, as well as a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Film Music, and the lyricist Tim Rice the Academy Award for Best Original Song, the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song and the first and only Disney song to win a Grammy Award for Song of the Year for the song "A Whole New World". The album is one of the best-selling soundtrack albums to an animated film, with 2,481,000 copies sold in the U.S as of April 2014.

Track listing
(*) Lyrics revised for later pressings and remastered reissue. (**) Version included on the original cassette release (1992) contains several alternate cues.

Arabian Nights
"Arabian Nights", performed by The Peddler (Bruce Adler), opens the film. Initially a longer composition, Howard Ashman and Alan Menken's 1990 score treatment incorporated several reprises allowing The Peddler to comment on plot developments. While the Peddler is voiced by Robin Williams, the actor could not hit some of the high notes in "Arabian Nights", leading Disney to hire Adler, who had done crowd singing in Beauty and the Beast and proved himself able to imitate Williams' voice.

The original lyric "Where they cut off your ear/if they don't like your face" received complaints from the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) and other groups upon the film and soundtrack's initial release. A new lyric, "Where it's flat and immense/and the heat is intense", was recorded for subsequent soundtrack pressings and home video releases. It also appeared in the 2011 Broadway production. The subsequent line, "It's barbaric, but hey, it's home," was left intact.

An alternate version of the song utilizing lyrics from the original demo was later featured in The Return of Jafar, performed by Brian Hannan. This version was also used as the main titles theme for the Aladdin television series.

Aladdin and the King of Thieves features a reprise performed by Adler originally recorded for the first film.

"Arabian Nights" pops up in the film's underscore quite often, primarily used as a theme for Jafar.

One Jump Ahead
"One Jump Ahead" is sung by Aladdin (Brad Kane) while he escapes from the guards carrying a stolen loaf of bread, explaining that it is the life he lives in, he has no choice but to steal, much as he does not wish to. It replaced "You Can Count on Me", a song that would be used to introduce Aladdin but was considered too pokey.

Tim Rice and Alan Menken's biggest inspiration for "One Jump Ahead" was another cut song, "Babkak, Omar, Aladdin, Kassim", that would feature Aladdin and three friends removed from the film. During the writing, Rice and Menken also came to a ballad in the same vein, used in a later scene as "One Jump Ahead (Reprise)". The reprise, titled, "One Jump Ahead (Reprise)", is also used in the score as the theme for Aladdin.

On 2012 album Disney - Koe no Oujisama, which features various Japanese voice actors covering Disney songs, this song was covered by Tomokazu Sugita.

Friend Like Me
"Friend Like Me" is sung by the Genie (Robin Williams) while he demonstrates his powers to Aladdin in a comedic big band number, emphasizing that he is a friend unlike any other. It was the first scene in Aladdin to have its animation finished, and features some differences in character design. This song was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song; it was Ashman's last nomination.

During the film's end credits, an instrumental reprise of the song is featured.

In 1995, Alvin and the Chipmunks covered the song for their Disney-themed album When You Wish Upon a Chipmunk.

Prince Ali
"Prince Ali" is another flamboyant number sung by the Genie (Robin Williams) as he introduces Agrabah to Prince Ali Ababwa, Aladdin's royal alter ego, with a giant caravan. During the song, Robin Williams imitates a Thanksgiving Parade commentor ("Don't they look lovely, June?"), Walter Brennan, and Ethel Merman. The film version cut a conceived intro for the song and two extra verses in the middle. This song is playable in the video game Just Dance 2014.

Prince Ali (Reprise)
A parody of "Prince Ali" sung by Jafar (Jonathan Freeman), while the villain uses his newly gained powers to reveal Ali as only a street rat, and send him to the ends of the earth. The filmmakers liked Jonathan Freeman's singing, and wanted to give Jafar a song of his own, but they rejected Menken and Ashman's original composition for the scene ("Humiliate the Boy") and a new piece composed by Tim Rice ("Why Me"), as they were too long. Instead, they used a reprise of "Prince Ali."

Cut songs
Howard Ashman and Alan Menken composed several songs for an initial story treatment of Aladdin prior to beginning work on Beauty and the Beast. This story treatment incorporated several plot elements from the original folk tale and additional characters that were eliminated during later story development. Three songs from this score - "Arabian Nights," "Friend Like Me" and "Prince Ali" - survive in the final film.

Menken composed several additional songs for the subsequent story revisions following Ashman's 1991 death, prior to Tim Rice's involvement with the project.

Work tape, demo and master recordings of cut songs have been released in several formats, notably on the 1994 The Music Behind the Magic box set, the 2004 special edition soundtrack and the 2004 DVD release of the film.

1990 Original Score - music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman.
 * Arabian Nights
 * Arabian Nights (Reprise #1)
 * Babkak, Omar, Aladdin, Kassim
 * Arabian Nights (Reprise #2)
 * Friend Like Me
 * To Be Free
 * Proud of Your Boy – A demo version performed by Menken was featured on the 2004 special edition soundtrack. A pop version recorded by Clay Aiken was included on the 2004 DVD release of the film. It is in the film's stage musical adaption, which premiered 2011.
 * How Quick They Forget
 * Arabian Nights (Reprise #3)
 * High Adventure – A demo version performed by Menken and Ashman was featured on the 2004 special edition soundtrack.
 * Arabian Nights (Reprise #4)

Additional Menken/Ashman demos
 * Call Me a Princess – A cover version was recorded by actress/singer Kerry Butler and released on her first solo album, Faith, Trust & Pixie Dust in May 2008.
 * Humiliate the Boy

Menken solo demos
 * Count on Me

Menken/Tim Rice demos
 * My Time Has Come
 * My Finest Hour
 * Why Me

Score
Alan Menken's score for Aladdin follows the compositional method also used in The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, with specific cues and motifs derived from the songs' melodies.


 * Aladdin's theme echoes the melody of "One Jump Ahead." It prominently appears in the score cues "Street Urchins," "To Be Free" and "Aladdin's Word."
 * Jasmine's theme is introduced in her first scene at the palace. Alan Menken later expanded this motif into the song "To Be Free" which is sung by Jasmine in the stage version Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular as well as the musical.
 * The Sultan is usually accompanied by royal fanfare.
 * Jafar's theme is darker, and resembles an instrumental version of "Arabian Nights." It also shares an instrumental version of the deleted song "My Finest Hour", whether he's alone or accompanied by Iago.
 * Genie shares the same musical motif as Jasmine, symbolizing his desire to also be free. This cue was expanded into the song "To Be Free" for Disney's Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular.

When Aladdin and Jasmine are together, they are usually accompanied by an instrumental cue of "A Whole New World".

Unreleased songs and score

 * 1) “Arabian Nights” (Instrumental) [1:20]
 * 2) Legend of the Lamp (without narration) [1:17]
 * 3) Jafar Plots [0:31]
 * 4) Aladdin on the Run [0:31]
 * 5) One Jump Ahead (Instrumental) [2:22]
 * 6) One Jump Ahead Reprise (Instrumental) [1:01]
 * 7) Princess Jasmine / The Sultan Gives Away His Ring [3:22]
 * 8) Aladdin and Jasmine / The Guards Arrive [3:55]
 * 9) Jasmine Confronts Jafar / Jafar in Disguise [2:37]
 * 10) The Cave of Wonders (Full Version) (About 1 minute and 28 seconds of music wasn’t included on the commercial CD releases) [6:23]
 * 11) Aladdin Unconscious / The Genie [1:27]
 * 12) Friend Like Me (Instrumental) [2:25]
 * 13) Leaving the Cave of Wonders / The Sultan Upbraids Jafar / Iago's Idea [2:55]
 * 14) Aladdin’s First Wish / Creating Prince Ali [2:02]
 * 15) Prince Ali (Instrumental) [2:49]
 * 16) The Sultan's Magic Carpet Ride [0:55]
 * 17) On the Balcony [4:05]
 * 18) A Whole New World (Full Version) [2:45] (The version heard in the film includes about 15 seconds of score before the song starts)
 * 19) Aladdin Almost Drowns [1:58]
 * 20) Jasmine Chooses a Suitor / Jafar Knows Aladdin’s Secret / Aladdin's Dilemma [1:05]
 * 21) Prince Ali Reprise (Instrumental) [1:05]
 * 22) Jafar as Sultan / Aladdin Returns... Again [2:18]
 * 23) "Friend Like Me" Reprise (Plays at the beginning of the end credits) [0:40]

Total time of unreleased score material excluding song instrumentals: 34 minutes and 29 seconds

Total time of unreleased score material including song instrumentals: 48 minutes and 51 seconds

Awards
1993 Academy Awards
 * Won: Best Music, Original Score – Alan Menken
 * Won: Best Music, Original Song – Alan Menken (music) & Tim Rice (lyrics) for "A Whole New World"
 * Nominated: Best Music, Original Song – Alan Menken (music) & Howard Ashman (lyrics) for "Friend Like Me"

36th Grammy Awards
 * Won: Song of the Year – Alan Menken & Tim Rice for "A Whole New World (Aladdin's Theme)"
 * Won: Best Musical Album for Children – Alan Menken & Tim Rice (producers)
 * Won: Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals – Peabo Bryson & Regina Belle for "A Whole New World (Aladdin's Theme)"
 * Won: Best Song Written for Visual Media – Alan Menken & Tim Rice for "A Whole New World"
 * Won: Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media – Alan Menken
 * Nominated: Best Song Written for Visual Media – Alan Menken & Howard Ashman for "Friend Like Me"