Aladdin (1992 soundtrack)

Aladdin: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack for the Walt Disney Pictures film, Aladdin, released on cassette and compact disc in October 1992. 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 an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score, as well as a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Film Music. Menken also shared an Academy Award, Golden Globe and Grammy Award for Song of the Year with Tim Rice for the song "A Whole New World". All music composed by Alan Menken.

Original release (1992) and remastered reissue (2001)

 * 1) Arabian Nights - Bruce Adler (lyrics by Howard Ashman Tim Rice)
 * 2) Legend of the Lamp (score) - dialogue performed by Robin Williams
 * 3) One Jump Ahead - Brad Kane (lyrics by Rice)
 * 4) Street Urchins (score)
 * 5) One Jump Ahead (Reprise) - Brad Kane (lyrics by Rice)
 * 6) Friend Like Me - Robin Williams (lyrics by Ashman)
 * 7) To Be Free (score)
 * 8) Prince Ali - Robin Williams (lyrics by Ashman)
 * 9) A Whole New World - Brad Kane & Lea Salonga (lyrics by Rice)
 * 10) Jafar's Hour (score)
 * 11) Prince Ali (Reprise) - Jonathan Freeman (some dialogue performed by Gilbert Gottfried) (lyrics by Rice)
 * 12) The Ends of the Earth (score)
 * 13) The Kiss (score)
 * 14) On a Dark Night (score)
 * 15) Jasmine Runs Away (score)
 * 16) Marketplace (score)
 * 17) The Cave of Wonders (score)
 * 18) Aladdin's Word (includes cue from When You Wish Upon a Star) (score)
 * 19) The Battle
 * 20) Happy End in Agrabah
 * 21) A Whole New World - Peabo Bryson & Regina Belle (lyrics by Rice)

Special Edition (2004)

 * 1) Proud of Your Boy (Demo) - Alan Menken (lyrics by Howard Ashman)
 * 2) High Adventure (Demo) - Alan Menken & Howard Ashman (lyrics by Ashman)

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.

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 (Written by Tim Rice), "Where it's flat and immense/and the heat is intense", was recorded for subsequent soundtrack pressings and home video releases. 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 movie'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.

A slow version of the song (the reprise, specifically) is heard in the underscore frequently as a theme for Aladdin in a way that "breaks the fourth wall".

Friend Like Me
"Friend Like Me" is sung by the Genie (Robin Williams) while he shows off his powers to Aladdin in a Cab Calloway-like musical, telling him 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 movie's end credits, an instrumental reprise of the song is featured.

Alvin and the Chipmunks covered "Friend Like Me" for their 1995 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 Aladdin's royal alter ego, Prince Ali Ababwa 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.

Prince Ali (Reprise)
A parody of "Prince Ali" sung by Jafar (Jonathan Freeman), while the villain uses his newly gained powers to reveal Ali is only a street rat, and sending 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
 * 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.
 * 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
 * Why Me

The 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 soft and sweet, but also sad-sounding, because she feels trapped. It is introduced in her first scene at the palace.


 * The Sultan's Theme is a royal fanfare, though it sounds fairly goofy, because the Sultan is a silly king to begin with.


 * Jafar's Theme is dark, like he is, an instrumental of "Arabian Nights."


 * Genie's Theme is "To Be Free." It is surprisingly sweet for a comic character, to show that he truly means well and just wants freedom, similar to Jasmine. Although it is associated with Genie in the film, the tune was combined with Jasmine's theme and rewritten for Disney's Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular as "To Be Free," Jasmine's song.

When Aladdin and Jasmine are together, it is usually accompanied by "A Whole New World."

Unreleased Songs/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 Original Score – Alan Menken
 * Won: Best Original Song – Alan Menken (music) & Tim Rice (lyrics) for "A Whole New World"
 * Nominated: Best 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 Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal – Peabo Bryson & Regina Belle for "A Whole New World (Aladdin's Theme)"
 * Won: Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television – Alan Menken & Tim Rice for "A Whole New World"
 * Won: Best Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture or for Television – Alan Menken
 * Nominated: Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television – Alan Menken & Howard Ashman for "Friend Like Me"