1.Prologue
For our interview segment on the 6/14 episode of Sekai e Hasshin, SNS Eigojutsu, we aired my interview with composer Alan Menken, who was in japan to promote the live-action adaptation of the Disney animated classic Aladdin. Menken is known for composing the scores of many of the films of the “Disney Renaissance” of the 90s, and has won numerous Academy Awards and Grammy Awards for his work. Many of those songs are as iconic as the films themselves, and all are instantly hummable, so it’s no surprise that the Japanese have called him “ディズニー音楽の神” (the God of Disney music). On the day of our studio taping, our MC Haruhi-san, co-host Gori-san, and commentator Tsukagoshi Kenji-san repeatedly shot me envious looks.
2.Getting to Interview a Disney Legend
In recent years, Disney has been producing live-action remakes of its classic animated films. This trend includes Beauty and the Beast in 2017, Christopher Robin in 2018, Dumbo in March 2019, and the upcoming The Lion King in July 2019. (Some have called the Lion King remake a “super live-action" version, as the film has no human characters and is thus technically not “live-action". Instead, it will be comprised of photorealistic CG animals.) The strategy seems to be to update the films for modern audiences in a way that reflects our current values.
For this interview, I’d been notified in advance that Menken would be seated in front of a piano—but there were no guarantees that he would play it during the interview. I immediately felt an unspoken, low-key pressure from my producer that the success or failure of the interview would hinge on whether or not I could get him to play a few notes.
On the day of, I arrived at the high-end hotel where the interviews were being conducted to find a bunch of people huddled around a screen in the waiting room. The screen displayed in real time what was going on in the interview room, and it quickly became clear that Menken was having a grand old time playing snippets from his classics for the TV personalities that were going before me. My producer started amping up the pressure as we went over my interview questions.
When it was my turn up at bat, I found Menken to be much more talkative than he seemed with the other interviewers—likely because our interview was being conducted in English, without having to go through an interpreter. What do you hope audiences take away from this film? What is your creative process like? How do you get your ideas? How did “A Whole New World" come about? Menken would occasionally gesture toward the piano, but then he would keep talking—and I felt his focus directed toward me, rather than the piano. When we passed the halfway mark of my allotted time, I started feeling anxious.
I told myself to get it together, and asked him if there was a formula to music. In that moment I saw Menken’s eyes light up, and without missing a beat he said, “There’s a vocabulary. Music is a language." Then, he turned to the piano and demonstrated by playing snippets from “Go the Distance", a song from Hercules, and “Colors of the Wind", a song from Pocahontas. From the corner of my eye, I saw my producer nodding, and then giving me the signal to “run with it". I asked Menken if he would take us on a short emotional journey through some of his music, and he regaled us with a medley of sorts of some of his most iconic Disney work.
At our studio taping, Haruhi-san and Gori-san teased me about my quiet, seemingly underwhelmed expression throughout the interview. “Were you conscious of the privilege of interviewing a Hollywood legend?" Well yes, certainly. My expression was a mix of things: nostalgia at getting to hear familiar melodies from my childhood and joy at having accomplished my mission, all mixed up into an expression of pure relief.
3.Alan Menken Profile and Selected Filmography
Alan Menken (1949-) is an American music conductor, director, composer, songwriter, and pianist. He was born to a boogie-woogie piano-playing dentist and an actress/playwright, and studied classical music from an early age. He also began to compose music at an early age. He is best known for the music he has made for Disney films and Broadway musicals. He won Academy Awards for best score and best song on four occasions: 1989’s Little Mermaid, 1991’s Beauty and the Best, 1992’s Aladdin, and 1995’s Pocahontas.
Aladdin (1992)
This film is a live-action adaptation of the classic Disney animation film based on the folktale of Aladdin from One Thousand and One Nights. Set in the fictional sultanate of Agrabah, a poor street urchin obtains a magic lamp from a cave and must decide how to use his three wishes.
The Little Mermaid (1989)
This animated Disney classic is loosely based on Danish author Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale of the same name. 16-year-old mermaid princess Ariel dreams of becoming human after falling in love at first sight with a human prince named Eric. She is approached by the sea witch Ursula, who offers her a deal: she will transform Ariel into a human for three days in exchange for Ariel’s voice; however, unless Ariel can receive the “kiss of true love" from Eric within those three days, she will belong to Ursula.
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
This animated Disney classic is the story of a selfish, arrogant prince who is tested and subsequently cursed by an enchantress: he is transformed into a beast, and will only revert back to human form if he learns to love another—and earns their love in return. Years later, the beautiful young Belle comes into his life, and gradually, a bond develops between them.
Pocahontas (1995)
This animated Disney classic is loosely based on the story of Pocahontas—a Native American woman who saved the life of colonist John Smith—and her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia.
4.My Wardrobe for the Interview
Black striped button-down shirt by Universal Language
Black paisley necktie by Ralph Lauren
5.Epilogue: What it Means to Be a True Professional
The number one thing I wanted to ask Alan Menken in my interview was about his creative process. How has he managed over so many years to consistently create the kinds of songs that speak to people across generations and national borders? Truth be told, I was expecting an abstract, vague answer that you would usually expect from an artist-type. But when I asked him where he got his ideas, Menken did not miss a beat: “When I sit down in front of the piano."
Menken did not mean to toot his own horn, of course—although many would consider him a genius. He was trying to say that he possessed—or had developed—the ability to sit down in front of the piano at a pre-scheduled time and flip on his creativity like a switch. For him, there is no staring blankly into space, waiting for the inspiration to come.
Menken’s answer is indicative of the fact that he is a consummate professional. He doesn’t wait until he’s in the mood to start composing, nor does he approach his work as a venue of self-expression. Instead, he is the kind of person who composes music that is right for a particular project, and submits his best work under deadline, without fail.
In Japanese, people often use the words “artist" and “creator" (the Japanese equivalent of what people call “creatives" in English) interchangeably, but these two words are actually distinct.
An artist is someone who channels what or how they are feeling into creative expression. Their work is a manifestation of their individuality or something they want to say to the world. The self is at the center of the endeavor. In other words, there is no client breathing down your neck and no deadlines. To take it a step further, an artist is often considered as someone who doesn’t do it for the money—someone who is willing to toil for the sake of their craft.
On the other hand, a creator is commissioned to do work by a client. Doing work for a client means having to work according to a schedule and budget, and involves myriad demands that may or may not be fair. The creator’s individuality, or how they personally feel is irrelevant, Instead, they must cultivate the skills to discern the needs and wants of a client—and fulfill them accordingly.
Menken, who has consistently produced music that encapsulates and epitomizes the heart and soul of Disney’s grand tales, is considered “the God of Disney music" for a reason. He is able to glean the essence of each story from the script and through his interactions with the staff, and channel that into music that leaves a lasting impression. It always bothered me that the Japanese use the term “creator" so haphazardly, but Menken is truly someone who is deserving of the honor.
