Howard Ashman - The Gay Man Who Saved Disney
This playwright and musical genius was brought in to help on a mid-80s Disney flop, and although he couldn't save that one from Billy Joel's curse, he quickly went to work on "The Little Mermaid," which reinvented Disney as a storytelling powerhouse. His music for that film won two Academy Awards, and his later work on "Aladdin" and "Beauty and the Beast" was also by moviegoers and industry types. That latter film was memorably the first animated feature film nominated for Best Picture, and won Ashman a posthumous Oscar for the theme song (performed by Angela Lansbury in the film and Celine Dion on the soundtrack).
His work was instrumental in the Disney Renaissance of 1989-99, which saved that company financially and culturally, and gave a new generation of children a set of classic films and songs to define their youth.
Howard was ultimately nominated for seven Academy Awards in six years (he was one of the rare artists to receive multiple nominations in the same category in the same year), winning two for his songwriting. He died of AIDS-related illness in 1991, at the age of 40. Disney memorialized him in Beauty and the Beast with a moving epitaph: "To our friend Howard, who gave a mermaid her voice and a beast his soul, we will be forever grateful."
| by Anonymous | reply 8 | April 15, 2022 5:07 PM
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He really was a genius. Those musicals are so terrific
| by Anonymous | reply 1 | April 14, 2022 4:33 PM
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I discovered Little Shop of Horrors a few years ago and became fascinated with Howard Ashman. Went back and listened to my favourite Disney songs of my childhood, realising now how clever and funny the lyrics are. I don't think the Disney Renaissance of the 90s would have happened without him. The company was lacking creativity: for example, both Sebastian from The Little Mermaid and Gaston from Beauty & the Beast were originally conceived as stuffy, foppish Englishmen, but Howard transformed them into much more interesting characters.
I love the cut Little Shop song "We'll Have Tomorrow". I understand why it was removed, because it slowed the story down, but it's a shame nonetheless.
| by Anonymous | reply 3 | April 14, 2022 4:42 PM
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OP I guess you are referring to the film Oliver & Company, which was not a flop. The Land Before Time did out gross it on their opening weekend, but overall O&C made more money at the box office and became the first animated feature to break $100 million world wide. The success of O&C laid the ground work for the Disney Renaissance.
| by Anonymous | reply 4 | April 14, 2022 4:55 PM
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Oliver and Company was a clean break from the disastrous decade that came before it, but it got blown out of the water by the performance of all the movies after it.
It was a transitional piece, nothing more.
It was also the rare Disney movie set in the present, and containing few elements of the supernatural or fairy tale (aside from dogs talking to each other).
| by Anonymous | reply 5 | April 15, 2022 2:06 PM
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A moment's silence, please, for the Rescuers Down Under, which was released between The Little Mermaid and Beauty & the Beast but is largely forgotten...
| by Anonymous | reply 6 | April 15, 2022 2:25 PM
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The lyrics he wrote were brilliant, and I love listening to the soundtracks even if I donāt watch the movies themselves. According to Wiki, he was only 80 pounds when he died, ravaged by AIDS.
| by Anonymous | reply 7 | April 15, 2022 5:02 PM
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[quote]This playwright and musical genius was brought in to help on a mid-80s Disney flop, and although he couldn't save that one from Billy Joel's curse, he quickly went to work on "The Little Mermaid," which reinvented Disney as a storytelling powerhouse. His music for that film won two Academy Awards, and his later work on "Aladdin" and "Beauty and the Beast" was also by moviegoers and industry types.
His role in the Disney renaissance can't be underestimated. But for the record, of course, Ashman was a lyricist, not a composer, and Alan Menken also deserves great credit for the renaissance.
| by Anonymous | reply 8 | April 15, 2022 5:07 PM
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