It’s Episode 30, and we at Art of the Score are finally tackling two genres we’ve so far overlooked – animation and the musical, combined in the form of the great Disney revival musical, The Little Mermaid. Join us as we celebrate the 30th anniversary of this wonderful film and explore the cabaret roots of Ursula, the perfect pop song for Ariel, and the debatable reggae of Under The Sea in Alan Menken’s joyous and groundbreaking score.

Episode notes:

4:10 – The Art of the Mailbag?

5:12 – The Disney Dark Ages

8:15 – Alan Menken: the secret to Disney’s revival

12:52 – Ariel’s theme: Part of Your World

15:33 – “I want”

19:26 – Ariel’s verse

25:01 – Ariel’s verse (Hoarders edition)

28:41 – Creative voicing

32:47 – A pre-chorus?

35:33 – Recorders on the beach

38:44 – Ariel’s musical maturity

42:17 – Ursula’s theme: Poor Unfortunate Souls

45:03 – Craberet

50:40 – Fortunate Souls

54:35 – Poggo’s Unfortunate Lyrics

56:44 – Scheming eels

1:00:49 – Prince Eric’s Roadshow

1:06:02 – Eric’s Organ Announcement

1:09:48 – Triton’s Fanfare

1:13:04 – Triton’s Minor Fanfare

1:15:53 – Scuttle’s scuttlebutt

1:24:11 – Mickey Mouse-ing

1:34:26 – Le Chef, and Nick’s waltzing tangent

1:42:04 – Andrew’s Chef genocide tangent

1:44:51 – Under the C

1:49:45 – Dan’s reggae tangent

1:59:37 – Fathoms Below and the opening song

We love to hear from our listeners – get in touch via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, and if you like The Art of the Score, please take a moment to subscribe, rate and comment.