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 CD and cassette tape on October 27, 1992. The soundtrack was intertwined with demos, work tapes and unreleased masters, as well as original scores in 1994 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 3million copies sold in the United States and 300,000 copies sold in Canada.

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

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

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) — This was later used as the ending for Aladdin and the King of Thieves.

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 composition and orchestration
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.
 * Jafars 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".