Every Disney lover knows Richard Sherman and Alan Menken . Even non - fans ca n’t help but make out their song practically through osmosis . You do n’t have to be a Disneyphile to know the earworm “ It ’s a Small World ” ( Sherman ) or buzz along to “ A Whole New World ” ( Menken ) .
The two songwriting fable are teaming up for a once - in - a - lifetime concert on Saturday as part of the D23 Expo in Anaheim . The show will lie in of some peachy hits , a couple of lesser - know firearm , and a fleck of conversation about their careers and friendship . Here ’s a little taste of the form of conversation we can ask . Check back next week for clips from what ’s sure to be an awing carrying out .
What’s your favorite song written by one another?
Alan Menken : You look at “ Supercalifragilistic ” and I know that ’s so known , but that ’s really — there could not have been an “ Under the Sea ” without a “ Supercalifragilistic . ” It ’s a combination of the enthusiasm , the rhythm , the ingeniousness of the lyric and the catchiness of it — it just beat into your system . It set the standard , place the bar for what Howard [ Ashman , Menken ’s songwriting partner ] and I did .
Richard Sherman:[He has ] so many gorgeous , gorgeous songs . He ’s a great air writer , howling harmonies . I fall in love with a song called “ dead Seymour , ” [ fromLittle store of Horrors ] … it ’s such a passionate song , a fantastic plosion of emotion . " Part of Your earth ” sire to me . It just does it . I just jazz that song . But if you try out to pick one , it ’s just impossible . We ’re both fans of each other and I think that establish it kind of fun .
How did you choose which songs to perform together at the D23 Expo?
AM : It ’s always a challenge pick out just the right cloth for an interview . We did have some requests from our hosts , and the fashion they ’ve structure it made it reasonably easy to make up one’s mind on call .
RS : We endeavor to do a variety , not a complete rundown of anything in one finicky film , but kind of a sampling of thing over the years . It was kind of a fun thing , front at all my children and saying , " Which one am I going to take on the outing ? "
Are there any songs that unexpectedly became hits?
RS : It ’s a peculiar thing about when we didPoppins , I remember that Bob and I enquire which is the [ Sung ] that ’s going to happen . Robert tell , " I ’m absolutely sure it ’s was going to be ' last out Awake . ' " It was just a footling cradlesong and he loved it , but it never fend out on its own . And I said “ Chim Chim Cheree ” will never be pop , it ’s just a minor matter , you have sex , and it ’s about about a chimney sweep , and that became a jumbo matter .
AM : I had a exchangeable affair withLittle Mermaid : " Kiss the daughter " was really our individual , and of trend " Under the Sea " is the song that really emerged . " Part of Your World " was one we almost fall behind totally . It was n’t necessarily working at one point during the film .
What’s it like to perform for people who live and breathe Disney?
AM : It ’s fun , it really is fun . It ’s a really powerful , shared experience . I ’d be lie if I did n’t say that it was n’t kind of a pleasant ego tripper , because everything I ’m doing up there , they ’re reacting so riotously to . It ’s just neat fun , really .
Are there any Disney films you’re dying to have made into a theatrical production?
RS : Alan has certainly the book in this by far , but there ’s a couple of thing I ’m kind of look forward to see . The Jungle Bookis now on its feet . And I have another couple of things , but I do n’t want to talk too much .
AM : It will be cracking to seeHercules . We ’re working on a sail ship interpretation ofTangled . Who knows if it will rule its way to the phase ?
RS : So many factor have to take place before it ’s a reality , so I do n’t like to spill about too many thing unless they ’re really on the road to reality .
AM : I tend to be more of a blabbermouth .
On their Disney songwriting processes:
AM : The process for me is very much the mental process of indite a musical . Disney has been the studio that has been — especially in our lifetime — the most supportive of writing songs in that fashion . Where the difference come in , in it being Disney , is a signified of responsibleness , a sense of the content of the song and the approach to storytelling . You know that this is an audience that will embrace what you do and take it to bosom entirely , so you have to treasure the audience as you spell these songs . The Disney tradition — number one , it ’s a heavy American classic tradition — and it ’s something where you do n’t want to go over sure line . You want to poke merriment but you do n’t want to poke fun in a way that ’s deleterious . The company is very raw to that , and once you ’ve been associated with the party for a foresighted time , you become very sensitive to that . But you decidedly want to skate as close to that line as possible because that ’s where all the fun is .
RS : You have to either spell for a fibre or the character of an experience like “ Small World ” or “ Carousel of Progress . ” When we first watch audio animatronic figures being featured in the Tiki way and we came up with a minuscule calypso song called “ The Tiki Tiki Room , ” we were n’t pen for a soul or a character or anything else . Everything is its own challenge , whether it be a building or a fictional character or a marvelous make - believe dame like Mary Poppins .
On meeting each other and developing a friendship:
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RS : I did n’t know Alan at all , but I felt I knew him in a sense through his wonderful songs and his melodies and I substantiate that this guy wire likes to drop a line the way I like to save ; this humans can carry on a wondrous custom .
AM:[There is a ] benignancy and generosity in Richard that ’s singular in our business . genuinely unparalleled . It ’s something to my dying daytime that I will always appreciate , and it ’s a very rarefied caliber . you could sense that in his songs but it ’s there in the humans . The way he and his wife have treat me has been so generous — it ’s had an immense effect .
What are you looking forward to seeing at the D23 Expo?
AM : There will be a lot of friends there . I suppose it ’s mostly an experience that ’s oriented toward being with mass rather than exhibits for us .
RS : I mean it ’s just go through the joyfulness that ’s being triumph by all of these people —
AM : Exuberated ! I wish that !
RS : You like that ? I just made that up .
AM : I wish that , I do ! You just witnessed where the Sherman Brothers brilliance fare from .
RS : Make the parole play for you .
On working with Walt:
RS : I always felt up honour that I was function for his company , and for him , when he was with us … Walt set a high standard for the both of us when he had these corking songwriters of the past tense , who wrote the big grade forPinocchioand all of these wonderful , fantastic picture that follow before our meter . [ They are ] wholesome , beautiful entertainment that uplift the spirits . They ’re not depressing ; they ’re uplift . We ’re favourable to have done that kind of work .
On his brother and songwriting partner Robert Sherman, who passed away last year:
RS : Bob never was much of a performer . He was always little bit on the unsure side . But he would have joined me [ at the D23 Expo ] on a couple of little chorus and stuff . But I ’m representing the both of us — that ’s what I do .
Which of your songs was the most challenging to develop?
RS : We were trying to top a very pretty song we had write [ forMary Poppins ] and we were told , " We require something with a slight more pep in it . " Say the same thing but say it in a very " up " way as oppose to this lay we had just written . We want . . . kind of a little catchword that Mary Poppins could sing that would give the kid the idea that if you have a happy attitude , a hard job becomes easier . My brother ’s Word Jeff come home from school one day and he had the Salk vaccine , and Bob read “ Did it suffer ? ” And the trivial cat said , “ No , they put the medication on a square block of boodle , and then we take it like confect , it was loose . ”Bob came in the next day and said , " I get a deed for us : ' A Spoonful of Sugar make the Medicine Go Down . ' ”
And I said , “ Oh my god , it ’s fearful . No , wait , it ’s wonderful ! ” It became a really big smash hit for us , but that was a tough one .
On the secret to longevity:
RS : I have a good time . I never feel like I ’m work . I was blessed from the clip early on with doing my hobby , my pursuit was writing songs . I ’d be felicitous to do it without arrive any money for it . I love writing Sung and the challenge of writing unlike kinds of things , so it was always a fun thing for me . If I did n’t [ have sport ] , I would have retired age ago . I ’m 85 , but I do n’t feel it . I have my health and I have my enthusiasm .
On their favorite “obscure” songs:
AM : I’m very majestic of “ Will the Sun Ever Shine Again . ” That was a Sung written very close to the 9/11 event . We were all , particularly in New York , in a actual state of injury , and that was a song that very much captured the emotion of everyone at the studio .
You know , I have it away “ The Gospel Truth , ” the Sung that spread upHercules . I think that birdcall was a lot of playfulness and I really enjoy producing that and writing that . " If I Never Knew You ” fromPocahontas . We lost it the first sentence around ; we got it back when it was re - liberate . I recollect it was a very emotional birdsong that I ’m very proud of .
RS:[At the D23 Expo ] I ’m hold up to sing something that ’s not thought of as one of my big smasher , but I personally have a outstanding great deal of attachment to it . I do n’t need to tell you because that ’s last to be a surprise for everybody .
Is there a main message you’d like to get across to Disney fans?
RS : Disney fans already know , but I ’ll just say it : There ’s a marvellous matter call being irrefutable in your life history as opposed to being damaging — being on the upside of the coin . Both Alan and myself have been blessed with the " chore " of writing things for very cheerful ideas . They ’re not uncheerful . They ’re not cynical . They ’re positive ; there are secure feelings of goodwill in them . And I suppose all of the Disney fans will recognize that instantly .
There ’s nothing cynical about our study , none of us .
The biggest , wondrous gratification I get is the fact that mass get joy out of my work . That they palpate good about it and they have a serious fourth dimension and they finger happy about it , and that ’s really my wages .
