How 'The Little Mermaid' changed the original's songs — without being 'sacrilegious'

LOS ANGELES — Alan Menken recalls working on "The Little Mermaid" as "a constant miracle." He and lyricist Howard Ashman were still flying high from the screen adaptation of their eccentric stage show "Little Shop of Horrors," and they were reteaming to write music for a new film.

"What are these two off-Broadway songwriters doing at Disney? We were in Glendale — not even on the main lot — in these little warehouses that had been converted for work on animation, looking at the storyboards and giving details to the animators about what we think the structure of the story should be. There was a hunger for what it was — a return to Disney animation, and to movie musicals — and we were given a great deal of leeway to really create."

Released in 1989, "The Little Mermaid" is largely credited for kicking off the Disney renaissance, a streak of acclaimed animated musicals that included "Beauty and the Beast," "The Lion King" and numerous others. The movie was a box-office hit and won two Academy Awards for its musical components: original score (also by Menken) and original song ("Under the