I hope so. He’s too awesome not to.
Alan Mencken has to do it. Alan Mencken has done all the Disney princess movie songs since Beauty and the Beast at least, excluding The Princess and the Frog, which I’d rather not count anyway. If you look at anybody’s list of their top 25 Disney songs, most of them will be Alan Mencken composed songs.
Not having Alan Mencken compose songs in a Disney movie based on fairy tales is like not having John Williams compose songs for a Star Wars movie.
He’d be my preferred choice for the project, but there’s nothing wrong with having another songwriter step in every now and then if their style is appropriate for the movie. I try not to have a strict mindset about these things, because whenever I do, I end up pleasantly surprised.
I can understand not liking Randy’s work for Princess and the Frog, although I personally liked it. Alan is better suited, but I’m open to anyone doing it.
I like Menken a a lot (not Mencken), but I disagree about him being absolutely essential.
In the old days, different composers scored the Disney films, many of them being fairy tales, and that turned out ok, with some works being better than others, but that’s natural.
Menken is the quintessential composer of the Disney Renaissance. We’re not in the Renaissance anymore. Other people can work.
I wish he would continue doing it though. I did NOT like Randy’s shot at a Disney movie. I don’t see what’s wrong with wanting Menken to do it.
I don’t think anyone insinuated that it’s wrong wanting Menken to do it.
But I think there’s nothing wrong with another composer doing either.
I’m fine both ways, as long as the final product is good, which is what is important.
I just think that Menken is too perfect for the job.
What are we in then? Disney Baroque? Disney Flauvism? Probably Disney Rococo, since Tangled was based in part on the Rococo paintings of Jean-Honore Fragonard.
Anyway, I’m sure we’re not in the Disney Dada period yet. Let’s hope something happens before we reach that point…
Periods gain names in retrospective.
We’ll have to wait to see what name animation historians decide to give this one (if any), but certainly the Renaissance ended a long time ago.
Oh dear, Disney Dada would be quite ridiculous.
I don’t know if this period will have a name. I mean, there are many past periods of Disney films that don’t really have a name. I wouldn’t necessarily call now “post-Disney Renaissance” because I feel like that only applies to the decade or so after Lion King, and right now Disney is having an increase in quality.
I read since The Princess and the Frog it’s been the “Disney revival”. The “post-Disney Renaissance” was from Fantasia 2000 to Bolt.
I wouldn’t call it a revival. Maybe in 10 years. How can we know it’s a revival if only three films have been released.
And I agree with Spirit. Menken is a fantastic composer, and I’d love to see him score more Disney movies. But he’s not essential to making a good Disney movie, There are other composers out there who could do a fine job as well.
I’m being selfish her. I would just personally be happier if Menken did it because I love his Disney work the most.
I love his work too, but there are others I like equally, specially from Disney earliest films.
I love a lot of the old songs too. But with the Sherman brothers being out of work and one of them deceased, I wish they would stick with Menken.
I’d love to see Menken return again too (especially because, as IV mentioned, most of the early classic Disney film composers are gone/inactive). But I’m all for new talent too, someone who’s never given a Disney movie a shot. I’d be a little anxious too, but you never know.
I just hope, even if he doesn’t do this one, there will always be a place for him on some projects there.
Of the three films supposedly in-progress, not counting Wreck-It Ralph, this is the only one for which Alan Mencken as a composer makes sense. Mort should have the new talent. Actually, Mort shouldn’t be a Disney movie at all, since the stuff Terry Pratchett teaches is very anti-Disney. King of the Elves should have some crazy composer. But Frozen has to be Mencken. New talent can tackle the films not based on fairy tales. As long as Mecnken is alive and can work, he should compose for all the Disney films based on fairy tales.
Before anyone mentions The Princess and the Frog as not being composed by Mencken, The Princess and the Frog is NOT based on a fairy tale. It is based on a book written in the twentieth century. The fairy tale is something else.
I still think there are very good fairy tales scores not written by Menken (It’s not “Mencken”!), but yes, probabilities are he will do this one.
By the way, I still haven’t read which role will Bell take. Every site says she’ll be the lead, but depending on the direction this film decides to take, the lead could be either the Queen or Gerda.
It will be interesting to see.