The Unique Queerness of Howard Ashman's Songs | Dreamsounds

[@DreamsoundsVideo]

Thanks, y'all, for watching this video!

[@ace_of_cakes]

I've always found the most profound lyrics of this song to be "We don't like what we don't understand. In fact, it scares us and this monster is mysterious at least."

[@squitterhyena652]

Your rendition is so touching thank you for sharing that with all of us.

[@stephenmessano1847]

@@ace_of_cakes Yes! Exactly! Sums up the whole song, that. Also: "Light your torch/Mount your horse/*Screw your courage to the sticking place*" Who else but Howard Ashman would have the guts to put a quote from the Scottish play in a Disney fairy tale!

[@TroyBlackford]

Also, you say "adaption" instead of "adaptation," but no biggie!

[@misterartist1603]

YOU'RE AN ENBY TOO? :0

[@esejsnake1503]

Why was his work so good? Because he understood kindness. It's just that. Kindness.

[@adrianazashen]

💕

[@adrianazashen]

To share something that came to mind while reading some Game of Thrones analysis: there's strength in kindness.

[@MikeA15206]

Nah, he understood what it was like to not fit in, and not being able to get what he really wanted.

[@Homeschoolsw6]

" It's just that. Kindness. " ?? It's Queerness. Otherwise the videos title would be " The Unique Kindness of Howard Ashman's Songs ".

[@MrGabeanator]

wow

[@stephfahey1101]

that little speech from his life partner had me in tears, R.I.P Howard Ashman.

[@TheStOne1]

Me too

[@mhm77887]

@Matty Bruno Lucas Zenere Salas what are you on about

[@User-sb6er]

He is so handsome and beautiful...to lose hi. The way he did is heartbreaking....but a legendary legacy he left for us in those few years....I could only imagine how much he would have given us if he was still with us.

[@ChestersonJack]

Gave a mermaid her voice and a beast his soul.... you know, it’s interesting that both Ariel and Adam (the beast) go from animalistic characters to fully human at the end of the film, achieving what they want.... to be seen as people.

[@galaxymew5138]

😭😭😭 He's so kind...

[@Diaryofawerewolvesbf]

Why does Ariel sound like me so much?

[@nut4ku]

May I add "...and a genie his freedom"

[@ChestersonJack]

@@nut4ku Yes but the genie was never animalistic

[@nut4ku]

@@ChestersonJack that's not what I mean. After The Little Mermaid released and became a biggest success in box office, Howard Ashman and Alan Menken was going to make movie called Aladdin. They've come up with several of ideas and musical numbers but Jeffrey Katzenberg then dragging them to a new project, Beauty and The Beast. Unfortunately, Ashman passed away 6 month before beauty and the beast was released and that movie was dedicated to him that even in the credit scene you can see that they gaved him credit to honor him because of how important he was. After beauty and the beast released, Jeffrey then took away all of Ashman's idea and script, almost 99% of them. But sadly some of the songs were removed in the final film

[@ThisIsWhoWeAreToday]

The little mermaid was and will always be my favorite Disney movie, maybe my favorite movie in general. When I was little and growing up I just wanted to be a mermaid they were my favorite things to read about and discover. When I was coming to terms with my trans identity mermaids came back into my life and I started to see the connections between my story and Ariel's. Before I started to take testosterone I recorded myself singing two songs, Reflection from Mulan and Part of Your World, in the hopes of doing a voice comparison years later after my voice had changed. Howard's music means the world to me and knowing more about his story makes me so happy and yet so sad at the same time. I wish the world had gotten to hear more wonderful music from him.

[@arajczewski9253]

CJ Daly I was planning to do that exact same thing! with those exact same songs

[@adrianazashen]

That's such a cool project. Good luck on your journey 💕

[@prophetmadonna3744]

Lea Salonga the voice for Mulan and Jasmine would have been the perfect voice for Ariel!

[@prophetmadonna3744]

Matty Bruno Lucas Zenere Salas very intelligent of you.

[@otterzrkuhl]

CJ Daly The Little Mermaid has always been really important to me. I makes me sad when I hear people say that “Ariel just wants to marry a man”. It completely ignores the deeper meanings in the movie.

[@annamccormack4101]

I think one of the lyrics that highlights this most is the villagers singing ‘we don’t like what we don’t understand, in fact it scares us’ Just can’t help seeing it as anything other than people demonizing queer culture

[@icebear1138]

I can see it that way too but it fits for many more things. Racism, anyone who thinks out the box, various disorders.

[@edienandy]

It’s about mass hysteria and angry mob group-think.

[@icebear1138]

@Rooby Roo You said it way better than me.

[@oneironaut420]

@@kaiyodei if you don't understand the difference between a drag queen and a transgender person, it's clear we still have a long way to go to combat ignorance.

[@Lillyluvsanime]

And, "... sacrifice our children to his monstrous appetite," is like how homophobes often try to lump gay people with pedophiles, saying that gay men targeted young boys, and often depicting gay men and women as predatory... like a beast.

[@leonardo.diCATio]

I remember when I was just realizing I was a lesbian way back when I was an 11 year old kid in 6th grade, I sang Part of Your World in my school's talent show. I was borderline obsessed with it, as I even learned and memorized the song on my clarinet. I played it so much in band class that I heard my band director humming it in the halls, and one day he gave me a certificate that said "Worlds Biggest Earworm." That same year, when that same band director was transferring to a different school, I wrote the song lyrics of it along the back of a poster we were given to say goodbye to him. The song helped foundation my love as a musician and discover my identity, and I am so grateful for it.

[@MissCaraMint]

Sabrina _ That was beautiful. Thank you.

[@leonardo.diCATio]

@@MissCaraMint You are welcome. And thank you, for being so kind. :)

[@itsparker64]

there is a heartbreaking longing in all of Howard's songs that resonated with me before I even knew I was queer. I would cry every time part of your world came on, before I knew why

[@Agaettis]

Same 😭

[@fatimagic1365]

the bit where you talk about empathizing with ariel but not really knowing why really spoke to me as a bi/queer woman who's always thought the connection to ariel and belle in particular. there's a sort of optimistic...desperation for acceptance and freedom in both of their narratives but spoke to me obviously as a young girl, but now speak to be more in the sense of being a woman who is ~different~ (i.e. queer, disabled, etc.). this video with great and gave lots of new perspectives to what we already know about howard's work with disney. just a quick note, however, bessie smith was what we would today refer to as bisexual, but since all wlw back then were referred to as lesbians, i can understand the use of the label in that context. anyway, well done. :)

[@thejurijo9388]

Part of your world was my favorite song as a kid. I understood the longing to be part of something else, but not exactly why so I get you.

[@rosemali3022]

It was my favorite too. It upsets me that some "woke " people think that this movie shouldn't be shared with kids bc it's about a woman "giving up her life for a man."

[@adelaideelliot562]

Oh gosh. Wow. First of all, this is a breathtaking essay which exquisitely captures what is so important to me about Howard's life and work. If it's alright, I would honestly love to connect with you to discuss this topic some time. I can’t express the extent to which I feel a kinship with this video, having hyperfixated on these exact points for so long. However, because your attention to detail is otherwise so excellent, and because I respect what you’ve done so much as a proper document, an academic resource, I contritely offer a few small corrections: a) The famous lecture Howard gave to Disney animators was at their invitation, not something he initiated-they brought him onto their turf, and actually kicked him out when their lunch hour was up, something the directors later expressed kicking themselves over! b) While your broader point about “Mob Song” as Ashman wrote it is COMPLETELY correct, as far as I’m aware the specific lyrics you cite in the video were written by Tim Rice as an addition for the live action film's version of the song, and aren't Howard's (we can tell because they don’t rhyme very well, and they’re a bit on-the-nose explicative in a manner his seldom were). c) Your note about some iterations of the new Aladdin stage musical including “Call Me a Princess” is correct. But given that you note this in the context of clarifying that this was to be the last time his songs would be heard in a Disney film, I think it is important to also mention that the final musical includes a *trove* of old Ashman-Menken material salvaged from their original draft of the Aladdin score before Disney posthumously butchered (ahem, reworked) it. This includes random extra verses here and there, numbers like “High Adventure,” “Babkak, Omar, Aladdin, Kassim,” and most importantly, “Proud of Your Boy” a song which positively aches with queer subtext and which I will never forgive Disney for excising like cowards without Ashman alive to defend it as he no doubt would have with the same mother-bear ferocity he wielded to protect Part of Your World. c) 2. As long as we are clarifying this point, I should not neglect to mention how the remastered anniversary edition of Beauty and the Beast restored Ashman's “Human Again,” which also has such incredible queer-confluence poignancy, especially given Howard's failing health as he was writing it. Again, I hope none of these are construed as criticisms-merely respectful and overly pedantic clarifications from the peanut gallery for a spectacular and much needed deconstruction!

[@DreamsoundsVideo]

Thank you for your kindness and for the catches (things I accidentally overlooked while editing)! Email me anytime at [e-mail]

[@adelaideelliot562]

Dreamsounds !!! Done!

[@felisd]

Adelaide, you owned the same Ashman and Menken Disney boxset I did growing up, didn't you? The one with the book of Menken's detailed notes on the writing of the songs from those three movies, and demos, working tapes, etc, including a whole other CD with all the original Ashman demos for Aladdin? "High Adventure" is still one of my favourite tracks and it kills me that it was never used. I also loved the original "Call me a Princess" and would have loved to perform that as a character piece.

[@BrachioInGen]

Watching this ...I'm left wondering... was the human form of Beast / the painting of beast based on Ashman's partner?? Cause seeing him accept the award... this towering man with the hair and angular face with those eyes and nose... it just... it feels like there at least was a reference point...

[@Up10tionslay]

I thought that too!

[@Abranime18]

Due a similar comment I searched for Ashman's partner image and now I can't separate that idea of my mind, not complain, I love it.

[@halfpintrr]

It’s beautiful. I like to think that Ashman and his partner are immortalized in that way.

[@alexiacaceda1421]

I think the only difference is the eyes cause the prince/beast has bigger blue ones but I tottaly agree with you .This is so cute

[@thedistinguished5255]

I'm very gay myself, but I think that Ariels silence was a metaphor for something else she trades her voice for legs, her inner self for being able to stand on her own as she's leaving home (like you have to get a shitty job and be nice to customers to get your first apartament) she uses this new found illusion of maturity to impress the prince, trying not to reveal her more intimate self as one would in a new environment

[@BrendaFOBRocks]

in the book the metaphor is far more obvious, not only does the little mermaid lose her voice (the sea witch cuts her tongue out) and can't tell the prince the truth (that she saved him from drowning) but every step she takes feels like she is walking on knives. She walks and dances gracefully (like a sea bubble) but it pains her. The prince loves seeing her dance, so she dances for him through the pain. At one point they go on a hike and her feet start to bleed but she laughs off the prince's concern.

[@Sophia048]

I think multiple interpretations of a single piece can exist simultaneously without negating each other. It can be about asserting independence or discovering identity (the way every teenager does), and that identity can be queer, or not. It is not far-fetched, though, to assume that Howard Ashman's perspective as a gay man living with HIV is reflected in his lyrics.

[@theinfantmetroid]

Things can be metaphors for multiple things simultaneously

[@Call-me-Al]

@Rooby Roo HC Andersen (the author of The Little Mermaid) wasn't straight... The story is steeped in queerness, and there is even some speculation it was written as a love letter based on his relationship towards Edvard Collin who got engaged to a woman.

[@Call-me-Al]

@Rooby Roo that first sentence isn't what I was commenting on, but the rest :D It is a very gay story in conception, but it is about universal themes and thus can be applied to many different things.

[@Terrell_DeShawn]

And I always wondered why I most identified with Ariel and her story. This is yet another reminder that our childhood was super gay lol. But seriously, when you listen to Ashman's "Part of Your World" the context takes on a whole new meaning. You really understand his perspective.

[@Call-me-Al]

Additionally, the author of the original story wasn't straight, and may have written the story as reaction to a man he had feelings for getting engaged to a woman.

[@Call-me-Al]

@JessikaEmerald dude, I said he wasn't straight, not that he was gay. Big difference. Bisexuality exists. Additionally, as a Swede, I have always heard Danes describe him as bisexual, and when I learned about him in school they never labelled his sexuality in any way and only referred to his proven actions which mainly consisted of what stories he wrote.

[@Call-me-Al]

@JessikaEmerald (also, you being a homophobe, did you come to this video's comment section just to bash gay people? I'm not even gay nor trans, but you just couldn't resist the urge to call them weird... What the hell?)

[@griffinhines7012]

This was phenominal and I am currently crying

[@alejandromolinac]

Why are you comment section people always crying?

[@baconaxolotl]

Thank god I wasn't the only one

[@radicola8251]

Same

[@not-a-gerbil9557]

Yeah I'm not sure how I'm just finding it but if I wasn't with my family rn I'd be balling

[@QuillAndInk035]

I am so glad I wasn't the only one bawling by the end of this

[@angelsmile6942]

Ah, finally someone explains why "Part Of Your World" still resonates so much with me, an enby, after so many years. Everybody I know complains about Ariel being dumb and The Little Mermaid being outdated and corny, but she is one of the closest characters to my soul, and it is because thay yearning of being "there" with "them" in a place where (and I am translating from Spanish here) "nothing is forbidden".

[@L0rdOfThePies]

Ugh, i also hate the fact that people (and Disney themselves) are dogging on their old movies for being corny and "sexist". Feels like they've all forgotten how it makes them feel, besides us queers who keep coming back to it because of the surprisingly queer outlook

[@LarrySonOfMilton]

puesto que no prohíben nada...

[@sujal4078]

I just really relate to that sentiment of not feeling like you're in the right place, ya know?

[@jorgegodoy6824]

I mean she is just a naive and brave girl discovering her sexuality, love that character and the movie still great, I recently watched and is so good, you know they put a lot of effort and soul into the movie so dont listen to the collective.

[@abee948]

Not to mention the lines of the reprise or part of your world: “I don’t know when, I don’t know how, but I can feel something starting right now; watch and you’ll see, someday I’ll be, part of your world” always felt queer-coded to me too

[@storytellingsnek5255]

Reflection from Mulan was so important to me when I was figuring out where I fit in the Trans community. Part of your world still brings me to tears to this day. You have an amazing voice and so much talent. Loved the whole video and shared it on twitter.

[@DreamsoundsVideo]

Thank you so much for your kindness! I empathize with the people who have brought up "Reflection" in response to this video, as it was/is important to me as well--I just wrapped up a video about it today which'll be up on Thursday (EDIT: Tuesday)!

[@allensmithee99]

Howard Ashman has been a hero of mine since I was six years old. This was a beautiful essay and tribute to him.

[@ViVix1998]

Howard's life partner looks like Adam/Beast O.O

[@Mangrove417]

OMG OMG OMG its true!!! I didnt realise that before on my own!!!!!!! OMG

[@Sophia048]

Right?! That was the first thought that crossed my mind when he stepped up to the mic

[@BrachioInGen]

THANK YOU! I just said that and then was like "did no one else notice?"

[@DiamondsRexpensive]

The comment I was looking for.

[@ApprehensiveWitch]

I got goosebumps when I saw him because I thought the same thing!

[@h.j.froehlich326]

This was the first time I've heard Sheridan Square. I started crying immediately. This video was beautiful. Thank you.

[@leedraconis5793]

I just love how the stories that made people’s childhoods are just... gay as hell. And that homophobic people just don’t know, and their lgbtq+ children are allowed to at least see this legacy even if they don’t yet know what that legacy is.

[@valeriediaz92]

JessikaEmerald Did you even watch the video? 🤔

[@mr.k2085]

It’s profitable and trendy for everything to be gay, and if something or someone isn’t it’s because they haven’t realized it yet. I get that the community is enjoying their freedom but enough. Such a small percentage really shouldn’t have the power they want to possess.

[@davi37005]

@@mr.k2085 You clearly don't get feminist or pro-lgbt messages then

[@mr.k2085]

Messages mean nothing. I look at their actions.

[@davi37005]

@@mr.k2085 You're probably not paying attention to them either... or seeing just what you want to see by selecting few individuals to speak for the entire group

[@jacejacobs4044]

Dang...I really started crying like a baby when you talked about loving Part Of Your World before you even knew you were queer/enby, and I had the same experience. Thank you for this video, and thank you for helping me decode my own feelings. Ariel was my favorite Disney princess when I was little, and I always cry when I hear Part Of Your World. It's really great to know now why Ireact in that way, and it's so cool knowing that someone else has had that experience! Your cover was beautiful and, again, I cried like a baby!!

[@curetapwater5604]

I'm a gay girl, and I've always felt connected to Ariel since I was really little. I even think she was my first crush (her and Sailor Moon). I often joke that Ariel is my favorite Disney Princess because "she's me." Dramatic, hoards things she likes, obsesses over stuff, I could go on. Seeing this queer interpretation adds a new layer to her character that only draws me in closer. It's like, the human world is a world where she can be herself and be accepted for who she is, and seeing her get that happy ending feels far more beautiful now, especially when her previously unaccepting father finally gives her his blessing after seeing everything she's been through and sHOOTS A RAINBOW INTO THE SKY AT HER WEDDING. I know she married a man (no hate to Eric, he's a good guy that took in a stranded mute girl when he didn't have to) and I doubt all or even most of what I just said was intentional, but it certainly makes me happy to view the film this way, so thank you for giving me the jumping off point to a deeper connection with part of my childhood. The Little Mermaid section of this video nearly brought me to tears, which is a rare thing for a video to do to me.

[@abee948]

Wasn’t expecting to cry but hearing him sing part of your world kind of put the pieces together for me. I’ve always connected to part of your world for some reason and I never realized it might be this

[@MegCazalet]

That Academy Awards speech - my heart aches. It was so bittersweet and beautiful.

[@scottbrynildsen343]

Meg DiPaolo yeah, I was doing okay till then

[@N0T504N0NYM0U5]

I always felt a connection to Ariel that I couldn't ever place. I found a lot of peace in resonating with Ariel singing about her grief and her longing to find a home in a world different than the one she was in. Thank you for this video. It means a lot.

[@TheQueerTailor]

I’ve now been listening to “Sheridan Square” for two days straight and I can’t stop it’s so hauntingly beautiful

[@JustSomeCanadianGuy]

I always get emotional thinking of Howard Ashman because I think of the music that guy would have been making if he were alive today. He’d be Disney’s go-to guy forever. He probably would have made a few classic stage musicals. It just goes on and on like that.

[@lexismore]

🌹

[@theramdomchannel8329]

A little detail that wasn't mentioned in the video (I think, maybe I missed it) you know how people often complain The Little Mermaid had a diferent ending and they don't understand why she dies at the end? well, there's a good reason why that happens, and once you know, it suddenly makes sense and turns so bittersweet. The author of the original Little Mermaid was homosexual, and he was in love with his best friend. He wrote the story as a wedding present for him, to tell him that he would love him in silence, even when he was married to someone else, and not to worry for him, for he knew he was no monster and after he died he would find a way to get to heaven. I truly believe if he had seen the movie, he would like it too...

[@callmehotnotpretty1]

This is 4 years later but I'd like to add that both endings also beautifully show the change in the queer experience overtime. In the original, as you said, Andersen reflects his own experience. In his times, queer people couldn't get married. They were shunned, excommunicated, and thought of as mentally ill. This reflects in the way that the original mermaid never got her happy ending with the man she loved, her only choice was to die. Without a voice, without ever being her true self. Now, it wasn't like queerness was treated *well* in Ashman's times, but it was definitely better. Even though homosexual marriage wasn't legalized in the US until shortly before the man's death (I believe), queerness was way more widely accepted. Queer now at least had their ways of being themselves to a degree. This reflects in the movie adaption, where Ariel now *does* get her happy ending, she *is* able to be with the man she loves. Not only that, but she also gets her voice back, while *also* still maintaining to stand on two legs, as you said. To me, it beautifully shows how being queer changed between those two periods, I'm sure Andersen would've loved the adaptation.

[@juliewedam9826]

Thank you so much for this beautiful video essay. I can feel the heart and passion you've put in. That speech from Howard Ashman's life partner is one of the most touching things I have ever experienced. Coming out to world for both of them and advocating for people affected by and dying of AIDS. It's so powerful it echoes through history. In the Disney films I've always identified with the characters who feel their on the outside looking in or whose interested in the world beyond. I grew up in a small town in a conservative Catholic family. They are loving though it took me to moving away to college and 7 years ago to Europe ( I live in Belgium) to really begin to be free from who I felt I needed to be and to let myself be who I am. Part of that is that I learned to be a chameleon and adapt myself to those around me. It took me years to be strong enough to begin to see my true colors. It took emotional trauma from work experiences to finally realize that my self imposed limitations and expectations were killing me from the inside out and to let them go.

[@MissBrittneyofCourse]

As an aside "The Pansy Craze" Is an excellent name for a band.

[@ultgeek9275]

As a child, when I heard Part of Your World, something in me yearned. Something in me ached when I sang along with her. Even still, this song plays in my head all the time. I never understood why I felt that. "I am still here" in Treasure Planet also sort of brings the same feeling.

[@HunterHooligan]

sitting here at 2:30am in queerantine during the covid-19 crisis of 2020. I'm in my little house in the city I was born and raised in-- Baltimore. Thank you so much for this video. I'm balling my eyes out and finding so much new significance to music that has always inspired me since I was a child. I *never* comment on any videos on youtube, although I have spent years and years on spending hours watching videos, but I just had to come here and say thank you for making this. It really means a lot. I'll be listening to these Howard demos for a long while.

[@michaelevans5852]

I haven't watched the video yet, but I just wanted to say I was waiting for someone to do something like this. I'd always been aware that Howard Ashman was gay, but it's really only recently that I started examining his work for ... gay subtext, I guess? It's been a really eyeopening exploration.

[@TheChazzyC]

I’m a closeted bi guy at the age of 18 and I never even try to think or console my confusion and my sexuality but this made me feel better. I still want to act like my sexuality is normal and I don’t need to talk about it, but I love this video in reminding me of the struggle of many who paved the way for me

[@warriorwinter2233]

You will be ok ❤😊

[@hamflavoredlipbalm6077]

i hope things have gotten better for you since this comment- best wishes

[@cartergomez5390]

That was 3 years ago. I've always been bisexual but I was ashamed of it because I was dating the wrong people. Now that I have come out, I am very happy, things are going slow but at least people know what I like, I tell people I don't like everyone and I don't like doing everything and it feels so good saying that.

[@matthewpezzulich]

What a great video essay! Ashman’s influence in contemporary media, and its queer subsets will never be fully explored and thus cannot be understated! (I also find it interesting in looking at Ashman and Disney, especially in this context, how much Bill Lauch resembled Prince Adam.)

[@rggarrison]

This was amazing. Your cover at the end was so heartfelt and beautiful. Thank you so much for this!

[@artscalietta]

i don't have anything smart to say but here's a comment for the algorithm. work like yours is so important.

[@Call-me-Al]

Thank you for the reminder, I forget to comment too damn often

[@jpblack2148]

AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO THINKS THE BEAST’S HUMAN FORM LOOKS JUST LIKE BILL LAUER 😿😿😿😿😿

[@KoverKid93]

Thank you so much for creating this video, sharing your experiences and insight. Being born in the early 90s, I was more than saturated with the Disney renaissance. Like you said, Ashman’s songs and the stories that went with them resonated with me long before I knew or understood my own queerness. “Part Of Your World,” especially has the sense of longing to belong that I’ve felt my entire life. People love to pick on The Little Mermaid, specifically Ariel’s character for being bratty, reckless, and shallow; but I never saw it that way. It always felt like an attack on me, further isolating me from others. People misunderstand and minimize the effects these songs and stories have. Representation will always matter, even if it’s in the form of a cartoon mermaid singing about wanting to be human.

[@lukaversace4975]

this whole video made me cry and your performance just made me let my tears out because my whole life up until now is what the song "Part of your world" is about. i hope i get to be free someday

[@averyeml]

Ariel and Belle were always my favorite two princesses and the more I think about it the more I get why. Not only because they’re the most popular Renaissance princesses, but because they got personalities and songs that are two young women, just wanting acceptance to be who they are, like the things and people they like, without judgment. I ended up being ace so I always took those songs and personalities in a less explicitly gay/lesbian coded but more as a “yes, I should be able to like the things I like and the people I like without societies expectations forcing me into things I don’t want.” Obviously I didn’t know I was ace at the time, but those two movies and their princesses were a humongous part of my childhood and acted as sort of creative role models for me.

[@thickerconstrictor9037]

As someone born in 88 I often forget just how lucky I was to be a child of the late '80s early 90s. I mean holy shit we got little mermaid, aladdin, beauty and the beast, and Lion King in 6 years. We got rescuers down under which was amazing even if it didn't do that well in theaters, and Pocahontas I mean what? How could we experience that much Wonder in such a short period of time. We were so lucky and I don't know about you guys but I enjoyed the hell out of it but I wish I had had the wherewithal as a child to just stop and appreciate it for just a moment longer. Can you imagine how much more we could have gotten from Howard if he hadn't have passed? Such a tragic loss of one of the world's most beautiful and talented human beings. Edit: beautiful video and great rendition. Video got me choked up. I'm straight and will never know what so many of you have to go through. My heart literally breaks for you and how so many people treat you and how people Force religion to try and take rights away from you. I will always walk hand in hand with you guys forever. I know I'm just one person and I probably don't matter that much but my best friend growing up was gay and to have him cry on my shoulder and tell me he didn't want to be gay because he didn't want to be different still breaks my heart every single day. I just gave him a big hug and said buddy I love you no matter what. You do what you do to make you happy and fuck everybody else. Growing up people always teased me and thought I was gay and it upset me so much not because I had any problem with it but because I wasn't. But I stand with you all and will do so until I take my last breath. Much love. Thanks for the wonderful video.

[@zac5416]

I've never cried while watching a video essay but this one just broke open the gates. I cannot explain how much I feel for the people the community lost.

[@TindraSan]

ppl in your audience pantomiming Ariel tho. idk it just makes me rly happy, reminds me of my own get-togethers with friends and karaoke nights at conventions.

[@Kwizii]

I am not gay, the little mermaid is one of my least favorite Disney movies and yet... I watched the whole essay, and cried when you were talking about Ashman's death, and I'm typing this as I am listening to your great cover in the end. Thank you so much for this amazingly well made video.

[@yummyboy713]

First time I’ve seen a KZbin video actually focused and talking about Howard Ashman. Most videos I’ve seen about the films he worked on (and was responsible for being so amazing) barely mention him, let alone the conditions of his death and how they influenced his work on the films. I’ve counted how many times I’ve heard his name in other video essays so far. 3. Yup. That’s it. This one is different and everything I was hoping to hear in an essay about his important influence in Disney. Great job!

[@samanthasbhs]

As a nonbinary theater and disney nerd, youtube did good recommending this one! also your performance at the end was amazing!

[@katm5480]

This was truly amazing. I think you can also see that lack of belonging and that longing in the cut song proud of your boy from Aladdin. Everything he wrote was just so good and it’s tragic that the world lost him too soon into his life.

[@AlexanderBedranowsky]

Fantastic job on the video!! I loved that you gave some context of queerness in American music in the early 20th century and European storytelling in the 19th century before talking about Howard's life. And I'm shocked to see that this video only has 3,000 views. Don't be discouraged by those numbers. Please keep producing quality content like this! It's highly appreciated by those who watch it.

[@beastofedelwood1473]

videos about Howard's life and work always have me in tears way before the end

[@LankyNoodle]

As a non binary, pansexual (musical lover) this spoke to me, I can't be open and come out in the environment I'm currently stuck in but it's videos like this that remind me people empathise as much as I do, understand me, want me to live and people who preserve the hard work others have done for equality. Thank you, you and Howard and everyone else who does anything for the lgbtq+ community

[@ponopy]

I literally CANNOT watch this video without crying 2-3 times

[@RachelDeRosier010894]

I love the musical adaptation of Hairspray, but oh God imagine how much better it would be if Menken and Ashman wrote the music

[@ann_6827]

I can't remember the last time a youtube video made me cry like this. Thank you.

[@prophetessoftroy]

So uh, make sure you’re really well hydrated when you watch “Howard” because omfg the *SOBBING* (Also this was wonderful. I’m so grateful for what Howard left behind. I wish he could have seen his impact when he was here ❤️)

[@trevor7520]

I always laugh at the "what are your political beliefs?" "KILL EVERYONE NOW CONDONE FIRST DEGREE MURDER" thing idk why it hits my sense of humor exactly but it always gives me a giggle

[@LPJack02]

RIP Howard Ashman (May 17, 1950 - March 14, 1991), aged 40 You will be remembered as a legend.

[@psychopathetic5341]

The part of your world song really brought tears to my eyes... Thank you.

[@ShinUkyo]

Music is my greatest passion. Moreover, I'm someone still trying to define my queerness; even after four decades on this earth I have yet to adequately do so. This video means more to me than words can possibly convey. I was around ten years old when The Little Mermaid released. Most of my friends, gender irregardless, thought the music was great and that Ariel was pretty. However it meant more than that to me... Unlike my male friends, I didn't have a crush on Ariel. Despite my being born a boy, raised as one, and generally not questioning that I was one. Upon experiencing this film for the first time: I felt that, in every capacity, I WAS her. And could relate to her in every sense of who she was and why she ached. Did this mean I was gay? Did it mean I was a not-yet-realized trans woman? Was it that simple, and could I possibly know at such a young age? The one thing I was sure of: the person society told me I was, that I should be, and that I COULD be - it wasn't who I really was. Or at least it wasn't the whole story. And questioning it was nothing to shy away from. I had a role model right here showing me so. I felt so alone in this at the time, but I would come to realize in the years following that I wasn't alone at all. And even today, young people experience this film and its music and find the same realization. Particularly fellow queer people, but even those who aren't. This is such a powerful and important message conveyed in Ashman's words, and I think the power of music like his is a big part of why I love music so deeply. That and being immersed in it from birth thanks to my father's love for music. He, himself, being very likely bisexual and not feeling powerful enough to explore it until late in his life (sadly we lost him in his mid-50s.) In the years following I would feel similar attachment to Belle, to Mulan, and other characters born from the same place as Ariel. As did I relate very closely to every female character in the anime Sailormoon (along with many of the male and non-binary characters for that matter.) It's a tragedy how both the abundant queerness and emotional depth of that series was butchered when it was localized into English in the 1990s. I wrote an in-depth piece about this topic more than twenty years ago. As someone who grew up watching the series in its original Japanese, and owing so much of my self-realization to the series. I will stop rambling, but I will say I feel blessed to have discovered your channel and content. Especially as a fellow lover of music, as a fellow writer and creative, and as a fellow queer person. As many have echoed below: the algorithm did something very right for a change. It seems more and more people are discovering this essay in the past months, and I will do my part to share it with as many as I can.

[@katewilloughby2141]

I remember feeling that same empathy, even before I acknowledged my sexuality. Like deep down I knew. Everytime I heard the mob song, I felt this saddness.

[@envelopedbyoblivion176]

I love the musical number at the end! I love that this story is so personal to you, I teared up a bit from secondhand emotion alone. Thank you so much for putting so much time into this for so little reward! Just know so many people appreciate it!

[@lureed]

Oh my god that ending meant so much to me. When I was little I would sing Part of Your World every time I was in the bathtub, pretending to be a mermaid. I’ve always loved mermaids and beasts, creatures who have souls and love but could never be accepted but society. I never knew that so many other queer people felt the same way about that song, but it makes so much sense now that I know it. What an incredible video❤️

[@mickelkenner516]

This was beautiful and I literally started crying when you started singing part of your world ❤️

[@Quackervoltz]

Somewhere That's Green really hits different when you watch this video.

[@Katherine_The_Okay]

I laugh so hard when I remember that the first time I ever heard "Part Of Your World" was during a bit on The 700 Club where they interviewed a few of the people involved in making The Little Mermaid. If Pat Robertson had realized...

[@queencabbage3689]

This was. Magnificent.

[@darthdaja]

It makes me always so happy (and feeling less alone) when I learn someone is nonbinary. Thanks for this wonderful peace of work

[@RoryBecktar]

I'm watching this while isolated in my home because of a global pandemic and I'm weeping. This is hitting especially hard right now. Thank you so much for this beautiful video.

[@marcoguerra8506]

This is a terrific essay and a wonderful tribute. Thanks for that. And thanks Howard for everything you gave us, you'll keep living in all of us to whom your music helped growing up and still helps now.

[@hannahh9264]

Thank you for making this video! I'm just starting to learn more about queer history and understanding the reality for people in my community throughout history. It's amazing to learn that songs that I loved as a kid have an element of queerness to them. I've always related to Belle and seen myself in Part of Your World, before I even realized I was bi, and it means so much to have this added knowledge and be able to relate more to them now.

[@Mattrr214]

Thank you for taking the time to tell this story. I am so grateful to have the work Howard Ashman left behind.

[@ChestersonJack]

Although I generally view myself as cishet (still figuring some things out), growing up as an autistic girl who didn’t know what was “wrong” with her, these stories always resonated with me as well... Because of The Little Mermaid, for awhile I wanted to switch places with Ariel and live in the ocean. With my sensory issues, being underwater was a sort of calm I almost never experienced anywhere else, and when I was above water, Music was my reprieve, a stimulus to soothe my mind. I would FEEL so much that I saw music and voice as this magical thing, and I never saw that more accurately reflected than in how Ariel’s voice was treated as a great power.

[@maca76]

I headcannon Ariel as autistic too, i always related to her special interests, her quirkiness and not understanding social cues, and i loved that Eric loved just like she was and that her father accept her at the end

[@lexismore]

♥

[@TroyBlackford]

What a great video! I recently discovered Howard after watching some Disney movies with my kids. Obviously, I've known his songs since I was a kid, too, but seven-year-old me didn't get all obsessive about the creators of things I like the way that I have since teenage-dom. Very well made video, with a lot of fantastic context. So glad there's that Howard documentary on Disney+, it was great to be able to see that just after finding a bit more about him and his work.

[@lauramcastro4897]

I'm so glad I found this video, because the bit at the end about resonating with Howard Ashman's songs and not even knowing why... literally me. B&B was my favorite Disney Movie. But my favorite Disney song was "Part of Your World". I remember feeling that yearning so clearly, the feeling of missing something acutely and not knowing what I was missing. Then, as an adult, looking back, I realised I hadn't felt that way for a while now. And I wondered why, and I thought of wanting desperately to find a community who understood me... ...and I realised what had changed. I had found that community. I had come out.

[@yumemilee]

At CTN a couple years ago Glenn Keane gave a presentation breaking down the pencil test and background on Part of your World. Just hearing his explaination on the emotion behind the scene had the room in tears.

[@jpeachboi3622]

Revisiting this video after watching Howard. Just wanted to say that this video is a wonderful distillation of the film with the added queer lens that I think the film was missing at times. Thank you so much for this wonderful video

[@WabboGabb0]

This is the first time I cried over a KZbin video.

[@NathyIsabella]

oh the emotions this songs gives... and the emotion you put in it when you sing at the end... just marvelous

[@elliottewryan]

let’s just appreciate how much courage was required for bill lauch to talk on live television about his partner who died due to AIDS complications. that was almost 30 years ago, when queer ppl were barely seen on any mainstream screen of any kind.

[@purplekhaos]

Thank you for your performance at the end. Again, you have me in tears... such longing, which I relate to so wholly. Thank you for sharing.

[@arseen33]

Best rendition of Part of Your World I've ever heard. That was my favorite song as a kid.

[@billcallahan3356]

This was a wonderful documentary. I loved it. I knew nothing about the writer of some of my favorite Disney songs before this.

[@ellehart7419]

Saw this recommended, today of all days. Not even 3 mins in and I love it. Thank you for this.

[@maybunny25]

I just wanted to let you know, that Disney animator Philo Barnhart shared this video on his FaceBook page and he spoke of being present during Howard Ashman's talk as shown in this video and what he remembers from that day.

[@DreamsoundsVideo]

This warms my heart to hear - thank you for telling me!

[@EricHowl]

Isolation is a human quality anyone can feel. Howard obviously had his own version of that but he was a genius at expressing something universal we all can relate to

[@seratonin3135]

Your performance of Part of Your World punched me in gut with emotion, especially after the video. probably my favourite of all time 💚💚💚💚

[@anaceciliamolina9833]

Till this very moment I didn't known who Howard Ashman was but my childhood memories and strugglin' with my own sexual orientation as a queer person (bisexual woman) are deeply related to him and his artistical expression through his music and for all of us beloved lyrics on Disney's animated movies in 90's...His contribution to Pop Culture embrace and acceptance of people's identities and just be themselves, I'm thankful now to have a name Howard Ashman be recognised for his lifetime work...Apologies on my english, I'm from Venezuela and also thank you so much to take the time to make this heartfelt yt tribute video to his work and share with us all.

[@anitacaroline12345]

The Black Cauldron is an absolute gem bud. Tbh has become a fave over the years.

[@sawe7005]

This is so pure and informational! Thank you for sharing not only his story but also your connection.

[@Fiendly]

Excellent work. I only learned about Ashman about a year ago and this is the first in-depth explanation of his art that I've seen. My own fixation on Part Of That World despite having no emotional connection to any Disney movies suddenly makes a lot more sense.

[@jdprettynails]

End of video: *on the verge of tears* Part of Your World: *Openly weeping*

[@inkvampyr]

This was an absolutely wonderful video. Thank you. And your performance at the end was breathtaking. The emotion in your voice hits deep.

[@shelbymarch4510]

Oh gosh. When I realized I liked girls in middle school, I got really into the Disney films I loved when I was younger. Especially the music, the "I want" songs. Growing up gay (in my case, in a conservative rural area), I could relate to lyrics about longing for acceptance, and to be somewhere better. I'm still holding on to the idea of things getting better once I graduate high school, that fairytale ending. This video was excellent. Well done.

[@almonddaves]

I don't think I've ever cried listening to Part of Your World before. I haven't watched The Little Mermaid in over 15 years but I'm gonna go watch it now. Thank you.

[@starrieberrie]

Thank you so much for this. For sharing and honoring Ashman's work and memory, and for sharing your personal story. It really hit deep. Thank you so much.

[@InComfortableShoes]

oh i knew i was going to cry like a baby, and still i was somehow unprepared. thank you for this. i hope we never forget.

[@Libra0Rising]

Beautiful video. It breaks my heart sometimes when I think about how he didn't live to see how influential he was. Thank you for the wonderful video

[@sammykim1997]

your clip performing POYW at the end made this whole video essay that much more compelling because I could feel how much this topic meant to you. so beauuttiful

[@hannahlarge5738]

the performance at the end has really kicked me in the feelings. thankyou so much.