The Little Mermaid Wins Original Score: 1990 Oscars

Alan Menken wins the Oscar for Music (Original Score) for The Little Mermaid at the 62nd Academy Awards. Steve Martin presents the award; hosted by Billy Crystal.
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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is the world's preeminent movie-related organization, with a membership of more than 6,000 of the most accomplished men and women working in cinema. In addition to the annual Academy Awards --in which the members vote to select the nominees and winners -- the Academy presents a diverse year-round slate of public programs, exhibitions and events; provides financial support to a wide range of other movie-related organizations and endeavors; acts as a neutral advocate in the advancement of motion picture technology; and, through its Margaret Herrick Library and Academy Film Archive, collects, preserves, restores and provides access to movies and items related to their history. Through these and other activities the Academy serves students, historians, the entertainment industry and people everywhere who love movies.

[@ericmago4110]

FUN FACT: This was Alan Menken's first ever film score. For his first film score he was nomited twice and won twice. The man won 2 Oscars for his first ever score. Not only that, he also went on to win an additional 6 Oscars for his 2nd, 3rd and 4th film scores. What a legend.

[@manuelorozco7760]

Now 30 years later, he's an EGOT

[@salaciousbum1161]

Alan Menken is a genius. I was born in the 80s and grew up loving his music. I wrote a letter to him in when I was 12 and he actually wrote back!

[@jwelch5742]

Alan Menken's first score for a animated film.

[@animalanimation5110]

@@jwelch5742 first score for any film. The score for the film version of Little Shop of horrors wasn't by him.

[@Ethan-dn1wc]

@@animalanimation5110 first official score. from what I recall from interviews, Alan essentially did all the music for Little Shoppe of Horrors except the transitions which is why only Miles Goodman got the Golden Globe nomination.

[@gustavogava9215]

The Little Mermaid, one of the best animated films ever made

[@janiedoe9821]

You Damn Right It Is.

[@cbismarck07]

Man, that's the best film ever made

[@ol2952]

The best !

[@hunterolaughlin]

And I’m still waiting for The Little Mermaid to be selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. It’s already proven itself “culturally, historically & aesthetically significant”, Library of Congress! Just select it already for preservation! You finally gave A Clockwork Orange its due last year, now it’s time you give The Little Mermaid its due. Update: Great news! The Library of Congress finally recognized its cultural, historical and aesthetic significance to induct into the National Film Registry last year.

[@jorjevanelle9879]

THE BEST !

[@corrinjade3973]

you just cant beat Disney's music. especially from the 90's

[@dvchel]

@Leslie Corrin Absolutely true. Disney literally won the award for best musical score every year.

[@paperchasindude6578]

True

[@CodyJMinor0620]

And to this day, Alan still has a strong working relationship with Disney, he is a true DISNEY LEGEND

[@manuelorozco7760]

My favorites of his work for Disney are the stage version of Newsies and Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure

[@osmanyousif7849]

Kind of ironic since Steve Martin was also in Little Shop of Horrors with the score being composed by Alan Menken.

[@siddharthnaagar7028]

RIP Howard Ashman

[@kiwisun529]

90's. Best Disney movies with beautiful songs.

[@gerardoflores2731]

It's so crazy to think that this was his first movie score EVER.

[@manuelorozco7760]

I know right

[@NiVi192]

Alan Menken composed POCAHONTAS AND THE LITTLE MERMAID?! WHO GAVE BIRTH TO THAT GENIUS?! THank you Ma'am!!!! Ahhhh so deserved!!! And by the way, what a nice way of presenting that category!!

[@MsRachelMack1992]

YOUNG CHILDREN WON'T WANT TO MISS ''THE ACADEMY AWARD WINNING LITTLE MERMAID''!!!

[@RuuBjAh1]

Don't forget Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Tangled, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, Hercules and Enchanted... He really is a musical genius...

[@MrGabeanator]

understatement

[@axr7149]

Not to mention he won 8 Oscars in total (the most by any living person)! He won 2 for this film, followed by 2 more for BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (the 1991 animated version), then another 2 for ALADDIN (1992), and then 2 more for POCAHONTAS (1995).

[@MrGabeanator]

thank you judith menken

[@AlexAceves1994]

John Williams, James Horner and Alan Menken are 3 of my favorite legendary composers to date!

[@MrGabeanator]

all that's missing is Hans Zimmer

[@lilliedoubleyou3865]

Same! with Danny Elfman & Howard Shore rounding off #4 and #5!

[@MrGabeanator]

yep

[@danalong1237]

Top 25 Film and 📺 Composers of All-Time: 25. Mike Post 24. Ennio Morricone 23. Alan Menken 22. Edd Kalehoff 21. Dennis C. Brown 20. Lalo Schifrin 19. Jim Johnston 18. James S. Levine 17. William Ross 16. Buddy Baker (RIP) 15. Sam Spence (RIP) 14. John Debney 13. Milton DeLugg (RIP) 12. Joe Raposo (RIP) 11. Henry Mancini (RIP) 10. Hans Zimmer 9. Jerry Goldsmith (RIP) 8. Michael Kamen (RIP) 7. Danny Elfman 6. Lenny Stack 5. Bill Conti 4. Johnny Green (RIP) 3. Jack Elliott (RIP)/Allyn Ferguson (RIP) 2. James Horner (RIP) 1. John Williams

[@MrGabeanator]

yep

[@jwelch5742]

The Little Mermaid has great beautiful score.

[@MrGabeanator]

yeah not bad for a rookie

[@jwelch5742]

@@MrGabeanator He's the sixteen person to get an EGOT.

[@MrGabeanator]

@@jwelch5742 nice

[@MrGabeanator]

@@jwelch5742 nice

[@squeemu]

As amazing as the Little Mermaid score was, I was a little saddened to do some research and find that John Williams never won an Oscar for any of his Indiana Jones scores. That's one of the best themes of all time! Such a shame only one composer can win it each year...

[@manuelorozco7760]

That surprises me too

[@heyyitsmel]

not to be dramatic but i would die for alan menken. that's all. thank you.

[@lilliedoubleyou3865]

Nerdy musical reference coming up, but I just LOVE how it was Orin Scrivello, DDS, who presented the award to Alan Menken! :D

[@helenchelmicka3028]

Amelia Doubleyou didn't clock that! nice!

[@RyT1994]

I'm glad The Little Mermaid won the Oscar, but I'm surprised that Danny Elfman's work for Batman, Ennio Morricone's work for Cinema Paradiso or Alan Silvestri's work for The Abyss weren't nominated. Especially Batman's score; both the Main Title and "Attack on the Batwing" pieces are Oscar worthy on their own.

[@disneyjedi7]

The Little Mermaid was My 1st Favorite Disney Movie. Gosh, I love that movie. Anyways, Alan Menken and Howard Ashman has Done wonderfully. Steve Martin was a funny man Even he lost his Violin stick thing In Fantasia 2000.

[@tompw3141]

This is was tough year to choose! Really great nominees.

[@benjamingameboy29]

OMG! INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE! I CANT BELIEVE IT!

[@jeremystubbs1980]

Cinema Paradiso deserved a nomination!

[@livebob]

I'm in tears

[@sorenthefilmbrony]

Batman and/or Cinema Paradiso should be on here.

[@sakurasoh]

A well deserved win

[@sorenthefilmbrony]

My nominations: Batman Cinema Paradiso (WINNER) Field of Dreams Glory The Little Mermaid

[@blakewilson1994]

How in the world do you beat both John Williams and James Horner? That's not easy, but Mermaid's score is certainly one of Menken's best definitely :).

[@axr7149]

On top of that, this began one incredible win streak for Menken. Since Score is presented before Song, this was most probably his 1st of what would end up being 8 TOTAL OSCAR WINS for him (he holds the record for most Oscar wins of any living person).

[@jocastadidntknew5980]

Not to mention Menken beat Williams twice that year, though perhaps Williams’ votes were split between Born on the Fourth of July and Indiana Jones.

[@animalanimation5110]

@@jocastadidntknew5980 Vote-splitting is a myth. The professionals that vote in the music branch of the academy, focus on the specific score, and not on the name.

[@Liam-ef5du]

Wow I didn't know what was competing with the Indiana Jones soundtrack, this is amazing, they both deserve it❤

[@Kasino80]

Williams, Grusin, Horner and Menken. Good group!

[@MrGabeanator]

great group

[@jeffreyksiazek7890]

And all four of them have the same style or way of doing film music. They all four sound alike if you really think about it. 🎼🏆

[@hamursh]

If the "Best Animated Feature" nomination was introduced during THIS show, Little Mermaid would win it and take home 3 Oscars!

[@manuelorozco7760]

What movies would be the other nominees

[@hamursh]

@@manuelorozco7760 All Dogs Go to Heaven and uh, Babar? Look I don't know any other animated movies that came out in 1989!

[@manuelorozco7760]

Harry Shoemaker Felix the Cat

[@joewhitehead3]

To think, this was just the first of several other Disney films that Menken did the score for!

[@manuelorozco7760]

I don’t have a particular favorite really.

[@MeganWoodard1984]

:D The Little Mermaid was my LIFE when I was a little girl!!!!

[@reneen.3519]

Megan Woodard You and me both, Megan!

[@MrGabeanator]

Renee N. me 3

[@MrGabeanator]

+Megan Woodard nice

[@juneil-b]

why am I crying?

[@seroia]

Hail Alan and Howard!

[@muhammadandraaditya4802]

Who knows that 11 years after presenting this award, Steve Martin became the Oscars' host himself for the first time. And The Little Mermaid? What a masterpiece 👏👏👏👏👏

[@ashleybohnert250]

Alan menken wouldn't even got her without howard ashman it goes to howard ashman I miss you so much Howard Disney could be different

[@manuelorozco7760]

I wish Howard lived to see the finished work on Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin

[@annjuarez106]

Menken deserved a nomination but Danny Elfman should have won for Batman (1989) because that score is just perfect.

[@JacksonBegleymusicguy]

Steve Martin presenting the award is interesting, since he played a character in one of Menken's musicals.

[@AmishParadise27]

Menken on Menkin in the description.

[@stefantomasi4036]

Now here after the announcement of the remake trailer at this year’s Oscars

[@AngelofMusic04]

Danny Elfman and Ennio Morricone were royally screwed out of nominations here, but an excellent winner nevertheless.

[@danalong1237]

0:01-0:07, "We're back with the 62nd Annual Academy Awards, and once again, here's Billy Crystal!"

[@clahers_craftcorner_]

The Little Mermaid ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@movieman82us]

I'm happy Horner was nominated but he was nominated for the wrong film. He should have been nominated for his AMAZING work in Glory. One of the greatest scores of all time!

[@lilliedoubleyou3865]

See, that's how I feel about the 1986 nominations~ he was nominated for *Aliens*, which is awesome as always, but I personally find *An American Tail* to be a stronger score throughout. Wish he'd been nominated for THAT (or for *Land Before Time* in '88). Before Alan Menken, actually, I don't recall any composers being nominated for animated films in the Original Score category.

[@Samuel-b]

@@lilliedoubleyou3865 Snow White and the seven Dwarfs was actually nominated for best original score in 1938 but it lost to One Hundred Men and a Girl.

[@maggiemag3569]

The mullet, though. The MULLET.

[@mrs.Kotika]

Мне 31 год и я безумно люблю "Русалочку"! Лучший мульт того года и вообще в мире! Моя любовь навсегда! From RUSSIA with love

[@930310]

Is this orchestral version of Part of Your World available somewhere?

[@manuelorozco7760]

Its the main title music

[@jocastadidntknew5980]

There sure are a lot of years in which John Williams gets nominated twice.

[@Chapin-pc2kz]

Except in 1993 when he definitely should have been. He won for _Schindler's List_ but also deserved a nomination for _Jurassic Park._

[@JustineNicole1996]

I love his magical mullet 💯

[@ezefinkielman4672]

Batman deserved a nomination

[@MotionPictureGems]

Cinema Paradiso should have been nominated.

[@amvrosiocosta941]

MotionPictureGems NOT ELEGIBLE

[@geoffrobinson]

Batman wasn't nominated, let alone win? What?

[@freddyrichards878]

"Alan MEN-ken"

[@DannyBkyn]

Billy Crystal is sporting an almost mullet there. LOL

[@LAvsPORTLAND]

Me… 37 watching this… yeah. That checks out

[@rorymorrison6014]

Danny Elfman really should have been nominated for the Batman score.

[@tennisuniverse5671]

Last Crusade should have won without a doubt.

[@manuelorozco7760]

I strongly agree

[@adamahmad1262]

What about the crew was hang at the airport? I x get it.Can somebody explain it to me.

[@olihhayes]

0:22 what's the song playing here?

[@JenStylist]

Maestro

[@MrGabeanator]

love this

[@jalenjohnson1662]

Elfman's Batman score is one of the biggest Oscar snubs. It pisses me of that they gave John Williams two spots for this year. One of those spots should've gone to Elfman.

[@joshuapower3298]

Born on the 4th of July deserve

[@williamgalerani9700]

👏👏👏👏 best ever

[@CarlosMoreno-jr9od]

Jesus of Montreal and Cinema Paradiso should’ve both received nominations

[@Cunninghamily]

2:31

[@krapfenman]

My winner is: Howard Shore for Silence of the Lambs!

[@Batman1989King]

The Silence of the Lambs was 1991, not 1989

[@AlexAceves1994]

The Lord of the Rings

[@findingmomo3179]

But still Alan Menken won for Beauty and the Beast from 1991

[@albertodelgado9881]

Mmmm Cinema Paradiso?!

[@manuelorozco7760]

A virtual interview Alan Menken did sent me here. Field of Dreams or Indiana Jones should have won

[@cesarzpontu8886]

Nah

[@manuelorozco7760]

@@cesarzpontu8886 To each their own

[@blacksama_]

"I'm here to present the Oscar for the best original 'SCORE', which I'm surprised to find out is a music category" this MAN never stops making me laugh!

[@ijjima]

Could you please explain what he means? I'm not an English native speaker, and I'm desperate to get the point.

[@Chapin-pc2kz]

@@ijjima To score means to have sex.

[@edwardwatkins6572]

JAMES MARSDEN ALAN MENKEN COMPOSER LOPEZ PIANO 🎹 MUSIC MEET CALL ROOM TALKNG YOU TOUGHER DISNEY WORLD MUSIC OSCARS WORS STUDIOS WELLINGTON 🎙 YOU SHOW ROOM YOU 🎙

[@mortenvonsildskjde7847]

Lame that Patrick Doyle did not win for Henry V!

[@pepsiguy52883]

Field of dreams was an amazing score and should’ve won

[@andremuratalla1344]

To bad part of your world wasn't included they just didn't participate good music

[@manuelorozco7760]

You mean appreciate

[@rodrigomunoz854]

Cinema Paradiso is played in the whole world and it was not even nominated. If it is not an American Movie you cant be nominated.

[@JustSomeCanadianGuy]

I cannot believe Batman wasn’t nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Score.

[@girIworId]

IKTRRRR

[@kennywohl1061]

As much as i love the Little mermaid how in the world could it Beat Indiana Jones

[@cesarzpontu8886]

What was do special about score to Indiana Jones 3?

[@thomasandersonrittberg2903]

Wins by kite Subliminals for Kids is horrible Movie

[@sex4ladies]

Steve Martin keeps me laughing to this day. He’s my fav host behind Billy and Whoopi. I would love to see those 3 host together one time.

[@lilyyanahh]

Alan Menken is a musical beast 💙

[@MrGabeanator]

cool gal lol