Remembering Howard Ashman
Thursday, July 23, 2020 at 11:23PM 
On the morning of February 19th, 1992, the nominations for the 64th Academy Awards were announced. As always, the last category to be revealed was that of Best Picture and, just as Best Director lineup had done, it brought with it a historical event. Disney's Beauty and the Beast became the first animated feature to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, a momentous achievement that was applauded by the audience of journalists. It was the only Best Picture nominee to receive such jubilant cheer and it's easy to see why. While some had predicted the cartoon's glorious haul of nominations, the long-lasting prejudices of AMPAS against animation made its success seem impossible. Thankfully, even the Academy can get over itself from time to time, and honor truly deserving cinema. Beauty and the Beast is certainly deserving, being a masterpiece of American animation, as well as one of Disney's crown jewels.
Unfortunately, not everyone involved with its triumph was able to bask in the glory of the Oscar nominations. One of the men most responsible for the wonder of Beauty and the Beast was long gone by the time of the announcement…
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Howard Ashman moved to New York after finishing his studies in 1974. It was in the Big Apple that he started to work professionally in theater, becoming the artistic director of the WPA Theater by 1977, and even helping with the workshopping of Maury Yeston's Nine. According to legend, it was only after he questioned the complacency of Luisa Contini's character that Yeston wrote one of the show's best songs, "My Husband Makes Movies". In any case, by the mid-80s, Ashman was becoming a big name on the realm of musical theatre, having earned a Tony nomination for the book of Smile, and a Drama Desk Award for the lyrics of the Off-Broadway Little Shop of Horrors.
It was the 1986 movie adaptation of that sci-fi musical that brought Ashman to the world of filmmaking. He and longtime collaborator Alan Menken wrote new songs for the screen. Among them, there was a jolly new solo for the carnivorous alien plant Audrey II, called "Mean Green Mother from Outer Space". It was for that smashing tune that Ashman and Menken nabbed a Best Original Song Oscar nomination, the first of many for both men. Around the same time, Ashman was contacted by Disney to help with the songs of Oliver & Company, a misbegotten Oliver Twist inspired adventure starring talking animals in contemporary New York.
At this point in the history of the Walt Disney Company, a period of painful transition was being endured. After its founder died in 1966, Disney was left with no guiding voice when it came to the matter of animation. The theme parks had already started to consume most of the company's attention when Walt passed away, but nothing could have predicted the state of disregard that the animation studios would fall into during the 70s. Far from being the cultural giant they are nowadays, Disney was often at the brink of financial disaster and popular irrelevance during those dark years and everything culminated with the catastrophic nightmare that was The Black Cauldron.
During that infamous movie's production, a perilous power play resulted in the ousting of Ron Miller from the company's leadership and the ascension of Michael Eisner and Frank Wells, two executives who'd made a name for themselves in Paramount and Warner Bros. respectively. It was under the management of these men, that Jeffrey Katzenberg became the chief of the animation division of Disney, a somewhat odd decision when one considers he had no previous experience dealing with the specifics animated cinema. His ruthlessness resulted in the further destruction of The Black Cauldon, which would become the House of Mouse's biggest flop, but he was also at the helm of the studio during its famed Renaissance.
Not that Katzenberg had a lot to do with the triumph of the Disney Renaissance, mind you. To be brutally honest, when investigating the history of Disney, it seems this period of creative revitalization happened despite Katzenberg's best efforts, and one of its main causes was none other than Howard Ashman. Oliver & Company may be nothing to write home about, but the lyricist liked working at Disney and became involved with the development of other projects, including the adaptation of some classic fairytales into the form of animated musicals. His first endeavor of the sort was the picture that would truly ignite the Disney Renaissance, 1989's The Little Mermaid.
Ashman didn't simply write the lyrics for the movie's songs, though. He was involved with its creation every step of the way, coming up with characters, concepts, and narrative elements that made The Little Mermaid into the triumph that it is. Sebastian, for example, was Ashman's invention, whose eclectic taste in music made him see that what the fantastical romance needed was the grumpy addition of a Calypso-singing crab. The Little Mermaid was a huge success, earning massive results at the box office as well as critical acclaim, the likes of which Disney hadn't seen in decades. Both Menken and Ashman would go on to win Academy Awards for their musical genius.
With new power and influence within Disney, Ashman started to develop a new movie immediately. By the time Aladdin got approval from the studio's higher-ups, Ashman and Menken had already devised a first draft as well as 16 original songs. Still, before Katzenberg would let them invest all their effort and attention on the Arabian fantasy, he put them to work on another project in need of creative guidance. Beauty and the Beast had gotten the best of many a Disney creative, presenting a series of narrative and visual problems nobody could seem to figure out. The invisible servants and abusive romance of the original French tale were a major issue, for instance, since characters that nobody can see and toxic adult relationships are a bit of a no-no for animation targeted at kids.
Taking cues from the fairytale, Jean Cocteau's cinematic version, and other references, like Katharine Hepburn's Jo March, Ashman practically redid every element of Beauty and the Beast's development, ending up with the skeleton of what we now know as an animated classic. It was him that invented the concept of the servants being cursed into being household items, for example. He also wrote the gorgeous songs that Alan Menken put to music, creating one of the most beautiful original musicals in cinema history. Unfortunately, not all was well in the life of Howard Ashman. His artistic career might have been flourishing, but his body was decaying.
Like many gay men that lived through the 80s and 90s, Howard Ashman was affected by the AIDS epidemic. After knowing he was HIV-positive, he hid it from his co-workers and friends, hellbent on working on Beauty and the Beast until its completion or his death. Nothing could stop Ashman, who spent his last few years on a frenzy of work, even offering directions and notes to the film's cast and crew from his hospital bed. It was in such a place that Ashman received news from the picture's first critics screening, in March 1991. Even though they only saw a rough print of the musical with many scenes unfinished and not fully animated, the audience raved about its mastery. Ashman, lying in his bed, frail and dying, didn't seem surprised by the reaction. According to his friends, he was well aware that the movie was amazing, even when others doubted it.
Four days after that screening, Howard Ashman died. He never got to see the finished masterpiece, the fruit of his labor, nor did he experience the joy that many felt on that glorious Oscar nomination morning. He even missed his second Oscar win, for the writing of the titular song of Beauty and the Beast. Nonetheless, Ashman helped make history and brought into existence some of the best movie musicals ever made, full of witty lyrics, riveting stories, and unforgettable characters. Even the curmudgeon Katzenberg admitted, in later years, the enormous influence Ashman had during the years of the Disney Renaissance. In his words, he and other workers at the studio often felt like two guardian angels were blessing them from above, Walt Disney and Howard Ashman.
To close this piece, I leave the dedication at the end of Beauty and the Beast. They're words of homage from awed colleagues to their genius artist friend, words whose sentiment I share since I was a kid and became enchanted by the spectacle of Ashman's movies.
You can find The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin streaming on Disney+. As for Little Shop of Horrors, it's available on all of HBO's streaming services. Also, Disney has announced the release of Howard, a documentary about Ashman which will become available on Disney+ August 7th.
Reader Comments (16)
This is my favourite animated film of all time, bar none. One of my top 10 favourite movies of all time.
Reportedly, the final song Howard Ashman wrote was this number for Aladdin. Ultimately cut for being too dark and violating the three wish rule, a demo of the song survives. Knowing Ashman was battling AIDS, the subtext here is only too evident, too moving, too true.
You can hear the demo at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW0ex-70FrQ
Ashman's lyrics for the song Humiliate the Boy are reprinted blow
JAFAR:
Seize the good times!
Too bad they never last
Especially for an urchin
With a questionable past
Ah, yes, these were the good times
Hope you liked them, little friend
'Cause here is where the good times
Most decidedly must end
Iago?
IAGO:
Sir?
JAFAR:
Oh, it's a thrill
Oh, it's such fun
To see another fellow's dreams
Turn into nightmares, one by one
It's such a lark
It's such a joy
To roll our sleeves up and humiliate the boy
Oh, it's a kick
Oh, it's a bash
When we remove the fancy turban
And the neatly trimmed mustache
And now let's repossess the clothes
IAGO:
D'ya think we ought to?
JAFAR:
Why by coy?
C'mon, let's do it
Let's humiliate the boy
Once he was proud
Once he was fine
The very model of Arabian design
But such is fate
IAGO:
Too bad, tsk-tsk
JAFAR:
I guess he'll have to learn the hard way
BOTH:
Rubbing lamps involves some risk
JAFAR:
And it's so rich
And it's so rare
To take his shirt, his shoes, his jewelry
IAGO:
And then we'll thin his hair
JAFAR:
Oh, we'll emasculate him slowly
BOTH:
All the better to enjoy
How delicious, to humiliate the boy
JAFAR:
What were the horses?
GENIE:
They were roaches
JAFAR:
And the camels?
GENIE:
They were gnats
JAFAR:
And the elephant?
GENIE:
His monkey - and the rest of 'em were rats
JAFAR:
They were rodents?
GENIE:
Yes, diseased ones
JAFAR:
Oh, how very, very sad
Change them back now, that's an order
Take everything you gave him
All the magic stuff away
Leave him dirty, poor and penniless
GENIE:
But, sir . . .
JAFAR:
Do as I say!
Now let it rain
Now let it storm
IAGO:
Now send some flies into the picture
JAFAR:
'Bout how many?
IAGO:
Oh, a swarm
JAFAR:
Now let 'er rip
Dont be repressed
Keep on destroying things
I've always felt it's what you do the best
BOTH:
Let him have it! Atta Genie!
Since you're now in our employ
JAFAR:
It's your pleasure to ruin him!
IAGO:
Wreck him!
JAFAR:
I want him neutralized!
""Mean Green Mother from Outer Space". It was for that smashing tune that Ashman and Menken nabbed a Best Original Song Oscar*, the first of many for both men"
*nomination
par -- Sorry for the mistake. I was trying to edit down the text and must have deleted the word nomination accidentally. Thanks for pointing it out.
Yes We will be forever grateful he was such a genius
And The beauty and the beast is one of most deserving original song winners of all time
If it weren’t for Ashman’s genius with musical theater, the Disney Renaissance wouldn’t have happened, and Broadway and Midtown Manhattan wouldn’t be what they are today. Disney revitalized Broadway in the 1990s, but they wouldn’t have been able to get to that point without Ashman as one of their driving creative forces. Ashman’s legacy is so much bigger than most people realize.
What a lovely write-up!
I was also enchanted with B&B (still one of my favorite animated movies of all time!).
I remember telling friends who were apprehensive about seeing a "cartoon" that they were missing an animated broadway musical.
Thanks for this. Ashman's work is one of the main reasons I'm a lyricist today. Breaks my heart to think of all the work he (and so many artists of that period) would have created if not for the horror of AIDS and a government that did not step up to help in a pandemic until it was too late. Hmmm...
Artists like Ashman make me proud to be a fag. His homoexcellence was extraordinary.
Ashman I heard was the glue that kept everyone together during the Disney Renaissance period and when he died, it began to fall apart all because of that Nazi Michael Eisner.
I can't remember ever seeing my dad laugh harder at the movies than while watching him chuckle his way through Gaston. Howard Ashman's genius lyrics are a huge reason why.
“Part of Your World” is, without a doubt, my absolute favorite Disney song ever. The best “I Want” song, the best ballad, the best open door to a Disney princess’s heart and soul (and yes, this counting “Belle” too).
The melody is sublime, Benson’s vocal delivery perfection, and the first chorus and finale are absolute knockouts in mood and emotion.
All of this is thanks, in no small part, to Ashman’s genius.
Every time I see Ariel reach for the sunlight above the water in her grotto, I’m a mess, and I treasure that simple beauty each and every time.
He was a gift to Disney, and a key factor in what is rightfully known as the Disney Renaissance.
What a guy.
Whoops, my post reads like Ashman is responsible for the music too. Sorry, not to take away from the also brilliant Menken! Haha!
I just really love Ashman’s lyrics, and after watching a featurette of him working with Benson on the song, it’s hard to deny his influence over the whole thing. :)
It was 1986's Oscars (given in 1987) and I am still hurt, "Mean Green Mother from Outer Space" did not win the Oscar. "Little Shop of Horrors" is my 3rd fave film from all time, right after "John Carpenter's The Thing" and "Airplane!". And that was before I finally saw the original deleted ending!!!
Thank you for the write-up, Cláudio! I love Ashman and Beauty and the Beast is my favorite movie.
PS: re: "According to legend", it's actually true - I've seen a clip with Ashman and probably the guy you mentioned, and the story is that Ashman asked a good, and influential, question.
Disney debuts the documentary Howard on August 7.