I think the thing that strikes you when you come back to 'The Little Mermaid' after all of these years is the simplicity and innocence. That's in the look of it, and that's in the sound of it.
There's such a rich trove of unheard Howard Ashman lyrics that we're so blessed to draw from.
The job, when you write film underscore, is to be ignored. That comes with the gig, no question about it.
Of my Disney material, 'Tangled' is my most pop-oriented.
I was always a composer since I was a kid, but the BMI Workshop is where the networking really all stems from. So many writers and influences and ways of communicating all sprang out of the time I was a member of that workshop.
'Snow White' was really hip for its time. Walt Disney was basically using Sigmund Romberg and operetta in the telling of the story, and through animation - that was revolutionary.