Who composed the music for The Little Mermaid?

Who composed the music for The Little Mermaid? Alan Menken composed the film’s music.

Menken wrote the instrumental score and, with lyricist Howard Ashman, created the songs for Disney’s 1989 animated film. Their collaboration included numbers such as “Part of Your World,” “Under the Sea,” and “Poor Unfortunate Souls.” Ashman supplied the lyrics, while Menken supplied the melodies and orchestral music, so the two are sometimes mistakenly treated as co-composers of the score itself.

Menken and Ashman had already worked together on the Off-Broadway musical Little Shop of Horrors. Disney hired them for The Little Mermaid after that success, and their Broadway-influenced approach helped shape the film as a fully integrated musical. The movie’s success helped begin the period later known as the Disney Renaissance.

A common mix-up is Howard Ashman: he was the lyricist and a major creative force, but Alan Menken is the answer when the question asks who composed the music.