Movies

'Aladdin' Will Feature Two Songs From 'La La Land' And 'The Greatest Showman' Songwriting Duo

Aladdin songs
By Ben Pearson

Benj Pasek and Justin Paul won an Oscar last year for writing La La Land's "City of Stars," and they were nominated at last night's Academy Awards ceremony for their work on The Greatest Showman soundtrack. Though they went home empty-handed last night, losing to Coco's Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, Pasek and Paul revealed one heck of a consolation prize: they've written two brand new songs for Guy Ritchie's upcoming live-action remake of Disney's Aladdin. Find out about the two Aladdin songs below.

Speaking with Variety (via The Playlist) on the red carpet before the Oscars began last night, the duo revealed that they've joined the Disney family by crafting two new songs for Ritchie's upcoming remake:

Alan Menken is the legendary composer who, along with people like John Williams, James Horner, and Jerry Goldsmith, essentially scored the childhoods of cinephiles growing up in the '80s and '90s. Menken was responsible for the enduring tunes from Walt Disney Animation's animated renaissance, providing scores for films like The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, and Tangled. He has plenty of memorable live-action credits as well, including Little Shop of Horrors and one of my personal favorites, The Newsies.

There's no word about what exactly these songs will be about or if they will replace any of the beloved songs from the original animated classic, but I know people have mixed feelings about new songs being slotted into these live-action Disney remakes. Anecdotally, most people I've spoken to didn't like "Evermore" from Beauty and the Beast, but I thought it added some nice emotion to the Beast character that wasn't present in the animated version. Hopefully Paul and Pasek were able to create something that can either improve upon the songs of the original or at least stand alongside them without feeling too out of place.

The pair got their big break with the short-lived musical TV series Smash in 2013, and have since returned to TV by writing "Runnin' Home to You," a song that appeared on a special episode of The CW's The Flash last year:

The only thing Pasek and Paul have to worry about now is topping this amazing Will Smith rap that The Good Place writer Demi Adejuyigbe jokingly tried to pass off as a real song that will play over the end credits of the upcoming movie:

Aladdin arrives in theaters on May 24, 2019.

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