Howard Ashman: The Gay Man Behind Your Favourite Disney Songs
By Charlie Whittle, 3rd Year Classical Studies
Chances are, you’ve seen a classic Disney film and their memorable soundtracks. However, this LGBTQ+ History Month, it’s time to reflect on Howard Ashman, the gay man who wrote some of the iconic songs from The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991) and Aladdin (1992) that have defined thousands of childhoods.
Born May 17th 1950, in Baltimore, Maryland USA, Howard Ashman pursued his love for theatre from a young age, first joining the Baltimore’s Children Theatre Association in grade school. Ashman then continued to pursue his passion by studying Fine Arts at Indiana University and subsequently achieving his Masters in 1974.
It was here that Howard Ashman met his first partner, Stuart White, at a theatre programme in the summer of 1969. The couple fell in love and after university, moved to New York and started a theatre company, The WPA. For this company, Ashman produced three shows: Cause Maggie’s Afraid of the Dark, Dreamstuff and The Confirmation. Yet, this relationship was not to last, as Ashman and White separated around the 1980s, ending both their romantic and working relationship.
Only a few years later, Howard met the composer Alan Menken. Together, they created the musical Little Shop of Horrors (1982) based on Roger Corman’s film of the same name. The show played for five years off-Broadway at the Orpheum Theatre, Manhattan and has since been performed around the world. Though Ashman’s subsequent Broadway musical, Smile (1986), was not as well received, Little Shop of Horrors has retained its wide and enthusiastic audience to this day.
In 1984, as Little Shop of Horrors began to rise in fame, Ashman began a relationship with Bill Lauch, an aspiring New York architect. Even when Ashman received the devastating diagnosis of HIV in 1988, this relationship remained strong, with Lauch ultimately accepting Ashman’s posthumous Oscar for Beauty and the Beast.
Ashman’s career with Disney began as an editor for the Mickey Mouse Club Scrapbook but he soon began work as a lyricist for The Little Mermaid. Songs like ‘Under the Sea’, ‘Part of Your World’ and ‘Kiss the Girl’, which now are viewed as essential to the film’s appeal and charm, were only included due to Ashman’s talent and conviction. He fought particularly hard for the inclusion of ‘Part of Your World’, stating: ‘It’s her dream. You're not going to miss what the film's about. That's the central issue of the entire film. By having her sing it, it makes that point indelibly. She wishes she were human. And at the end of the film, she will become human and live happily ever after. That's what she wants.’
Ashman was even crucial to the character design of Ursula, encouraging her to be based on the drag queen ‘Divine’. In part thanks to Ashman’s contributions, The Little Mermaid was ultimately a success, and won two Oscars, one of which was for the song ‘Under the Sea’, written by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken.
Ashman’s health deteriorated throughout the production of the film, and he decided to inform Menken of his AIDS diagnosis just two days after the Oscars. He had previously been reluctant to do so due to fear of discrimination, particularly due to the stigma that had surrounded the disease since the 1970s. As Menken recalls, Ashman explained: ‘I didn't want to tell you because I didn't know how Disney would react, here I am, a gay man, and I'm working on a movie for kids, and I didn't want to be fired.’
Due to the success of Ashman’s work on The Little Mermaid, Disney was adamant they wanted to keep Ashman and his talent. As he was too ill to travel, the solution was to pack up the storyboards for Beauty and the Beast and take them to Ashman and Lauch’s house in New York. Ashman turned the movie into what it is today. He encouraged the story to focus on the humanity of the Beast - clear parallels to the treatment of AIDS victims and Ashman’s own fears and experiences. This can be seen most prominently in the lyrics to ‘The Mob Song’. During this time, Ashman also contributed to the production of Aladdin by writing the lyrics to hit songs ‘Friend Like Me’, ‘Prince Ali’ and ‘Arabian Nights’.
On March 14th 1991, Howard Ashman died of AIDS. He did not live to see the completion or release of Beauty and the Beast, which was instead dedicated to his memory: ‘To our friend, Howard, who gave a mermaid her voice and a beast his soul, we will be forever grateful. Howard Ashman 1950-1991’. The love and beauty he poured into his work lives on in the hearts of everyone who has ever watched or listened to his Disney films - even today, his legacy resonates.
To learn more about Howard Ashman, please go to Howard's Life — Howard Ashman
Edited by Scarlett Bantin