Howard Ashman made queer history at the 1990 Oscars with “Under The Sea”… & saved Disney from sinking
Barbie number “What Was I Made For?,” keeping with the tradition of a category that has historically been very queer (not to mention, would make her the youngest ever two-time Oscar winner).With that in mind, let’s take a look Oscar-winning song by an LGBTQ+ writer, one that was first released 25 years ago and was part of an animated film that basically changed cinema as we know it: “Under The Sea” from Disney’s The Little Mermaid, with music by Alan Menken and lyrics by the legendary, late Howard Ashman.Subscribe to our newsletter for your front-row seat to all things entertainment with a sprinkle of everything else queer.Back in the ’80s, Ashman and Menken were riding high off the success of Little Shop Of Horrors, a musical that became a Broadway smash and later a hit movie (of which Ashman wrote the screenplay), earning the pair their first of many Oscar nominations for “Mean Green Mother From Outer Space.”After being tapped by Disney to work on a song for Oliver & Company, the then-floundering (no pun intended) animation studio showed Ashman their plans for an adaptation of a Hans Christian Andersen tale, The Little Mermaid.As the story goes, Ashman was enthralled by the idea, and made one suggestion that would change everything: The movie should be a “Broadway-style” musical.
Disney made the songwriter a co-producer on the film, and one of his first orders of business was to bring his collaborator Menken on board for the music.Though Ashman had been living his life as a gay man (he was partnered with architect Bill Lauch by then), he was not out professionally, and had privately expressed concerns over getting fired if he’d ever be found out.Still, he managed to bring an undeniable queer sensibility to The Little Mermaid—most famously, it was Ashman who encouraged the studio to look to irreverent drag legend Divine as inspiration for their witchy villain, Ursula.Don’t act so surprised.Another game-changing suggestion of his was that Ariel’s crab mentor,.
