Disney movies are super popular and have amazing soundtracks so have you wondered how many composers does Disney have? Are they well known artists/musicians? You would be surprised on the answer. Actually there are quite a few of them and in this article it will list some of the more well known artists that have either collaborated with others to compose amazing scores or made their own songs for Disney movies.
Randy Newman
The first composer on the list is well known artist, Randy Newman. He has composed a lot of different songs for Disney movies. These movies are: Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2, Monster’s Inc, Cars, Toy Story 3, Monsters University, Cars 3, The Princess and the Frog, and James and the Giant Peach. He has won a couple of Academy Awards for composing songs for Disney as well as being nominated for an Oscar but didn’t win one of those. He will be returning to compose songs for Disney’s Toy Story 4. He is a great artist and his songs are remarkable. He was dubbed a Disney Legend in 2007 for all of the songs that he made for Disney.

Alan Menken
Alan Menken has composed songs for Disney on many occasions which include: The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Home On the Range, The Shaggy Dog, Enchanted and Tangled. In 2017 Disney re-produced a live action film of Beauty and the Beast and his original music were in the live remake. In 2001 he was named a Disney Legend. He is another well known and unforgettable composer of Disney songs.
Howard Ashman
Howard Ashman wrote songs for the Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and some of his songs were put on the Aladdin soundtrack. Howard Ashman and Alan Menken ( wrote all of the songs for Disney’s the Little Mermaid. Both Howard Ashman and Alan Menken were nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and three Grammy awards. Ashman was the one that won the awards for “Kiss the Girl” and “Under the Sea”. He unfortunately passed away without knowing that three of his original songs would be used for Disney’s Aladdin for which he won a second Academy Award. In his stead, his partner, William Lauch accepted his award. In 2001, along with Alan Menken, he was dubbed a Disney Legend. Beauty and the Beast is dedicated “To our friend Howard, who gave a mermaid her voice and a beast his soul, we will be forever grateful. Howard Ashman 1950-1991”.

Phil Collins
Phil Collins composed a few songs for the Disney movie Tarzan and Brother Bear. His song “You’ll Be In My Heart” from Disney’s Tarzan gained him both an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. In 2002 he was given the Disney Legend award. When Brother Bear was in production, Disney hired Collins and Tina Turner to collaborate on a song called “Look Through My Eyes”. It’s a really beautiful song for the movie. These are the two known Disney movies that Phil Collins made songs for.
Tim Rice & Elton John
Tim Rice and Elton John have collaborated for quite a few of Disney movies. The Disney movies on the list are: The Lion King and El Dorado, and a Disney musical called Aida. The songs that the two worked together on for the Lion King won Elton John an Academy Award and a Grammy Award. The songs were ‘Can You Feel the Love Tonight?’ and ‘The Circle of Life’. These songs ultimately became very popular for Elton John and in 2006, the Walt Disney Company dubbed John ‘a Disney Legend.” These songs are still very popular to this day and the collaboration between the two is amazing.
Danny Elfman
Danny Elfman has written many different scores for Disney. The movies that they came from are: Dick Tracy, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Flubber, My Favorite Martian, Meet The Robinsons, Alice In Wonderland, Frankenweenie, Oz the Great and Powerful, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Alice Through the Looking Glass, and more recently Dumbo. Like all the other composers in this list, Danny Elfman was dubbed a Disney Legend in 2005. The Nightmare Before Christmas is still popular to this day. At Disneyland and Disneyworld at Halloween time and Christmas time, The Haunted Mansion is decorated in this movie theme. Danny Elfman is a very talented artist and composer.

Hans Zimmer
Hans Zimmer was another composer that wrote songs on Disney’s The Lion King. He won an Academy Award for Best Original Score for his soundtrack on the film, a Golden Globe Award, and two Grammys for his songs on the Lion King Soundtrack. The Disney company also asked him to compose songs for the Pirates of the Caribbean movies and is credited for the last three but is uncredited for the first one even though he helped compose some of the songs with a colleague of his. He is credited for the songs on the live remake of Disney’s the Lion King coming out later in 2019. Unlike the others in the list, he is not dubbed a Disney Legend yet. His scores for the Lion King and the Pirates of the Caribbean movies are remarkable.
So how many composers are there for Disney? There are quite a few of them. The ones on this list are the more well known Disney composers. The most popular soundtracks/scores of all time are Disney’s The Lion King, The Little Mermaid and Aladdin. Towards the middle of 2019, two live remakes of Disney’s The Lion King and Aladdin are coming out to theaters nationwide. The original scores are going to be featured in these films. This is going to be so exciting to hear these songs all over again! Some songs are easy to play on piano or any other instrument. Try it today!