"Howard"

Veteran producer Don Hahn has made a documentary titled Howard, celebrating the life and career of Howard Ashman, one of the major creative forces behind the Disney animation Renaissance that took place during the late 1980s and early 1990s ...

The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin were pushed to dazzling entertainment heights because of his contributions with song lyrics, story development, character development. Re Ashman's work on The Little Mermaid director Ron Clements recalled:

Howard Ashman and Alan Menken came out to California after writing “Part Of Your World.” All the other songs [were written] in the animation building 9in Glendale], so you could hear the songs being written right down the hall. Then we’d bring Jeffrey in, and Howard and Alan would perform the songs for him. We were really on a high. ...

Sadly, the euphoriaa wouldn't last long. Howard Ashman passed away before Beauty and the Beast was completed. And Aladdin, which had initially been developed by Mr. Ashman, was nowhere close to finished when he died.

Howard Ashman was only 39 when he succumbed to AIDS. All three Disney animated features with which he was involved ended up blockbusters and classics. We can only speculate what Mr. Ashman might have been accomplished if he'd been allowed to live a normal span of years.