Alan Menken Knows He Wrote the ‘Soundtrack to Your Childhood’

variety.com:

Alan Menken is a true romantic. Just ask him how he met his wife of 52 years, Janis. “This dancer walks into the room, and I knew immediately who she was, because I dreamt her,” he says, beaming from across the breakfast table on a Beverly Hills rooftop.

It’s no surprise that the man behind lionized love songs like “A Whole New World” and “I See the Light” has a tender, gentle nature.

In fact, it’s that undeniable sentimentality that has elevated Menken to legend status (and EGOT status) over the course of his career spanning five decades.

The composer has earned eight Oscars (the most of any person alive today), all of which came from his work on films of the so-called “Disney Renaissance,” the period between 1989 and 1999 when the Mouse House produced some of its most beloved animated films.