It appears that Aladdin was original to be blessed with quite a different story that focused more on Aladdin's relationship with his mother and a group of pals, rather than the romance that was finally incorporated. Also, there was to be a second Genie, which meant perhaps two doses of Robin Williams! After a mixture of songs and score, the first point of interest is Count On Me, which was written entirely by Alan Menken, words and all soon after Howard Ashman's death. It's not a bad song and uses the arpeggio piano part that was later used in A Whole New World. It is, strangely enough, the music that isn't all that great. Call Me a Princess isn't a particularly good song, perhaps it sides too fair of how vain the princess is and comes across as a little unbalanced. As Menken points out at the end of the song "it's a bit rough!" in terms of performance. Obviously one they weren't intending to use. Why Me is one of several attempts to write a song for Jafar, but they felt that it wouldn't work as it was too late for the character (who hadn't sung previously) to sing new material. Shame really as it's a great song and some interestingly Bond-ish brassy moments. The other song for Jafar is Humiliate the Boy which is quite a sadistic song (although not quite as much as it could have been). Unlike Why Me, this is just performed as a demo without the orchestra, although Jonathan Freeman performs as Jafar on both. The ending of Humiliate the Boy needed a bit of brushing up, but otherwise it's yet another great song, shame it was lost.
The work tape for Friend Like Me is great fun and points out the beginning of this show stopping number. A Whole New World was originally going to be entitled The World at Your Feet, but Tim Rice (who was drafted in after Howard Ashman's untimely death) renamed it as it is now. So now you know! The demo version of Prince Ali features a few extra sections, some of which were actually combined in counterpoint in the final rendition, so it's nice to be able to hear them properly. The actual instrumental score seems to be a lot more entertaining when mingled with the songs and it's interesting seeing the different pieces of classical music that Menken alludes to at various points. The final alternate is the unreleased master for a reprise of Arabian Nights which was meant to bookend the movie, but was dropped for the more traditional Disney style ending. A shame really, but that's the way it goes I guess!
Total Time ~ 70:44