When composer Alan Menken first joined the animated film “Spellbound,” the prospect of writing the score and songs felt “exciting and terrifying at the same time” because the story “defied a formulaic approach.

Academy Award-winning composer Alan Menken, the mastermind behind the music of Disney films like The Little Mermaid and Pocahontas, and Tony Award-nominated lyricist and composer Glenn Slater discuss how they put together the songs and sounds of Netflix's newest animated film,

"Spellbound" is the latest in a long line of animated films that Menken, who lives just outside of Ridgefield, has worked on. He has composed scores for several Disney films, including "The Little Mermaid," "Aladdin," "Pocahontas," "Hercules," "Tangled" and "Beauty and the Beast."