Proud of Your Boy

Within the context of the original version of Aladdin, the title character dwells on his unsavory past, how he has disappointed his mother, and goes out to seek a better life to make his parents proud. This is an excerpt of the "Proud of Your Boy" storyboard.

"Proud of Your Boy" is a song with music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman that was cut from the original 1992 Disney animated film Aladdin, only to be brought back for the film's stage musical adaption in 2011.

Production

The lyrics to "Proud of Your Boy" were written by Howard Ashman (before he died in 1991), and was cut by composer Alan Menken when the storyline was changed. This song ended up being replaced in the film by "One Jump Ahead". The demo by Alan Menken is available on the Special Edition Aladdin CD. Within the context of the musical, the song takes place just after "One Jump Ahead". Songwriter Howard Ashman was attached to the character of Aladdin's mother, and so fought for this song to stay in the musical. When the mother was written out for being superfluous, this song went too.^[1] TheFW explains in the deleted scene featurette which played storyboards over the song, "note a disguised Jafar lurking around the corner, foreshadowing a completely different meeting between the two characters".^[1]

Synopsis

The song is sung by Aladdin about his unnamed mother. He acknowledges his bad ways and promises he will make things right.

Critical reception

TheFW described it as "a touching ballad".^[1] The Daily Mail said it was "a song that is touching, memorable and about to be a long time Broadway standard."

The inclusion of the song has led to some critiques of the structure of songs on the musical, as now it is placed alongside a song that replaced it in the film. Variety said "That ballad, written for the film and later cut, is undeniably pretty, but emblematic of one of the problems the show’s creators need to address. “Disney’s Aladdin” has few truly earnest moments — so few that they feel out of place; they deflate next to the buoyant hijinks bracketing them. Either the transitions between the two need to be massaged or the show needs to go all-in with broad comedy and leave the tearjerking for another day."^[2]

The song has become a running joke on The Gavin McInnes Show, a podcast hosted by Anthony Cumia's Compound Media. McInnes, a right-wing media personality, was exposed to the song at a children's talent show in December 2015 and took immediate dislike to the perceived self-loathing nature of the lyrics. The song has been played in its entirety on the show on several occasions, and is frequently referenced by callers and in-studio guests.^[3]

Barbershop quartet group Ohana Means Family performed "Proud of Your Boy" at the 2016 Youth Barbershop Quartet Championships in Nashville, Tennessee en route to the fourth place bronze medal.

References