"And most of all, I thank my late partner and friend, Howard Ashman. Howard, I wish you could have seen the finished product. I wish you could have heard the completed score. I know you would have been proud." Composer Alan Menken, alongside his late lyricists Howard Ashman's partner Bill Lauch, accepting the Best Original Song Oscar for the enchanting melody "Beauty And The Beast." The Disney classic 'Beauty And The Beast' received three Best Original Song nominations for its iconic themes, inc