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Disney+ Streams Documentary About Howard Ashman

People walk past a poster for the film ‘Beauty and the Beast’ in Singapore. Photo: AFP
People walk past a poster for the film ‘Beauty and the Beast’ in Singapore. Photo: AFP
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Disney+ Streams Documentary About Howard Ashman

People walk past a poster for the film ‘Beauty and the Beast’ in Singapore. Photo: AFP
People walk past a poster for the film ‘Beauty and the Beast’ in Singapore. Photo: AFP

Disney group has become an entertainment giant with unprecedented powers. It owns the rights to Star Wars, Pixar, Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and the Marvel Universe (producer of The Avengers) in addition to classics such as The Lion King and The Jungle Book.

However, in the late 1980s, the company's cartoon division was on the brink until a man used his music to bring magic to three films that are still alive in the memory of an entire generation of cartoon fans to this day.

Howard Ashman wrote the lyrics for Ariel the Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin. Disney + has produced a new documentary that depicts the incomplete success of Ashman, the man who "gave a voice to a mermaid and a soul to a beast." He was 40 when he died due to AIDS complications in 1991 – six months before the launch of The Beauty and The Beast.

The documentary, currently available on Disney+, is directed and produced by Don Hahn. "Ashman took Disney in a new direction. I believe this is the accurate description. Everyone happily admits that Howard was the catalyst. He was the spark that ignited the torch."

The 95-minute documentary describes Ashman's life from his birth in Baltimore and his life in New York, to his first big success with the "Little Shop of Horrors" and the Oscars he won for "Under the Sea" in "The Little Mermaid" and the theme song in "The Beauty and the Beast".

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Entertainment

Anti-Assad Music Star Makes Triumphant Return to Syria

Syrian singer Assala Nasri performs live in Damascus for the first time in 15 years, after being unable to return to the country due to her opposition to the government of former President Bashar al-Assad, who was ousted in December 2024, in Damascus, Syria, September 17, 2026. REUTERS/ Yamam al Shaar
Syrian singer Assala Nasri performs live in Damascus for the first time in 15 years, after being unable to return to the country due to her opposition to the government of former President Bashar al-Assad, who was ousted in December 2024, in Damascus, Syria, September 17, 2026. REUTERS/ Yamam al Shaar
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Anti-Assad Music Star Makes Triumphant Return to Syria

Syrian singer Assala Nasri performs live in Damascus for the first time in 15 years, after being unable to return to the country due to her opposition to the government of former President Bashar al-Assad, who was ousted in December 2024, in Damascus, Syria, September 17, 2026. REUTERS/ Yamam al Shaar
Syrian singer Assala Nasri performs live in Damascus for the first time in 15 years, after being unable to return to the country due to her opposition to the government of former President Bashar al-Assad, who was ousted in December 2024, in Damascus, Syria, September 17, 2026. REUTERS/ Yamam al Shaar

Syrian singer Assala Nasri has made a triumphant return to Damascus with a sold-out concert following 15 years of exile due to her opposition to ousted ruler Bashar al-Assad.

Thousands of fans welcomed the 57-year-old, known mononymously as Assala, at a venue in the Syrian capital where she bowed and opened the show with songs hailing the Syrian people, AFP said.

"Souls of my heart, I missed you," she repeatedly said to endless cheers on Thursday night.

"My loves, my people, I swear, until this moment I could not believe that I am among you. I want to tell you how much I dreamt of this."

There was a heavy security presence for the concert, after some religious conservatives launched a campaign calling for its cancellation.

Half of the show's proceeds will be donated to charity.

Syria's new authorities, who overthrew Assad in 2024, have welcomed Assala. Culture Minister Mohammed Yassine Saleh has dubbed her "the daughter of Damascus".

Joining her on stage, he said her return was that of "every honest Syrian and every free person".

- 'Moving forward' -

Assala was among the first artists to express support for the peaceful anti-Assad protests that erupted in 2011, refusing to partake in events supporting his government.

She was booted from the Syrian artists' union for her stance and was the target of media campaigns.

She went into exile, living in Cairo with her family and playing shows in various Arab countries.

The bloody repression of the protests led to a 13-year civil war that killed more than half-a-million people.

At Assala's show, small Syrian flags rippled in time with the music, with many in the crowd unable to hold back their tears.

"I never thought this day would come. It's like a beautiful dream," concert-goer Sawsan Wadha, 56, said.

"We are very happy that our country is moving forward," added 40-year-old Lynn Nahas.

On her new record, "The Syrian Album", Assala covers folk songs from all 14 of Syria's provinces as an homage to her country's cultural diversity.

- Recovery through art -

Assala's piercing, powerful voice rang out as she made her way through the album's tracks at Thursday's concert.

She also performed fan favorites like "Samehtak" and "Sandooq", with the jubilant, tearful crowd singing along.

Assala and her family only returned to Damascus this week. An antiques dealer in the capital returned the oud, or Oriental lute, that had belonged to her father, a celebrated musician.

Farah Al-Atassi, political advisor to the government, said poetry, language and thought were "an integral part of Syrian identity".

"This is the Syria that we know and that will endure," she told AFP.

Entertainment

Kim Kardashian Awarded Symbolic €1 Damages Over Paris Jewel Heist

FILE PHOTO: Kim Kardashian leaves Gritti Palace, on the second day of the wedding festivities of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and journalist Lauren Sanchez, in Venice, Italy, June 27, 2025. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Kim Kardashian leaves Gritti Palace, on the second day of the wedding festivities of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and journalist Lauren Sanchez, in Venice, Italy, June 27, 2025. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane/File Photo
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Kim Kardashian Awarded Symbolic €1 Damages Over Paris Jewel Heist

FILE PHOTO: Kim Kardashian leaves Gritti Palace, on the second day of the wedding festivities of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and journalist Lauren Sanchez, in Venice, Italy, June 27, 2025. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Kim Kardashian leaves Gritti Palace, on the second day of the wedding festivities of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and journalist Lauren Sanchez, in Venice, Italy, June 27, 2025. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane/File Photo

US reality TV star Kim Kardashian was awarded a symbolic €1 ($1.15) in damages on Tuesday from the thieves who tied her up at gunpoint in a Paris hotel in 2016 and stole her jewels, including her $4 million engagement ring, a lawyer said, according to Reuters.

Kardashian, who had testified that she thought she was going to die during the ordeal, had sought the symbolic amount from some of ⁠those convicted in May 2025 over the heist in a civil damages case, according to a lawyer for the hotel's receptionist - another plaintiff.

The robbers, often referred to in France as the “Grandpa Robbers” because of their advanced ages, wore ski masks and were disguised as police officers. The robbery was, at the time it occurred, France’s largest in 20 years.

Most of the ⁠jewels were never recovered, including the engagement ring given to her by then-husband, rapper Kanye West.

The hotel receptionist had sought €500,000 in damages, and was awarded about €110,000, his lawyer said.

Kardashian’s Paris lawyers ⁠did not respond to a request for comment.

Kardashian in court in 2025 told Aomar Ait Khedache, the mastermind of the robbery and then ⁠aged 69, that she forgave him, but that doing so did not take away the trauma of the events.

He ⁠was jailed for three years, and seven others were convicted for crimes linked to the heist.

Entertainment

Palestinians Are the Real Victims, Thunberg Tells Ed Sheeran

Recording artist Macklemore appears on ABC's "Good Morning America" Summer Concert Series in Central Park in New York on July 22, 2022, left, and Ed Sheeran appears at the premiere of the film "F1 The Movie" in London on June 23, 2025. (AP)
Recording artist Macklemore appears on ABC's "Good Morning America" Summer Concert Series in Central Park in New York on July 22, 2022, left, and Ed Sheeran appears at the premiere of the film "F1 The Movie" in London on June 23, 2025. (AP)
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Palestinians Are the Real Victims, Thunberg Tells Ed Sheeran

Recording artist Macklemore appears on ABC's "Good Morning America" Summer Concert Series in Central Park in New York on July 22, 2022, left, and Ed Sheeran appears at the premiere of the film "F1 The Movie" in London on June 23, 2025. (AP)
Recording artist Macklemore appears on ABC's "Good Morning America" Summer Concert Series in Central Park in New York on July 22, 2022, left, and Ed Sheeran appears at the premiere of the film "F1 The Movie" in London on June 23, 2025. (AP)

Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and other activists have called out British superstar Ed Sheeran after rapper Macklemore was dropped from his tour for making pro-Palestinian comments while performing.

Sheeran has denied being behind the decision to remove Macklemore, saying his tour's promoter was responsible, but several supporting acts have announced they were quitting the tour.

"Ed, there is only one victim here: the Palestinian people," Thunberg, together with activist group Humanti Project, said in post to Instagram late on Tuesday.

According to a post by Sheeran, where he stressed the decision was the promoters, venues on the tour "communicated that they would pull the shows if he was still supporting".

Finneas -- a performer also famous for work with his superstar sister Billie Eilish -- Irish acts Aaron Rowe and Beoga, and Lukas Graham of Denmark have all posted they were quitting Sheeran's "Loop Tour".

"This is a clear and undeniable sign that the global consciousness has shifted. The normalization of an apartheid state, and the attempts to sanitize or justify its actions, will no longer be tolerated," the post shared by Thunberg said.

While opening for Sheeran earlier this month at New Jersey's MetLife Stadium, Macklemore shouted "Free Palestine!" and told Palestinians they were "not forgotten."

In his post Tuesday, Sheeran touched on his decision not to comment publicly about political subjects, notably the war in Gaza.

"I am not complicit. I have my personal views on this devastating conflict. Just because I choose not to speak publicly, it doesn't mean I don't care," he said.

Macklemore, known for hits including "Thrift Shop" and "Can't Hold Us", has long vocally supported Palestinians.

In 2024 he released "Hind's Hall," which pays tribute to Hind Rajab, a five-year-old Palestinian girl whose death sparked a wave of international outrage.