The album was released by Walt Disney Records on CD and cassette tape on October 27, 1992.

The soundtrack was intertwined with demos, work tapes and unreleased masters, as well as original scores in 1994 in a four-disc box set entitled The Music Behind the Magic: The Musical Artistry of Alan Menken, Howard Ashman & Tim Rice.

Three songs from this score - "Arabian Nights", "Friend Like Me" and "Prince Ali" - survive in the final film.

Menken composed several additional songs for the subsequent story revisions following Ashman's 1991 death, prior to Tim Rice's involvement with the project.

[13] Work tape, demo and master recordings of cut songs have been released in several formats, notably on the 1994 The Music Behind the Magic box set,[13] the 2004 special edition soundtrack and the 2004 DVD release of the film.