It contains the songs from the film written by Alan Menken and David Zippel, as well as the film's score composed by Alan Menken, and the score was orchestrated by Daniel Troob and Michael Starobin,[4] with vocals performed by Lillias White, LaChanze, Roz Ryan, Roger Bart, Danny DeVito, and Susan Egan among others.

[5] Zippel had previously collaborated with Menken on the cabaret revue titled It's Better With a Band, and the musical Diamonds, directed by Harold Prince.

[6] Distinctively for the film, the idea to incorporate gospel music for the songs was suggested by co-screenwriter and co-director John Musker, although Menken preferred "something very classic and Greek—a Candide approach".

"[8] The Spice Girls were originally approached to portray the Muses following an invitation to sing one of the songs, but declined the offer due to scheduling conflicts.

[11] For the Spanish version of the film, "Go the Distance" was redone by Ricky Martin and released as a single under the title "No Importa La Distancia" and was also very successful, both inside and outside the United States.