The Music of Springtime (Part 2)

Classical music can seem intimidating. It’s easy to view it as a musical form most suited to the ivory tower, reserved as it often is for concert halls. Not to mention that it is so frerquently treated as sacrosanct in comparison to more popular musical forms. But this often has less to do with the music itself than the atmosphere created around it. 

The Silly Symphony series by Disney provide a perfect example of why. The cartoons made use of classical music, stripping the genre of its pretensions and placing it squarely in the world of popular entertainment. 

The brainchild of Carl Stalling, the series helped revolutionize animation and is even responsible for  rival studio Warner Bros. creating its Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series. 

Springtime was the third film in the Silly Symphony series. Last week, we delved into the music of Edvard Grieg and Franz von Blon that appeared in the short, but they weren’t the only two pieces of classical music featured. Viewers were also treated to Amilcare Ponchielli’s “Dance of the Hours.” 

Dance of the Hours

A little over two minutes into the short, a rainstorm explodes on the scene pouring water onto the earth below. A tree bathes and dances in the shower before getting struck by lightning. We then see a pair of mushrooms that are revealed to be serving as umbrellas for two grasshoppers. As the last few drops of rain fall, the grasshoppers close their “umbrellas” and begin to dance. The music continues to accompany the action as the grasshoppers are eventually eaten by a frog, who then begins using cattails to recreate the melody and rhythm on the shells of turtles. 

The music accompanying their frolic is a portion of Ponchielli’s “Dance of the Hours.” Those of a certain age will likely instantly recognize the tune as being the melody to Allan Sherman’s 1963 novelty hit “Hello Mudda, Hello Fadduh (A Letter from Camp)” as well as its sequel, “Return to Camp Granada” (released on 1965).

Over the years the piece has been lovingly parodied and referenced in countless works. In 1940, Disney would again make use of it by including its entirety in a segment of the film Fantasia. A few years later, Al Sherman (father of Disney Legends Richard and Robert Sherman) would use segments of the piece for the song “Idle Chatter” which was recorded by the Andrews Sisters. 

Disney’s treatment of the song in Fantasia is of particular note because it is simultaneously a parody of classical ballet and a celebration of the art form. Disney animators used ballerinas as reference for their animation, including including Russian prima ballerina Irina Baronova.

The “Dance of the Hours” was written as a short ballet for the Act 3 finale of Ponchielli’s opera La Gioconda, which originally debuted in 1876. It had been commissioned two years prior by Giulio Ricordi of Casa Ricordi, a music publishing firm founded in 1801.

Born in 1834 in Paderno Fasolaro, Italy, Ponchielli earned a scholarship to the Milan Conservatory at the age of 9 and wrote his first symphony by age 10. A few years after leaving the conservatory he would compose his first opera, and would publish his second opera (I Promessi Sposi) when he was only 22. Despite this, he would not find any true musical success until he revised I Promessi Sposi in 1872 at the age of 38. 

For La Gioconda, Arrigio Boito was asked to write the libretto with Ponchielli providing the music. However, Boito would write the text using the pseudonym Tobia Gorrio, an anagram of his actal name. The opera’s first performance was held at Teatro alla Scala in Milan, though Ponchielli would continue to revise the piece until 1879, when his fourth and final version debuted. 

Cast of the fourth version premiere at the Politeama Genovese, 1879. Ponchielli is seated in the center.

Ponchielli died seven years later at the age of 51, and the majority of his works would go unremembered (despite immense success during his lifetime). However, La Giaconda continues to be regularly performed and “Dance of the Hours” has become instantly recognizable, even to those generally unfamiliar with the opera.

To Offenbach or not to Offenbach?

While researching this blog post, I came across several references that suggested that the short also incorporates music from Offenbach’s Gaîté Parisienne, a classic ballet perhaps best remembered for its lively can-can. 

Based on my own personal viewings of the film and consulting with others who have watched it, I was unable to identify any music from the ballet within Springtime. While I could be mistaken, due to an inability to find any specific reference to which piece from Gaîté Parisienne was used, or where in the short it may have appeared, I have decided to leave it out. Should I find any more detail in the future the substantiates the claim, I am happy to revise and include notes on the piece. 

The Music of Springtime (Part 1)

One month after the release of El Terrible Toreador, Disney released its third Silly Symphony. Titled Springtime, it received immediate praise with The Film Daily declaring, “This is called a Disney Silly Symphony, and it is a corker. The cartoon work is about the best that has ever been seen in the animated field, the expressions and general antics of the animals being unusually clever as well as true to life.” Variety was equally effusive in its praise, declaring, “In Springtime Disney has sought to express that vernal feeling of animated insect, animal and flower characters in novel dance routines set to intriguing musical numbers. Timing of the dances, the accompanying taps, etc., is so perfect that the rhythm alone imparts rare entertainment value to this new one in the Silly Symphony series. Every opportunity to inject comedy for laughs has also been seized.”

In terms of plot, the short has more in common with The Skeleton Dance than its immediate predecessor, which is to say that there’s no real plot to speak of. Though the plot of El Terrible Toreador was fairly thin, it at least hinted at the story of Bizet’s Carmen. In contrast, and like The Skeleton Dance, Springtime was more evocative of a mood and a moment in time than a true story. While The Skeleton Dance suggested the events of a dark October night, Springtime evokes the season it was named after. 

Morning Mood

The film opens with an idyllic scene. Trees and flowers are dancing in a field while butterflies flit about. In the background, a waterfall feeds into a stream. In the background, we hear the sound of birds chirping mixed with the opening strains of Edvard Grieg’s “Morning Mood.”

The film marked the second time in three cartoons that Carl Stalling and the Silly Symphony team at Disney had used the music of Grieg. His “The March of the Dwarfs” provided the soundtrack to The Skeleton Dance earlier in the year.

The song “Morning Mood” was written as part of Grieg’s work composing music for his friend Henrik Ibsen’s five-act play Peer Gynt (which was written in verse). While Grieg was honored to take part in the project, he found it particularly challenging, telling a friend, “Peer Gynt progresses slowly and there is no possibility of having it finished by autumn. It is a terribly unmanageable subject.” 

The work seemed to affect him deeply, and his wife noted, “the more he saturated his mind with the powerful poem, the more clearly he saw that he was the right man for a work of such witchery and so permeated with the Norwegian spirit.”

Edvard and Nina Grieg

“Morning Mood” was written for the fourth scene of act four which finds the play’s titular character stranded in the desert in Morocco. Speaking of the piece, Grieg visualized, “the sun breaking through the clouds at the first forte.” As noted in the liner notes for Naxos’s release of the music, “This produces an unusual musical form: the climax comes early on, and the day then settles down to rest. Towards the end we hear imitations of birdsong. The incessant flowing figures suggest associations with waves on the seashore, or with wind. Or they could be sounds in Peer Gynt’s head. Grieg asked that the piece ‘be treated as pure music’, and as such it has a unique place in the drama.”

The piece is used for no more than a few seconds in Springtime, just long enough to evoke the feeling of a new day before the music gives way to Franz von Blon’s “Whispering Flowers (Blumengeflüster).”

Whispering Flowers

With the idylls of the new day past, the plants and animals set about their daily activities. It starts innocently enough, with a trio of flowers dancing across the screen in unison and a pair of ladybugs dancing together atop an open flower. We then see a caterpillar hopping and dancing along the ground, until he is somewhat unceremoniously eaten piece by piece by a crow in a stovepipe hat. 

This dynamic plays out through the remainder of the short, with animals enjoying a peaceful and charming life out in the wild only to be promptly devoured by a predator who then goes about it’s own day, enjoying the beauty and freshness of a spring morning, all while Blon’s jaunty melody plays in the background.

Born in Berlin, Germany in 1861, Blon began playing the violin at a young age and attended Stern’s Conservatory of Music. It was a great testament ot his skill, and he was one of only 6 students accepted out of 123 who applied.

From 1880-1883, he fulfilled his military obligations as part of the 12th Infantry Regiment at Frankfurt. It was during this time that he began composing. He would later become konzertmaster at the Hamburg Municipal Theatre before founding the Berlin Philharmonic Wind Orchestra. The group became quite famous, and he toured with them internationally, including a performance at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. 

While he was primarily known for composing marches, he did create other pieces of music, including “Whispering Flowers (Blumengeflüster).” The piece was first published in 1894 and alternates between moments of slow, serene beauty and an uptempo, playful melody. It’s a perfect compliment for the onscreen action.

Offenbach and Beyond

In addition to the work of von Blon and Grieg, Springtime also features music by Amilcare Ponchielli (who would also be featured in Disney’s 1940 animated masterpiece Fantasia). 

Next week, we’ll wrap up our dive into Springtime by taking a look at Ponchielli’s contributions to the piece. 

The Music of El Terrible Toreador (Part 2)

It’s hard to believe that you could pack the highlights of an opera, an Italian ballad, an old folk song, and a masterpiece of German classical music into a single cartoon short, but Disney managed to do just that in El Terrible Toreador, not to mention some incidental music composed by Carl Stallings.

Last week, we talked about the music of George Bizet’s Carmen and Alberto Pestolazza’s “Ciribiribin,” both of which are featured in the short (which was Disney’s second Silly Symphony). But the music doesn’t stop there. The short also contains very brief references to two other well-known pieces of music, though they’re such tiny moments in the film that you’d be forgiven for missing them.

Yankee Doodle Went to Town 

The melody to the classic folk tune “Yankee Doodle” somewhat inexplicably appears in the cartoon as the toreador and the soldier bicker over the affections of Carmencita. After the toreador blows foam from a stein of beer into the soldier’s face, the soldier grows so angry that his shirt and pants burst open, revealing his underwear. The bullfighter and Carmen begin laughing at the soldier, and the tune of their laughter is the song “Yankee Doodle.”

It’s hard to think of a reason why this particular tune is included in the short, which is set in Spain. The traditionally accepted origins of the song date back to the days of Colonial America. The melody was already well known, but the words that are known today were penned by a doctor named Richard Shuckberg. The term “Yankee Doodle” was meant to be derisive. As the Kennedy Center notes in a piece about the songs history, “In the song, Schuckberg referred to the American fighter as both a ‘doodle’—a country hick, and a ‘dandy’—a conceited jerk. No one has ever figured out exactly where the term “Yankee” comes from. One guess is that “Yankee” started as the nickname “Little Jan” used by Dutch settlers at the time. But the Brits used it to mock all American colonists.” 

The song was played by British soldiers as they marched along the colonial countryside during the American Revolutionary War. As the story goes, after repelling one attack by the British, American militiamen sang the song as the British soldiers retreated, even calling out “ “How do you like us Yankee doodles and dandies, now?”

All of which is great history, but does very little to clear up why it was included in a short set in Spain. Unfortunately, a deeper dig into the song doesn’t yield many answers.

While the lyrics were written around 1755, the melody is said to be much older. Some musical scholars have asserted that it stems from an Irish tune known as “All the Way to Galway,” whose history is said to be Jacobite in origin (a political movement that lasted from the late 17th century through the mid-18th).

This still doesn’t capture the whole story, as the earliest known lyrics date all the way back to a Middle Dutch harvest song that traces its origins all the way back to Holland in the 15th century. None of which tells us how it ended up being used as a taunt in a 20th century cartoon set in Spain. 

Songs Without Words

The next musical inclusion in the film is Felix Mendelssohn’s “Spring Song” or “Song Without Words, Op. 62 No. 6.” Its appearance in the short may take up even less screen time than the brief reference to “Yankee Doodle,” lasting only a few seconds near the very end of the film.

It happens during the bull fight scene. The character of Carmen has just tossed the toreador a bouquet of flowers, unaware that the soldier has spiked the flowers with black pepper. The bullfighter and the bull both take a deep whiff of the flowers, which causes the bull to sneeze so hard that his teeth fall out of his mouth. As the pair inhale, the opening notes Mendelssohn’s “Spring Song” play.

Born Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy in 1809, Mendelssohn was the grandson of Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, and the brother of composer and pianist Fanny Mendelssohn. 

He began studying music at the age of six, and at seven entered the tutelage of pianist and composer Marie Bigot. He would later study under Ludwig Berger and Carl Friederich Zelter. His first public performance came at the age of nine, and he was already composing with great regularity by the time he was a teen. Between the ages of 12-14, he wrote 13 string symphonies. A few years later, he composed his “String Octet in E Flat major” and an overture inspired by Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

“Songs Without Words” was a series of short, lyrical piano pieces which Mendelssohn wrote between 1829 and 1845. “Spring Song” was part of Book 5, Opus 62 which was published between 1842-1844. It was also known as “Camberwell Green” for a location in London where he stayed while writing the piece. 

Sadly, his life would be almost as brief as George Bizet’s, living a mere two years longer. Mendelssohn died at age 38 after a series of strokes. 

It seems odd to end our trip into the second Silly Symphony on such a grim note, but for a cartoon that ends with the evisceration of a bull, maybe it’s just as well. A dark ending for a surprisingly dark cartoon.

Next week, we’ll jump into the music of the third Silly Symphony simply titled Springtime, which the Film Daily referred to as, “ …about the best that has ever been seen in the animated field.” 

The Music of El Terrible Toreador (Part 1)

The Music of El Terrible Toreador (Part 1)

Disney’s second Silly Symphony, the six minute short El Terrible Toreador debuted in September of 1929, just one month after the release of the ground breaking film The Skeleton Dance. It’s a peculiar piece of cinema with a particularly gruesome ending, but it’s still an entertaining watch with some interesting musical moments.

As with The Skeleton Dance, Carl Stalling worked on the film’s music. He had joined the company in 1928 as its first music director. Stalling created the score, blending music penned by composers Georges Bizet, Alberto Pestalozza, and Felix Mendelssohn, as well as the brief use of a classic folk melody. The soundtrack was then recorded in Los Angeles, a change from the first Silly Symphony, whose soundtrack had been recorded in New York.

The film’s story is, at least loosely, inspired by George Bizet’s opera Carmen. That said, it only has the vague hint of a plot. It features a voracious soldier and a bull fighter (whose physical depiction is said to have been inspired by Walt Disney) duking it out over the affections of a woman. There is also a bull fight. Unlike the opera, our female protagonist does not end up dead. The bull is not so lucky. Though he isn’t struck by the sword, as is the tradition in bullfighting, he ends up being pulled completely inside out. It’s a shockingly gory end and serves as the film’s final image.

Motion Picture News reviewed the film stating, “O.K. For Laughs. This is a cartoon burlesque of Carmen in tabloid form. The music of the opera is used for the accompaniment. Filled with laughs, the bull wrestling and throwing which is the final touch is sure to get over. Go to it on this one.” Heaping higher praise on El Terrible Toreador, The Film Daily referred to it as, “almost a continuous riot from start to finish.”

The Composer

Born in 1838 in Paris, France, Bizet was a Romantic composer of middling success until the release of Carmen. That all changed when it was suggested that Bizet work with librettists Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy.

George Bizet

Bizet suggested that they create an opera built around the novella Carmen by Prosper Mérimée (which itself may have been inspired by Alexander Pushkin’s poem “The Gypsies”). Right away, he realized that he had created something special, stating, “They make out that I am obscure, complicated, tedious, more fettered by technical skill than lit by inspiration. Well, this time I have written a work that is full of clarity and vivacity, full of colour and melody.”

Unfortunately, critics hated the piece, referring to it as vulgar, and Bizet died a few months after its debut believing the piece to be a failure. Little did he know that within a few years, the piece would be appearing in almost every opera house of note throughout the continent. To this day, it remains of the most popular and oft performed operas ever written.

Disney Goes to the Opera

The cartoon opens with the melody of “Votre toast, je peux vous le rendre” or the “Toreador Song,” one of the most popular pieces from Bizet’s Carmen. Tunes from the opera are peppered throughout the short, but this seems a fitting introduction with its jaunty, up-tempo praise of the classic opera’s bullfighter. The piece appears again in the cartoon during the introduction of the bullfighter. 

As the film moves from its title screen to its opening sequence, a waitress carryies a tray with a stein of beer while the music transitions into “L’amour est un oiseau rebelle,” more commonly known as the “Habanera.” Fans of classic cartoons have likely heard the song countless times, even if they didn’t know it by name. 

The common name “Habanera” refers to a popular type of music (also known as the contradanza or country danse) popular in the 18th century. Though it is one of Bizet’s best known pieces, the melody is not actually his. He adopted the tune from the piece “El Arreglito ou la Promesse de mariage” by Spanish composer Sebastián Yradier. 

At the time of composition, Bizet believed the melody to be a folk tune, only to later learn that it had been originally published in 1863. Yradier had only died a mere decade before the debut of Carmen. Upon learning this, Bizet added a note to his publication of the vocal score indicating the tunes origins. 

Later in the short, we also hear pieces of Carmen’s “Overture,” another recognizable piece that is used to introduce the bullfight in the cartoon.   

A Merry Piedmontese Ballad

The next piece of music featured in the short is the Italian song “Ciribiribin.” It is used briefly as our waitress character, Carmencita, begins dancing for the soldier. She hums the song’s melody while hitting herself on the head and posterior with her drink tray. When she’s finished, the soldier bursts out with applause before tossing her a coin.

Originally written in 1898, the song was composed by Alberto Pestalozza with lyrics by Carlo Tiochet. Its original language was Piedmontese from the Piedmont region in Italy. Despite occasionally being mistaken for an Italian dialect, linguists actually consider it a unique language of its own. 

Tiochet (born Carlo Alfredo Occhetti) was born January 1, 1863 and moved to Turin (the capital of the Piedmont region). He learned the language and began writing in it. He became so comfortable in it that he jokingly referred to himself as, “Tuscan by mistake.” 

Carlo Tiochet

He founded a weekly known as “La birichina” while also writing comedies and song lyrics, including collaborations with Alberto Pestalozza.

For his part, Pestalozza was born in Turin in 1851. He studied at the Music Institute of the City of Turin and then began writing musical comedies and operettas. 

Alberto Pestalozza

Both men would be primarily remembered for “Ciribiribin,” which was published by Edizioni musicali Carisch, an Italian music publishing company. The song was an immediate success, particularly due to a performance by Austrian soubrette Mitzi Kirchner. 

Over the years, the song has been recorded by Italian artists like Renato Carosone and Mario Lanza, as well as international musicians such as Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters, Frank Sinatra, and many more. 

It’s a bit of a curious inclusion in the cartoon, given that the cartoon is ostensibly set in Spain. But two of the remaining musical selections in the piece were even more unusual. In next week’s blog post, we’ll take a look at how a German composer and a centuries old folk tune from Ireland entered the picture as well.  

Remembering Richard Sherman

It’s hard to know where to begin when you’re attempting to memorialize someone whose work exists in your earliest memories. The music of Richard Sherman has been a constant in my life (like it has for countless others around the globe). I honestly can’t remember a time when it wasn’t there.

Since reading of his May 25th passing, I’ve been trying to pin down when my earliest encounter with his songs took place. Was it watching The Jungle Book when I was still toddling around in diapers? I have hazy recollections of the first time I ever heard the vultures sing “That’s What Friends Are For (The Friendship Song)” in their faux Liverpool accents. He described his work on the film (as well as that of his brother and long-time collaborator Robert) as one of the most enjoyable projects he was ever apart of. It would also turn out to be particularly meaningful, as it represented the last animated film that Walt himself personally produced.

I was three the first time I visited Disneyland and rode “it’s a small world” and heard the song which has been stuck in everyone’s head since it premiered at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York. A simple, sincere “prayer for peace” in the wake of the world’s near annihilation with the Cuban Missile Crisis, it’s a song that would change the world if its lyrics were ever taken to heart. As he said, the song is “a simple, simple child’s prayer to respect each other and to love each other. That’s what we’re saying, without saying those words.” How many times have I heard it since? How many times have we all heard it? Back in 2014, it was estimated that the song had been played 50 million times and it’s been called the single most performed and translated piece of music ever. 

Or was it watching Mary Poppins and listening to Julie Andrews sing about how a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down? Songs like “Let’s Go Fly A Kite” and “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” seem so familiar that they might be family members. I probably heard them for the first time with members of my extended family, watching the film at my grandparents’ house alongside my aunts and uncles. Thinking about it now, I can’t help but wonder how long the songs of Mary Poppins have lived in their memories as well? My mother would have been two when the film came out. Just how many generations have been connected by songs like “Chim Chim Cher-ee” and “I Love to Laugh”? 

As beloved as the movie is today, it might not have ever become a part of all of our memories without the work of Richard and Robert Sherman. While Walt Disney wanted to transform the P.L. Travers classic books into a film, there was a significant challenge: there’s no real through plot. Talking about it later, Richard Sherman recalled, “She gave the world a wonderful collection of little stories that had no story line. You have to have a curve, a story line. But Walt Disney knew she had the substance of a wonderful piece of entertainment.” To solve the problem, Richard and Robert “concocted a story line that the father, who was a closed individual, realizes family is the most important thing in life. That wasn’t in her books.”

And of course, it was the work of Richard and Robert that gave Walt Disney his favorite song, a song that seemed to encapsulate the mission of Disney. Looking back, Richard recalled, “…we seized on one incident, in Chapter 7 of ‘Mary Poppins Comes Back’, the second book — the bird woman. And we realized that was the metaphor for why Mary came, to teach the children — and Mr. Banks — the value of charity. So, we wrote the song and took it up to Walt’s office and played it and sang it for him. He leaned back in his chair, looking out the window, and he said: ‘That’s it, isn’t it? That’s what this is all about. This is the metaphor for the whole film.’ And that was the turning point in our lives … We were full-time staff, so we had an office at the studio, and every so often Walt would call us up to his office on a Friday afternoon. We knew what he wanted. When we got there, he would say, ‘I just wanted to know what you boys were up to these days.’ Then he would turn around in his chair and stare out the window, like the first time we played it for him, and he would say, ‘Play it.’ And we would … And you could just see Walt thinking, ‘That’s what it’s all about, everything we do at Disney.’”

Then there are the songs he and Robert wrote for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Not only do tunes like “The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers,” “Little Black Rain Cloud” and “Heffalumps and Woozles” conjure up idyllic childhood memories, they connect me to my own childrens’ youngest years when I would sing the songs to and with them. Once again, I have to thank Richard Sherman for connecting generations and for helping give me some of my favorite core memories. It’s one reason that I couldn’t help but tear up when he made his surprise cameo at the end of 2018’s Christopher Robin.

Of course, this only scratches the surface of my memories linked to Richard and Robert Sherman’s songs. There are family trips to the Disney Parks and encounters with classics like “There’s A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow,” “The Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room” and “Imagination.” Road trips accompanied by singalongs to songs like “Let’s Get Together” fromThe Parent Trap or “The Beautiful Briny” from Bedknobs and Broomsticks.

I was never fortunate enough to meet Richard Sherman, but even so, it’s hard not to think of him as a lifelong friend. His work has enriched my life in so many ways, and I am forever grateful to him. His music will continue to be a part of my life’s soundtrack, and I know that I am not alone. 

Thank you, Mr. Sherman. This world of laughter, world of tears, world of hopes, and world of fears is a better place because you were a part of it. 

5 Iconic Disney Theme Songs

My children have informed me that I am not allowed to refer to a song as “a bop.” I am apparently too old to use any slang that was invented in the 21st century. Which is why I use it at every given opportunity.

So, without further ado: each song in this week’s blog post is a straight up bop.  

The Best of Both Worlds (Hannah Montana)

Long before she was topping the charts with songs like “Flowers” and “Wrecking Ball,” Miley Cyrus was killing it at Disney’s Hannah Montana. The show was a phenomenon and launched Cyrus into stardom. 

It told the story of Hannah Montana, a normal girl and student by day and international pop star by night. Written by Matthew Gerrard and Robbie Nevil, “The Best of Both Worlds” blends dance, rock, and country, the song’s lyrics and multiple styles perfectly capture the idea of living two lives.

As Gerrard later recalled, “It was a fun mixture, energetic pop that you can dance and sing along to. And then the concepts…I was trying to encompass what I thought the show was about from how they described it to me.”

Hannah Montana – The Best Of Both Worlds (youtube.com)

DuckTales Theme (Duck Tales)

For any kid who grew up in the 80s and 90s, one Disney theme song rises above the rest: the theme for DuckTales, written by Mark Mueller. With the song being used again for the DuckTales reboot which ran from 2017 through 2021, it’s safe to say a whole new generation will grow up with it as a part of their core memories as well.

Despite its iconic status, it turns out that Mueller was only paid $1,250 to write the piece. As he later recalled, Disney wanted the song to seem more like a pop song than a traditional cartoon theme. 

“When people find out what I do for a living, they’ll always ask if they’d know one of my songs,” Muller said. “Sometimes they won’t know my pop hits. But almost everywhere I’ve gone, people know DuckTales. The reach of it is so mind-blowing.”

DuckTales – Theme Song | Disney+ Throwbacks | Disney+ (youtube.com)

Everything is Not What It Seems (Wizards of Waverly Place)

While it may be hard to imagine listening to “Lose You to Love Me” Selena Gomez actually started her show biz journey on Barney & Friends. She later auditioned for a part in Disney’s Wizards of Waverly Place and earned a starring role in February of 2007. 

Gomez was cast as Alex Russo, the show’s main character. She also performed the show’s theme song “Everything is Not What It Seems.” It was penned by the team of Bradley Hamilton, John Adair, Ryan Elder, and Stephen Hampton.  

Talking about her work on the series later, she recalled, “ “I tell people all the time I’ve never had that feeling that I’ve had with the whole Wizards crew, not just you guys…I felt like I was the happiest I had been my whole life.”

The song has continued to have an influence on the world of pop music, with Billie Eilish even admitting that it largely inspired her song “Bad Guy.” 

Wizards of Waverly Place – Theme Song | Disney+ Throwbacks | Disney+ (youtube.com)

Call Me, Beep Me (Kim Possible)

Widely considered one of the Disney Channels greatest shows, it’s only fitting that Kim Possible should have an equally iconic theme song. “Call Me, Beep Me” written by Cory Lerios and George Gabriel is easily one of Disney’s catchiest title tracks. 

The song was performed by Christina Milan, who was working at Disney as a correspondent for the mini-series Movie Surfer at the time. She was called in to discuss potentially performing the show’s theme song. 

“I met the writer,” Milan recalled. “We sat down, and he created a song. And next thing you know, a week later, I went in the studio and recorded it. I never knew it was going to be what it ended up being.”

Looking back, she remains amazed by the song’s longevity and legacy.

“It’s so funny,” Milan said. I feel like I’ve been meeting a lot of people, and they’re all like … early 20s, and they’ve all been like, ‘Kim Possible! Kim Possible!’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, wow.’ It’s crazy how music is generational. I’ve literally walked past people, and I’ve heard it as their ringtone.”

Theme Song 🎶 | Kim Possible | Disney Channel (youtube.com)

That’s So Raven (That’s So Raven)

Another staple of the Disney Channel, That’s So Raven starred Raven-Symoné. An established child star before joining the Disney family (thanks to The Cosby Show and Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper), she auditioned for the show Absolutely Psychic in 2001. Though she didn’t audition for the lead role, she managed to earn the part and the show’s title was changed to That’s So Raven.

The theme song, which she performed with Orlando Brown, Adrienne Bailon and Anneliese van der Pol, was written by John Coda.The show’s soundtrack reached #44 on the Billboard 200 and eventually earned Gold Status (selling 500,000 copies).   

Talking about the show (and theme) in later years, Raven-Symoné noted, “I will toot my own horn and say I was a part of Disney Channel years where the theme songs were epic…My generation of shows was bop. You know what I mean?”

When it comes to the legacy of the show, she’s notes that time has allowed her to see just how much impact it had. 

“It didn’t impact me as much then as it does now because I was 15,” she said. “I was like, cool, I got my own show. It means so much now because I understand the [gravity] of what it means and the caliber of humans that I am in the pool with. I think it was kind of a good thing that I didn’t let it go to my head. It was just about working and wanting to create great content at the time.”

That’s So Raven (Theme Song) (youtube.com)

10 Songs You’ll Hear in Disney California Adventure: San Fransokyo Edition

10 Songs You’ll Hear in Disney California Adventure: San Fransokyo Edition

In the summer of 2023, San Fransokyo Square opened at Disney California Adventure, allowing Guests to step into the world of Big Hero 6. The first animated Disney film to feature Marvel characters, the movie was loosely based on the Big Hero 6 team first introduced in the 1998 comic book Sunfire & Big Hero 6.

The theming in the area lets you truly experience the world of Baymax, Hiro, and the rest of the team, and music plays a huge role in bringing it to life. To provide the right atmosphere, Disney leaned heavily into the world of J-Pop (Japanese pop music), as well as some of the music the company had previously created for Tokyo Disneyland. 

Here are 10 of the songs you’ll hear while exploring the area.

PonPonPon – Kyary Pamyu Pamyu

Released in 2011, “PonPonPon” was an immediate hit for singer Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. Born in Nishitōkyō, Tokyo, Japan, she began modeling and appearing as a junior idol at the age of 12, shortly after launching a career as a fashion blogger.  

“PonPonPon” was her first single, and she has cited artists like Gwen Stefani and Katy Perry as influences. It’s music video featured an explosion of “kawaii” (or “cute”) culture and received art direction from Sebastian Masuda (whose work can be seen by Disney fans at the Bijutsu-Kan Gallery in Epcot).  A 2019 article in The Japan Times cited the song as one of the most influential of the 2010s. 

きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ – PONPONPON , Kyary Pamyu Pamyu – PONPONPON (youtube.com)

Marai no Museum – Perfume

The Japanese pop techno girl group Perfume formed in 2000 and released their first single, “Gulp Down a Good Luck Charm,” two years later. Their first full album, Game, was released in 2008 and reached the top of the charts in Japan. 

“Marai no Museum” (or “Future Museum”) was released as the third single from their fourth album, Level 3. The song was written by Yasutaka Nakata, a music producer and DJ who previously formed the band Capsule in 1997. 

Certified Gold by the Recording Association of Japan, the track was also selected as the ending theme song for the animated film Doraemon: Nobita’s Secret Gadget Museum.

Perfume – Mirai no Museum (Official Music Video) (youtube.com)

Go Way – Silent Siren

In 2010, amatuer fashion models Sumire Yoshida, Hinako Umemura, Aina Yamauchi, and Ayana Sogawa formed the band Silent Siren. Two years later they released a mini-album titled Sai Sai, which included the song “All Right (‘Ima’ o Kakeru).” The track would also serve as the official song for Agestock 2011, the largest college student event ever held in Japan. 

“Go Way” was released in 2018 and was included as the third track on their 2019 album 31313. The track also became the ending theme for the anime Shinkansen Henkei Robo Shinkalion THE ANIMATION.

Go Way! (youtube.com)

Escapade – Official Hige Dandism

Official Hige Dandism, whose translated named means “Manly Moustache” are a piano pop band who made their major label debut in 2018. Their first single “No Doubt” debuted in the streaming Top 10, while the song “Pretender” later rocketed out to 100 million streams, joining Aimyon’s “Marigold,” Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You,” and DAOKO x Kenshi Yonezu’s “Uchiagi Hanabi” as the only songs to reach the milestone since the chart’s 2017 inception.

“Escapade” was released as the third track on their debut album Escaparade. Their follow-up album, Traveler, would achieve 3x Platinum status in physical sales and Gold status in digital.   

[LIVE] 오피셜히게단디즘(Official髭男dism) – ESCAPADE (youtube.com)

Peace Sign – Kenshi Yonezu

Kenshi Yonezu began his musical career performing under the name Hachi. His early musical releases featured the use of Vocaloid, a singing voice synthesizer. During this time he also started the blog Tekitō Edda. His song “Musunde Hiraite Rasetsu to Mukuro” was a major success, receiving over 1,000,000 streams. 

In 2017, he released the album Bootleg. It featured singles like “Uchiagi Hanabi,” “Loser,” “Orion,” and “Peace Sign.” The album would go on to win “Album of the Year” at the 60th Japan Record Awards. The single “Peace Sign” also became the theme song for the second season of My Hero Academia.  

Peace Sign (youtube.com)

Mela! – Ryokuoushoku Shakai 

Green-Yellow Society, as the band is known in English, formed in their high school’s light music club. They held their first performance on July 4, 2012 and took their name from mishearing the words “ryokuoushoku yasai” which translates to “green-yellow vegetables.” 

The song “Mela!” was released in April of 2020 as a forerunner to the release of their album Singalong. They later performed the song on 2022 edition of the annual NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen, a New Year’s Eve special and competition. It was also used in the television show Sukkiri for “Hitotsu ni Narou! Dance One Project.”

It’s music video featured a villainous wolf who changed his destiny.

緑黄色社会 『Mela!』Music Video / Ryokuoushoku Shakai – Mela! (youtube.com)

Halzion – Yoasobi

Pop duo Yoasobi is made up of the duo Ayase and Lilas Akuta. The pair originally released music using the slogan “novel into music.” They created songs based on short stories published on the website Monogatary.com. 

They became increasingly popular during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly with the release of the song “Yoru ni Kakeru.” The track spent six weeks (non-consecutively) atop the Billboard Hot 100. 

“Halzion” was released on their debut EP The Book. The song was based on Soredemo, Happy End by Hashizume Shunki. A version in “Simlish” (the made-up of language of The Sims video game franchise) appeared in The Sims 4.

YOASOBI「ハルジオン・Halzion」Official Music Video (youtube.com)

B-A-Y-M-A-X

Created for The Happy Ride with Baymax for Tokyo Disneyland, the song B-A-Y-M-A-X was written by Adam Gubman. It is one of four tracks from the ride’s soundtrack which appears in the music loop for San Fransokyo. 

In addition to his work for Disney, Gubman has written music over 600 video games. He has also provided music for television and film projects like Galavant, and Baywatch. He also worked as a producer for the smash hit “This is Me” from The Greatest Showman. 

Writing about his work on the project, Gubman said, “I had the extreme pleasure of writing a song for it…THANK YOU MATT WALKER, Yaron Spiwek (my co-producer, and Exec producer of the score!!!)  and Jonathan Friday for letting me be my crazy self and have a blast doing it, the incredible singers and other musicians involved, and the whole crew at Imagineering. It’s an ADORABLE, sweet, fun, ride with a lot of energy and style!”

Like the other tracks from The Happy Ride with Baymax, the version heard in San Fransokyo is instrumental.

B-A-Y-M-A-X (youtube.com)

One Sweet Ride (Cool Ride)

Another track from The Happy Ride with Baymax, “One Sweet Ride (Cool Ride)” was written by the duo of Jan Andersson & Peter Heden.

The pair have written music for a number of acts, including reaching #1 on the charts with the song “Shori no hi Ma-de” for the Japanese boy band Sexy Zone (now known as Timelesz). They have also written songs for South Korean boy band The Boyz.

While their work has remained relatively unknown in their home country of Sweden, they’ve achieved massive success. As Heden recalled, “Among our friends, no one has really had any idea of what we’re doing. It’s like two different worlds. While we sit in our safe studio, all sorts of things are going on over there.”

One Sweet Ride (youtube.com)

A New Angle (New Perspective)

It took a team to write “A New Angle (New Perspective)” for The Happy Ride with Baymax. The track is credited to Eve Nelson, Guilio Cercato, Caitlin Rosenquist, and Annika Wells. 

A music producer and song writer, Eve Nelson has worked on television programs including This is Us, High School Musical: The Series, Little Fires Everywhere, and more. Her work earned her a Daytime Emmy Award in 2018 and a 2015 nomination. 

Guilio Cercato is a music producer, composer, and guitarist whose work has been featured on television and film, while Caitlin Rosenquist is the co-founder of Solid Ground Sound (along with Eve Nelson). Her bio notes that she, “she was Creative Director at ABC’s in-house music library for 10 years, collaborating with composers on new music production, as well as providing music supervision to clients.” 

For her part, the work of Annika Wells has written for pop titans like BTS and The Jonas Brothers. She notes, “Songwriting has always been my original love. Since I was about eight years old, I’ve been writing music and have always known that’s what I wanted to do. I absolutely love writing for myself and I also love helping other people’s stories come to light. Songwriting in any capacity is my passion.”

A New Angle (youtube.com)

Music of the Disney Parks: Mystic Manor Theme

Attraction: Mystic Manor

Park: Hong Kong Disneyland

Debut: May 17, 2013

The Haunted Mansion has been a staple of the Disney Parks experience since the attraction debuted in 1969. But when Disney decided to open a new park in Hong Kong, they were aware that cultural differences would make it difficult for the attraction to translate. Differences in views about the afterlife led the company to  abandon their old format in favor of a more whimsical, magical attraction, which they dubbed Mystic Manor.

The new attraction featured the character of Lord Henry Mystic and his mischievous pet monkey, who sets off a series of magical events after opening an enchanted music box. What follows is a trip through Mystic’s collection of antiquities, which have been brought to life because of the music box.

To accompany this delightful experience, Disney knew that they would need a composer whose music captured that sense of wonder and adventure, which is why they turned to Danny Elfman. He had previously worked with Disney on the music for Dick Tracy, though his most famous contributions to the Disney catalogue are surely the songs and score he provided for Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (not to mention the fact that he provided Jack Skellington’s singing voice).   

Speaking after the debut of Mystic Manor in 2013, Walt Disney Imagineering’s creative executive Joe Lanzisero said of Elfman’s musical contributions to the attraction, “Danny has the ability to create tension and excitement but there is always a grin underlying it. He has a sense of scary fun, so Danny was perfect.”

In his official D23 Disney Legend bio, Elfman states, “The Haunted Mansion was a part of my musical subconscious… that’s really the big appeal, that it was inspired by that: that I might do something that will become part of the musical subconscious culture of a generation.”

Not only did he provide the music for the attraction, but his singing voice can be heard in it as well. In the “Arms & Armor” portion of Mystic Manor, a trio of singing knight helmets belt out:

Magic’s in the air today

Stand beside me, don’t look away

Try to find some words to say

Who do you they’ll find here? Somebody’s out today!

(Ohh…)

No getting away from an ancient curse, and hiding will only make it worse!

Elfman provided the voice for the knights, both in English, Mandarin, and Cantonese. As Elfman noted, the singing trio was another homage to the original Haunted Mansion attraction, alluding to the singing busts Guests encounter in the graveyard scene. In an interview with ABC News, Elfman said of his work on the project, “The Haunted Mansion was my favorite ride from the old days and so to be able to work on something that’s paying homage to the Haunted Mansion on a new ride with completely new music was a great thrill and honor. I had so much fun.”

Music of the Disney Parks: Listen to the Land

Attraction: Listen to the Land

Park: Epcot

Debut: October 1, 11982

When Living with the Land debuted on Epcot’s opening day, it was known as Listen to the Land. The two iterations of the attraction were nearly identical, except for one glaring difference. The infectious little earworm of a theme song, “Listen to the Land,” was removed from the experience. While this change may not be mourned to the same degree as the loss of Horizons or the original Journey Into Imagination, you’ll probably still catch devoted Epcot fans humming it to themselves while riding the newest incarnation of the attraction.

The song was penned by Bob Moline, who began working with Disney in the 1970s. The company’s Director of Marketing at the time happened to hear him performing in the Wine Cellar dining room of the Newport Inn. He was brought on board to write songs for Disneyland’s 20th anniversary, beginning a fruitful relationship that would lead to many memorable tunes, particularly when it came to Epcot. 

Among the songs he wrote for the park’s various pavilions were “Canada (A Lifetime Journey),” for the Canada Pavilion in the World Showcase, “Golden Dream” from The American Adventure, and “Energy (You Make the World Go ‘Round)” for Universe of Energy. While each of these has a sort of Hallmark-esque sound to them, Moline leaned into country and folk for “Listen to the Land.” Accompanied by an acoustic guitar,bass, and a children’s choir, it’s easy to picture the tune being performed around a campfire.

Though Imagineer Rolly Crump once suggested that he met with John Denver about potentially singing “Listen to the Land” for the attraction, this point is disputed by fellow Imagineer and Disney Legend Marty Sklar. He stated, “The song was written by Bob Moline, who also wrote (and sang) that song…John Denver did visit us once during the development of Epcot Center. It was an amazing day because he brought a friend with him: Buckminster Fuller! But we never connected with John Denver to record any of our songs.”

While Denver no doubt would have done the song justice, it’s hard to imagine a voice other than Moline’s on the track. It perfectly captures the optimism of the attraction, especially when the children begin singing along with him. 

As his son Justin recalled, “He always had that part of him that never grew up and could always connect to childlike wonder. I think that is where he drew a lot of his lyrical substance from, which you can hear in his songs like ‘Listen to the Land.’”

In a tribute by D23, his wife Sheri recalled their first trip to Epcot upon its opening. She stated that when the trip was over, they took a shuttle back to the airport with other park Guests. To pass the time, Moline began singing some of the songs he’d written for the park, little knowing that there was another notable Disney name on board. 

When the shuttle stopped, Disney Legend and songwriter Robert Sherman ventured back to Moline’s seat to shake his hand.

Music of the Disney Parks: Celebrate the Future Hand in Hand

Attraction: Epcot’s Millenium Celebration

Park: Epcot 

Debut: October 1, 1999

Walt Disney’s vision of tomorrow was fueled by an endless optimism rooted in his belief that human ingenuity and spirit could overcome any challenge we faced. It’s a spirit that lives on in attractions like the Carousel of Progress and Spaceship Earth. And it’s the reason that I believe Walt would have been a huge fan of Epcot’s Millenium Celebration and its theme of “Celebrate the Future Hand in Hand.”

As then president of Walt Disney World Al Weiss said, “Walt Disney once referred to Epcot as a ‘living blueprint of the future.’ And it is in that spirit that we welcome the world to celebrate the millennium at this, our discovery park.”

The event, which ran from October 1, 1999 through January 1, 2001, saw several major additions come to the park, including the Tapestry of Nations Parade, a nighttime spectacular called “IllumiNations 2000: Reflections of Earth,” and a somewhat controversial addition to the exterior of Spaceship Earth. 

With such a massive event, there was no question that there would be an accompanying song. It took its title from the celebration’s central theme.  Disney turned to composer Ira Antellis for the music. Cheryl Berman, who joined the Leo Burnett Agency as a junior copywriter and eventually became the company’s Chairman-Chief Creative Officer, provided the lyrics for the song.

Reflecting on her journey in the world of advertising, Berman compared it to characters from televisions Mad Men, stating, “I guess you could say I was Peggy Olson in the 70’s, when I walked into an agency called Leo Burnett. When I walked out 30 years later, I guess you could say I was Don Draper.” Along with her work for Disney, she wracked up an impressive number of accounts including McDonald’s, Hallmark, Coca-Cola, and Kraft. She also happened to have a talent for writing musical lyrics.

Ira Antellis had already established himself in the world of music, having created music for clients like Gatorade, 7Up, Mcdonald’s, and Sears. In addition to his commercial work, he produced multiple albums for the House of Blues, and penned songs for artists like Patti Labelle and Marc Anthony. 

It was not the pair’s first time working together for a Disney creation. Prior to the Millenium Celebration, they teamed up with David Pack to write the song “Remember the Magic” for Walt Disney World’s 25th anniversary, which ran from October of 1996 through January of 1998.Variations on “Celebrate the Future Hand in Hand” could be heard throughout the Millenium Celebration within Millenium Village and in the Tapestry of Nations parade. A gospel version of the song would appear on Disney’s official “Walt Disney World Millenium Celebration” album. The number would also reappear in the parks as part of the limited fireworks show Epcot Forever.