On every visit to Disneyland Paris, we all have a melody in our heads sung by dolls, ghosts or pirates that stays with us long after the trip is overa sort of sonic Proust’s madeleine that, from the very first notes, inevitably takes us back to the magic… But why does this music affect us so much?
Throughout summer, explore our series of articles dedicated to the unique bond between Disney and Music.
An earful of memories
While Disneyland Paris is packed with attractions and original music, the destination’s musical identity also draws on the iconic themes of Disneyfilms, reworked into new arrangements created specifically for our parks. Visiting Disneyland Paris feels like immersing yourself in the musical worlds that everyone loves, while hearing them in a new light every time.
The magic begins as soon as you arrive at a Disney Hotel. Part art gallery, part residence, Disney’s Hotel New York – The Art of Marvel is an establishment like no other. As such, it needed the right background music to evoke both the Marvel universe and the urban atmosphere of the Big Apple. With this in mind, the creators of the hotel playlist turned to chill hop, a cross between jazz and hip hop, to revisit the iconic themes of the MCU. Iconic figures such as Cloudchord and Stan Forebee teamed up to produce a particularly charming reinterpretation of Michael Giacchino’s theme for Spider-Man: Far From Home, while Birocractic, a music producer based in New York, brought a novel and elegant hip-hop tone to the Iron Man theme composed by Brian Tyler.
Similarly, at Marvel Avengers Campus, a few notes from Alan Silvestri’s famous theme are all it takes to galvanise the recruits. And for the show “Doctor Strange: Mystery of the Mystics”, arranger Tyler Koonst has come up with a hypnotic and mysterious version of the same theme, echoing the famous “Ballad of the Witches’ Road” from the Disney+ series Agatha All Along. The music embodies Agatha Harkness’s growing hold over the whole Campus, as well as the magical opposi- tion between the witch and the duo formed by Doctor Strange and Scarlet Witch.
In “The Lion King: Rhythms of the Pride Lands”, music takes centre stage. To share this universal story with Disneyland Paris’ multiculturalaudience, director Christophe Leclercq chose to focus on the songs. To achieve this, arranger Steve Sidwell took the scores from the film and musical and adapted them to the needs of the show, to ensure that everyone could understand the narrative.
Music has also allowed for other fascinating revisits, as in “The Jungle Book Jive” (2019), with its spellbinding reinterpretation of Kaa’s song “Trust in Me”, which taps into its Indian heritage thanks to Ghôldivah’s smooth voice and Tim Heintz’s sitar-tinged arrangements.
In addition, the “Disney Tales of Magic” night-time spectacular takes visitors on an incredible journey through Disney’s stories, with some particularly moving arrangements. This includes Beauty and the Beast, to which Tyler Koonst has added a modern touch, underlining more than ever the timeless and everlasting feeling of Disney’s stories…
To be continued …
Read the full booklet: Disneyland Paris, A Musical Wonderland