Michel, what role do you think music plays in a Disney Park like Disneyland Paris?
Music plays an essential part in our experiences. The fact is that there has always been music in traditional theme parks, particularly on the carousels, but nothing like what you find in Disney Parks. One reason for this is that the first Imagineers came from film studios. As a result, the music at Disney attractions has an essential role to play in conveying emotions such as joy or fear of danger, just as it would in a film.
Personally, when I imagine an attraction, a Land or, more generally, an experience, I envisage it in the same way as a director would for a film. Film music is there to reinforce the image, whether it’s a shot or an entire scene, and for me it’s exactly the same in an attraction. The only difference is that our medium is different. It’s not the surface of a screen, but a three-dimensional space. On the other hand, in both cases there is a very close relationship with the image. That’s what brings the excitement of danger, goosebumps and tears in your eyes. This touches on something profoundly human.
When it comes to music, Imagineers can use both songs and instrumental music. What difference do you see between the two?
Disney has a rich catalogue of films in which songs play a major role, particularly those created in the style of musicals. But as I said, our medium is very different from film. So I’m going to make a distinction between a song that is sung and a song that is played instrumentally. For me, in an attraction, the song is there to attract visitors’ attention. This is the case for “Let It Go” in Anna and Elsa’s Frozen Journey at Hong Kong Disneyland, which I worked on.
However, when it comes to background music for a Land, we try to avoid using vocals because music plays a different role. It is there to draw out or accentuate a theme or story, but not in the same way. Outdoors, our visitors must not be distracted from their experience or their conversations. This would create a real cacophony. For Hong Kong Disneyland’s World of Frozen, we created a magnificent hour-long mood piece made up of music from the two films, Frozen and Frozen II, rearranged especially for the occasion without voices, because when visitors are wandering or chatting in a Land, you can’t tell them when to pay attention. The music is there almost subliminal- ly. Sometimes people notice it and are touched, but most of the time it’s about trans- porting them subconsciously to Arendelle, creating a harmony between the music and the sublime panorama we’ve created with the village and the mountain.
In an attraction, visitors know that their attention will be drawn to all sorts of visual and auditory elements. They expect it, and they expect to be able to enjoy it during this experience. They’re naturally going to listen, and that’s where we can present songs. So, whether for songs or instrumental music, it’s really a question of location and experience.
At what stage in the creation of an experience does music come into play?
It comes into play very early in the process, when we start to create the concepts. In Glendale, at Walt Disney Imagineering, we have a whole music department with producers, sound engineers and all sorts of specialists who help us create immersive sound environments for our projects. I then present them with my initial ideas about the music, what it might look like, and how it might sound, whether it’s a literal trans- position of a film scene, a new arrangement or something completely original. The music in a film can be sublime, but not work at all for our medium. This is where the work of the music department begins, typically by contacting the right people, wheth- er to arrange or compose. We’re currently working on this for Disney Adventure World, and I have to say I’m really excited!
Of all the music at Disneyland Paris attractions, which are your favourites?
The music at Disneyland Paris is particularly beautiful. The Imagineers who built Disneyland Park did a magnificent job. I’m thinking in particular of John Debney’s grandiose score for Phantom Manor, and I have to admit that, when I visit Haunted Mansion in the United States, I have the music from the Disneyland Paris attraction stuck in my head! That says a lot about the impact that music can have in an attraction. It stays with you forever.
As for my favourite music from a Disneyland Paris attraction, I’d have to say Space Mountain – De la Terre à la Lune, written by Steve Bramson, and Visionarium, composed by Bruce Broughton. They give me goosebumps every time I hear them. But they’re not the only ones, and I hope that the music at Disney Adventure World will have the same impact on our visitors!