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 over—a 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.
A whole new world…
It wasn’t long before Walt’s imagination began to travel beyond the cinema screen. He dreamt of a three-dimensional world where parents and children could have fun and share experiences together. This dream is what led to Disneyland.
That is why he decided to surround himself with his own artists, the same ones who had worked with him on the Studio’s animated classics. Among these legendary figures were Ken Anderson, art director for Pinocchio and Fantasia and scriptwriter for Cinderella and The Jungle Book, who developed the initial concepts for the Peter Pan’s Flight and Storybook Land Canal Boats attractions, and John Hench, art director for Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan, who would be one of the main architects of Tomorrowland.
The same approach was taken for the music: the composers Walt chose for Disneyland were in fact the Studio’s own musicians, George Bruns (Davy Crockett, Sleeping Beauty), Buddy Baker (The Mickey Mouse Club), Oliver Wallace (Peter Pan) and the Sherman Brothers (Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book ), who drew on their film experience to create the music for Disneyland.
Just like in a film, the music was used first and foremost to establish a mood, place or era.
Oliver Wallace’s “Meet Me Down on Main Street”, for instance, was used to establish the turn-of-the-century atmos- phere of Main Street, U.S.A.
Originally composed in 1950 for Daisy Duck, it first appeared in the cartoon Crazy Over Daisy, set in precisely this period, before the composer adapted it to embody the spirit of Main Street, U.S.A.
Songs were also used to tell stories in a unique way and make them unforgettable. “Yo Ho (A Pirate’s Life for Me)” by X. Atencio and George Bruns, for instance, depicted the buccaneers of Pirates of the Caribbean in the most picturesque way possible, setting the tone for their adventures. In Haunted Mansion, the song “Grim Grinning Ghosts”, written by X. Atencio and Buddy Baker, was played throughout the visit, and each of the variations written by the composer was adapted to the scene it accompanied, including a waltz played by the organ in the ballroom, or wild jazz inthe cemetery.
And finally, there’s the Sherman Brothers classic “It’s a Small World (After All)”, which has become an ode to brotherhood between children the world over.
To be continued …
Read the full booklet: Disneyland Paris, A Musical Wonderland