How Disney music became a pop staple | BFI video essay

Summary

Disney's enchanting music has evolved into a pop culture phenomenon over the years, becoming an integral part of both childhood memories and adult nostalgia. From Mickey Mouse's early synchronized sounds to chart-topping hits, Disney's music has consistently pushed boundaries. Highlights include the historic impact of films like "The Little Mermaid" and "Beauty and the Beast," which set new standards for animated film music by blending storytelling with pop music elements. The magic continues with Broadway-style compositions, pop star collaborations, and even TikTok trends, ensuring Disney's melodies remain timeless and ubiquitous.

Highlights

• Disney music has transformed from simple movie accompaniments to pop chart toppers, defining eras and trends 🌈.
• The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast were game changers, shaping Disney's future musical direction 🧜‍♀️.
• Disney's strategic use of pop star collaborations and media evolution keeps its music relevant across generations 👏.

Key Takeaways

• Disney music has become a staple in pop culture, offering both nostalgia and innovation 🎶.
• The transition from animation sidekick to main attraction showcases Disney's strategic evolution in music 🍿.
• From vintage to viral, Disney's melodies are timeless and continue to adapt to new platforms and audiences 🌟.

Overview

Disney's journey in music began with synchronized sound in cartoons, making characters like Mickey Mouse iconic through innovative techniques like the click track and soundtrack albums. These early efforts laid the groundwork for a sensory experience that captivated audiences worldwide.

With the Disney Renaissance, musical storytelling took center stage. Films like The Little Mermaid brought Broadway magic to the animated screen, with iconic tracks that propelled Disney into the pop music limelight. Award-winning soundtracks established Disney music as a prestigious, standalone art form.

In recent decades, Disney music has further intertwined with popular culture by embracing digital platforms and collaborating with pop stars. From TikTok trends to global streaming, Disney melodies continue to enchant and remain a timeless force in entertainment.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction to Disney Music The chapter introduces the appeal of Disney music, highlighting its universal appreciation and timeless nature. The narrator reflects on aging and how Disney songs remain a source of joy and nostalgia, offering comfort during bad days and unmotivated moments. This suggests that Disney music transcends age and continues to evoke positive emotions regardless of the listener's stage in life.
• 00:30 - 02:00: Disney's Early Impact and Technological Innovations The chapter discusses the significant influence of Disney movies, particularly focusing on their songs that become ingrained in public consciousness. It highlights how these songs serve the dual purpose of advancing the film's narrative while maintaining universal appeal. Moreover, it examines the commercial success of these songs as they often top pop charts, garner prestigious awards, and sometimes catapult their performers to pop stardom.
• 02:00 - 05:00: Music as a Marketing Tool This chapter explores the evolution of Disney's musical influence, detailing how the company's music transitioned from being a mere component of their films to becoming a major force in the pop music charts. The narrative begins in 1928, establishing a historical context of Walt Disney's early ventures, setting the stage for how Disney's music business strategy evolved over time.
• 05:00 - 08:00: The Disney Renaissance and Broadway Influence During the late 1920s, the film industry underwent significant changes, marked by the release of 'The Jazz Singer' by Warner Brothers, which was the first feature-length film with synchronized dialogue. This period also included struggles for Walt Disney as his initial projects, like 'Oswald the Lucky Rabbit' and the first two Mickey Mouse films, failed to find distributors. These times were challenging but set the stage for future successes.
• 08:00 - 11:00: Modern Disney Hits and Pop Culture Influence The chapter titled 'Modern Disney Hits and Pop Culture Influence' discusses the impact of Disney's technological innovations in the realm of animated films. Specifically, it highlights the influence of synchronized sound in Disney movies, using 'Steamboat Willie' as a prime example. Despite not being the first cartoon with synchronized sound, 'Steamboat Willie' marked a significant advancement due to its use of a click track for musicians and the implementation of the Power Cinephone recording system. This innovation contributed to the broader pop culture influence of Disney productions.

How Disney music became a pop staple | BFI video essay Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 [Music] one thing about Disney films that almost everyone can agree on they have excellent music and as I stomp through my mid-30s aging out of relevance and into what I like to call my grumpy George Harrison era the one bit of childhood joy that the world hasn't been out of me is the joy that comes from listening to Disney songs for example bad day [Music] feeling unmotivated [Music]
• 00:30 - 01:00 looming existential crisis [Music] we take for granted that with every new Disney movie a new earworm will borrow its way into our brains and stay there these songs usually have to perform double duty move the narrative along within the film and be universally appealing enough to have life outside the film which can include top and pop charts prestigious Awards and sometimes turning their singers into pop stars
• 01:00 - 01:30 there are a few facets of the entertainment industry that Disney hasn't impacted in its first century and although music has always been an important part of their film releases their crossover into the pop charts is a fairly recent evolution so how did Disney music go from Sideshow to Main Attraction [Music] the year was 1928 and like a lot of 27 year olds Walt Disney had a side hustle making silent cartoons based on a new
• 01:30 - 02:00 Mouse character while working a day job cranking out Oswald the Lucky Rabbit for Universal Pictures the side hustle was flopping the first two Mickey Mouse films failed to gain a distributor the late 20s were a time of seismic changes for the film industry and one of the biggest shifts happened the previous year when Warner Brothers released The Jazz Singer the first feature-links film would synchronized dialogue wait a minute wait a minute you ain't heard nothing yet we don't have his ticket stub or anything but it's believed that
• 02:00 - 02:30 seeing the jazz singer no doubt just hearing of the technological breakthrough inspired while to try this new technology for his next Mickey Mouse flick thank you Steamboat Willy isn't the first cartoon released with synchronized sound but it was a huge technical leap in terms of the variety of Sonic features and production Disney used a click track to keep his musicians on the beat and use a system called power cinephone to record
• 02:30 - 03:00 synchronized sound directly onto the film and it was a runaway success turning both animator and mouse into International Sensations in 1933 Disney sold the publishing rights to the song who's afraid of the big bad wolf from The Three Little Pigs to Urban Berlin Inc and it became a Depression era hits [Music] and in 1937 Snow White and the Seven
• 03:00 - 03:30 Dwarfs became the first animated feature film period as well as the first American Film to have a soundtrack album the cost of what was then a huge technical Innovation quickly spiraled out of control so Disney sold the publishing rights to the music to Urban Berlin Inc to fund the production of the film so music was integral to the company's early success but for most of Disney's first two decades music was secondary to the animation there was even a term coin for this Mickey
• 03:30 - 04:00 mouseing the process of syncing the rhythm of the music to the movement on screen to reinforce the action in 1947 the Walt Disney Music Company wasn't Incorporated enabling Disney to retain the publishing rights to the music for their first big post-world War II release Cinderella salad for the first time outside musicians were hired to write the six songs performed in the film and a deal was
• 04:00 - 04:30 struck with RCA to release a soundtrack alongside its theatrical release in February 1950 with what was then reported to be the biggest children's music promotion at the time the original Cinderella soundtrack reached number one on the billboard charts in May 1950. this spoke to Disney the value of music as marketing this was a time when a lot of people didn't own TV sets and couldn't re-watch their favorite films at home so having a film's soundtrack in your record collection kept the film alive in people's minds and became a useful tool for Disney's brand ubiquity
• 04:30 - 05:00 in the late 1950s Disney began a foray into pop music releasing albums by Disney contract talents like Hayley Mills and Mouseketeer turned Teen Idol Annette Funicello there were some difficult times ahead the late succeeds of the late 80s saw a decline in the quality and success of Disney's animated films and is now known as Disney's dark period this was caused by many factors the deaths of Founders Walt and Roy Disney a loss of creative Direction Financial struggles and a change in the
• 05:00 - 05:30 cultural landscape wholesome just wasn't selling like it used to but as the return of low-rise jeans and Indie sleeves shows us pop culture Trends are cyclical watch and you'll see the phenomenal success of The Little Mermaid in 1989 confirmed that the Public's appetite for fairy tales was back it also launched the era known as the Disney Renaissance and broke a 20-year Awards dry spell by winning two Oscars for the music by composer Alan Menken
• 05:30 - 06:00 and Lyricist Howard Ashman Minka and Ashman had had success on Broadway with The Little Shop of Horrors and approached writing the music in The Little Mermaid like a Broadway musical using it to propel the story forward reveal character and motivations and of course popularizing the I want song I want to be where the people are I want Adventure in the great white somewhere [Music]
• 06:00 - 06:30 The Little Mermaid soundtrack included original tracks recorded by the voice actors from the film and the film helped set the direction for Disney animated films going forward and the studio followed the same template for their next feature Beauty and the Beast a European fairy tale centered around a young girl with music by Minkin and Ashman only this time Minkin and Ashman had one more Innovation that would set Disney's music on a whole new track
• 06:30 - 07:00 quote the title track was the height of Simplicity and we knew that we would have to write a song that could have a life outside the movie the song does two things very well it Chronicles the transformation of Belle and the Beast relationship but by starting with the line Taylor's oldest time it establishes itself as a song that's universally about love it also has a couple of the markers of a good pop song 28 lines or five syllables which make it incredibly memorable in
• 07:00 - 07:30 the film the song was performed by Mrs Potts voiced by Angela Lansbury who was in her late 60s at the time but Alan Menken knew that if the song was to have a chance as a pop hit it would need to be given a pop music treatment this was 1990. the height of the acidics driven NTV era of pop music as good as Angela Lansbury's performance was it wasn't going to sell to the kids and normally I would be mad at this blatant ageism but then look at who they got to record the
• 07:30 - 08:00 single version silken voiced Peabo Bryson and future pop goddess and internet fave Celine goddamn Dion the pop version played over the credits and was released as a single in late 1991. winning one Grammy from three nominations and was a top 10 hit on Billboard charts worldwide Dion and Bryson's recording session was filmed and a music video was edited together using scenes from the film the video then premiered on VH1 airing to viewers who weren't typically part of the target audience for animated films
• 08:00 - 08:30 and thus the modern Disney hit was born Beauty and the Beast the film and the soundtrack were nominated for roughly a bazillion Awards and made lots and lots of money and it established two key facets that Disney continue to follow to this day with the singles from their film soundtracks specific enough to advance narrative while working as a standalone pop song Beauty and the Beast success convinced the industry and audiences that Disney had a Prestige product and Broadway composers Oscar
• 08:30 - 09:00 winning composers and pop stars have all since clamored to get in on a Disney hits I will forever be grateful to the producers of Mulan for making Christina Aguilera happen because without reflections [Music] it would be no dirty [Music]
• 09:00 - 09:30 beyond the Disney Renaissance the 2000 saw Disney Music Mix even further with pop and rock stars like Hillary Duff Lindsay Lohan Demi Lovato Selena Gomez Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers all started out as Disney kids over on Tech talk the official Disney music account has over a million followers and the Disney Music hashtag has upwards of 600 million views with videos ranging from how well do you know Disney to covers parodies fan edits to people suddenly
• 09:30 - 10:00 realizing how weird Camp Rock is I need to find you I gotta find you [Music] there are a few areas in the entertainment industry that haven't been influenced by Disney over the last century the company's Innovations in animation were always closely accompanied by Innovations and music from early sound sync recording to the merging of Broadway style musical
• 10:00 - 10:30 numbers and pop music they make it look easy but when you think about how few things remain as Joyful from Early Childhood throughout adult life for as many people it really does start to seem like magic [Music] thank you
• 10:30 - 11:00 [Music] [Music]