Disney Composers

Song of the Week

"God Bless the USA"

Monday

Listening Example: "A Spoonful of Sugar" from Mary Poppins

When you hear the word Disney, you immediately think of Mickey Mouse, Cinderella or Anna and Elsa. Everything Disney does seems to be truly magical. In order to make the magic happen, everything Disney does, has to be perfect! No detail can be overlooked in the wonderful world of Disney, and that includes music. It is for this reason that Disney only uses the best composers and musicians to produce the music for their movies, shows and theme parks. This week we will learn about 5 composers that work for Disney, although there are many more to learn about.

Today we will learn about the Sherman brothers. Robert and Richard Sherman are true Disney Music Legends.
The list of songs which the Sherman Brothers created for Disney seems to be endless. For ten years they worked on more or less every project, starting with “The Sword in the Stone” and ending with “The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh”, including the two live-action with animation movies “Mary Poppins” and “Bedknobs and Broomsticks”.

They also wrote the music for most of the theme park rides which were created during this time. That’s right, you can blame them for It’s a small World, the song which might be the single most performed and most translated piece of music on Earth.

All in all, it is no wonder that they were the first musicians who were named Disney Legends, an honor they received in 1990. Today’s Listening Example is the song, written and composed by the Sherman Brothers, “A Spoonful of Sugar” from Mary Poppins.

Tuesday

Listening Example: "Under the Sea" from The Little Mermaid

Today we will learn about Howard Ashman. Howard Ashman was a lyricist. That means he wrote the lyrics, or the words, for the music. He worked with composers to put his words to music. Ashman mainly worked with Alan Menken, who we will learn about tomorrow.

Howard Ashman wrote songs for the Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and some of his songs were put on the Aladdin soundtrack. He unfortunately passed away without knowing that three of his original songs would be used for Disney’s Aladdin for which he won a second Academy Award.

Ashman’s philosophy was that a song should always contribute to the plot That is why every song in the movie “Beauty and the Beast” fits perfectly in the story line. In fact, the movie would not make sense if even one song was removed.

In 2001, along with Alan Menken, he was dubbed a Disney Legend. Beauty and the Beast is dedicated “To our friend Howard, who gave a mermaid her voice and a beast his soul, we will be forever grateful.” Today’s Listening Example is “Under the Sea” from The Little Mermaid.

Wednesday

Listening Example: "A Whole New World" from Aladdin

Today, we meet Alan Menken, who has written the music for many of the Disney movies you all know and love. In fact, alongside Howard ashman, Menken created the animated musical style that Disney is so well known for today.

Alan Menken continued to work for Disney on “Aladdin”, “Pocahontas”, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”, “Hercules”, “Home on the Range”, “Enchanted” and “Tangled”, as well as the non-animated movie musical “Newsies”. He won two academy awards for Best Original Song and Best Original Score for “The Little Mermaid”, “Beauty and the Beast”, “Aladdin” and “Pocahontas”, which made him the most prolific Oscar winner in the music category. There is no living person who got the award as often as he did (The person who won most academy awards overall is Walt Disney himself).

Menken was named a Disney legend in 2001, but he still composes for Disney today. Today’s Listening Example is “A Whole New World” from Disney’s Aladdin.

Thursday

Listening Example: "You Got a Friend In Me" from Toy Story

The next composer on our list is well known artist, Randy Newman.

Most of the work Randy Newman did was for Pixar and not for Disney; however, Disney has recently taken over Pixar. Pixar’s musical identity of the early days is pretty much defined by the Newman family from start to finish. Randy Newman (who worked on “A Bug’s Life”, “Monsters, Inc” and “Monsters University”, “Cars” and the “Toy Story” trilogy) and his cousin Thomas Newman. For Disney studios, Randy wrote the music for the “The Princess and the Frog.”

Randy was named a Disney legend in 2007, and continues to work for Disney through Pixar. He recently wrote the music for Toy Story 4. Today’s Listening Example is “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” from Toy Story. This song put Randy Newman on the map as a composer and is a favorite of many.

Friday

Listening Example: "What's This" from The Nightmare Before Christmas

Today we will learn about Danny Elfman, who has composed many scores for Disney movies. Elfman is different from our other composers in that his music is a bit more dark. For example, he wrote the scores for “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and the live action Dumbo.

Elfman wrote the soundtracks for Dick Tracy, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Flubber, My Favorite Martian, Meet The Robinsons, Alice In Wonderland, Frankenweenie, Oz the Great and Powerful, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Alice Through the Looking Glass, and more recently Dumbo.

Like all the other composers we have learned about this week, Danny Elfman was dubbed a Disney Legend in 2005. The Nightmare Before Christmas is still popular to this day. At Disneyland and Disneyworld at Halloween time and Christmas time, The Haunted Mansion is decorated in this movie theme.

Today’s Listening Example is “What’s This?” from “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”

References

https://swanpride3.wordpress.com/2014/11/23/the-top-ten-disney-composer-and-songwriter/

https://www.willanacademy.com/how-many-composers-are-there-for-disney/