INTRODUCTION
“There’s a terrific power to music. You can run any of these pictures and they’d be dragging and boring, but the minute you put music behind them, they have life and vitality they don’t get any other way.” ~Walt Disney
Walt Disney didn’t read or write music. In fact, he never even played an instrument. And yet his influence upon music was and continues to be so profound that the great American composer Jerome Kern was moved to say, “Disney has made use of music as language. In the synchronization of humorous episodes with humorous music, he has unquestionably given us the outstanding contribution of our time.”
That’s obviously lofty praise, especially coming as it did from a musical legend like Kern. But what makes his words all the more amazing is the fact that he said them in 1936, before the release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which is arguably not only one of Walt Disney’s greatest moments in animation, but in music as well.
Still, the question remains: if Walt didn’t write any songs or compose any scores, how could he have had such a deep and lasting impact on music?
The answer, simply enough, is the same way in which he had such a profound effect upon animation without actually animating even one mouse or dwarf.
Walt was the mover and shaker, the man of vision who gathered around him some of the most talented writers, artists, composers and musicians who bought into his dreams and schemes and made them happen, all under his watchful eye.
He once described his role this way: “My role? Well, you know I was stumped one day when a little boy asked, ‘Do you draw Mickey Mouse?’ I had to admit I do not draw anymore. ‘Then you think up the jokes and ideas?’ ‘No,’ I said, ‘I don’t do that.’ Finally, he looked at me and said, ‘Mr. Disney, just what do you do?’ ‘Well,’ I said, ‘sometimes I think of myself as a little bee. I go from one area of the Studio to another and gather pollen and sort of stimulate everybody. I guess that’s the job I do.’”
Of course, that doesn’t explain Walt Disney’s uncanny feel for what worked and what didn’t, be it in music, films or theme parks.
Perhaps Eric Sevareid summed it up best in his tribute to Walt on the “CBS Evening News” the day Walt died: “He was an original; not just an American original, but an original, period. He was a happy accident; one of the happiest this century has experienced… People are saying we’ll never see his like again.”
Maybe it was his Midwestern upbringing and Mid-American, mainstream appreciation for music and movies, or maybe he was just “a happy accident,” but Walt Disney aimed to create entertainment that he himself would enjoy. Could he help it if hundreds of millions of people around the world happened to agree with him?
So although he didn’t write “When You Wish Upon a Star,” “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah” or any of the other hundreds of tunes that make up the Disney canon, his imprimatur is stamped onto every song and score. When you hear “Whistle While You Work,” you may not know that the words were written by Larry Morey and the music by Frank Churchill, but you certainly know it’s a Disney song.
Disney songs represent a style and sprightliness that makes them eminently hummable and totally unforgettable. They were very much a reflection of their patron, who concentrated on melody and didn’t like anything that was too loud or high-pitched.
Even the “Disney” songs and scores being written today, a whole quarter of a century after Walt Disney’s death, reflect the spirit and influence of this man who had a special ability to recognize what kind of music best fit a scene or situation and, more importantly (and more to the point), what was good.
It was Walt’s direction and influence that led his composers and musicians to pioneer musical concepts and technologies that influenced both the film and music industries for decades – and continue to do so to this day.
The Music of Disney: A Legacy in Song contains a representative sampling of songs from Disney films, television shows and theme parks, from the beginnings of the Disney Studio on into today. The music embraces a wide range of themes and styles, and indicates the breadth and depth of the Disney music library.
The songs for this collector’s edition were selected after months of research, debate and difficult decision-making. Such is the dilemma when you have so much excellent music to choose from but only three CDs or tapes to put it on. However, it is our hope that the songs we have selected – 78 of them representing over three hours of music – will bring back many warm memories or, for those in the early years of life, create some new ones.
So sit back, relax and we’ll share with you more than 60 years of Disney music. Along the way, you’ll hear some time-honored classics, a few obscure but no less noteworthy tunes and, best of all, just some plain good music.
