Introduction

by Karl Beaudry

There are two hobbies in my life that consume much of my time: Disney and music.

When I was 11 years old, my parents took me to Walt Disney World. The year was 1971 and the month was December. If you are a true Disney fan, you’ve already realized that this was the first Christmas at Walt Disney World. The crowds were massive and the lines were long, but the frustrations were far outweighed by the magical influence that trip had on me. I can clearly remember standing in line at the Transportation and Ticket Center and being in awe of the Monorail overhead, its sleek shape and quiet motors portraying a futuristic preview of what I would see inside the park. I was smitten by the Disney bug and have been back countless times since that first trip, soaking up all I can about the parks and all things Disney.

Music, on the other hand, has been a talent and interest handed down through the family. My parents made sure that I had piano and instrumental lessons from the time I was very young. Now that I’m an adult, I consider myself to be somewhat of an expert with music. I’ve been performing, writing, arranging, and conducting all my life. Professional, semi-professional, television, church, local, school—you name it—I’ve experienced it musically. I am a music theory enthusiast and I love the challenge of hearing music and analyzing it in my head for both rhythm and harmony. My wife and I regularly perform concerts together and find music to be a great escape from the realities of the world.

As a result of this combination of interests, I am not surprisingly obsessed with the music of Disney. The only music I have on my iPhone comes from a 2-CD set of Walt Disney World park and attraction music. My ring tone is a portion of the opening theme from “Illuminations: Reflections of Earth”. The first notes I play when sitting at the piano are usually familiar phrases from Beauty and the Beast or Aladdin. And what about my morning wake-up music? You guessed it—the music heard every morning on Main Street, U.S.A. In addition, I’m probably the world’s greatest Sherman Brothers fan. (We will discuss the Sherman Brothers at length in this book.)

But my obsession with Disney music has led me to some intriguing questions I’ve never been able to answer. What is it about Disney music that has me so glued to it? How do they do it? What kind of acoustical science must they be using to draw people in like the Pied Piper’s rats? After all, this is Disney we’re talking about. It is simply not possible that the music of Disney would just be carelessly recorded and mixed without some vast marketing philosophy to control its existence. There has to be some sort of unwritten conspiracy behind each composition. There must be some sort of formula that infuses each song with a powerful magnet, giving it the ability to move people in one direction or another, convince them to buy something, or control their moods during the day. After all, Disney marketing created the most recognizable icon in the world with three simple circles (right up there with the Coca Cola scripted letters). A company with that level of branding ability is going to study the effects music has on its customers. We know, of course, that music’s effects can be powerful. Consider this paragraph from the muzak.com website:

The power of music is undeniable. Music creates a connection and sets a mood. It can motivate, attract and engage. It can be a competitive advantage and a reason for customers to come in and come back. Let Muzak help you use the widest selection of fully licensed music solutions to create an environment that will enhance your brand and build your business.

Those of us who know Disney’s methods can be confident that they have invested an immense amount of time and effort into studying how they use music and how it will affect their ability to gain and keep customers. So what were their conclusions? How do they use music to “trick” their customers into thinking that Walt Disney World is the Happiest Place on Earth? How do they use music and sounds to wrap me around their corporate finger?

Several years ago I started to seek out answers to those questions. Despite my knowledge of music and its construction, I was still not completely sure of what I would discover. My investigation led me to some fascinating realms of musical and psycho-acoustical theories. Of course, my research also led me to Walt Disney World itself many times. (It’s a rough job, but somebody has to do it.) I can still remember my amazement at the construction of the theme music for the SpectroMagic Night Time parade along Main Street. It was at that time I decided to push further and truly hunt for some conclusions to satisfy my own curiosity.

This book is a result of my study. I must admit that I have spent far too long on the entire project, but I also know it is one of those things that will possibly never end. On the other hand, I am excited about what I can share with you right now regarding the ingredients in a Disney song (and many other songs) that keep people listening. The book will be covering music (and sound effects) in Disney theme parks and resorts, along with the famous Disney film and television music that one would expect to be included in a study such as this. (Note that I’ll be introducing some rather advanced musical terms; I define these for a lay audience in the appendix.)

There are two very important points to be made clear before embarking on this study, or any study of music as it relates to the tastes and preferences of listeners:

• It is impossible to apply what we will discuss here to all Disney music. Because music is an art, there are no comfortable corners that we can fit every song into. While we can emphasize certain characteristics of the better-known songs, we will always run into an inevitable list of hit songs that do not fit into any of our “theories”. That is a good thing! It is the variety in music that makes it so wonderful. When one considers the thousands of songs in the Disney repertoire, there can be no doubt that many of them will represent the square song that does not fit into our round hole.
• Many readers will most certainly get through half of this book and start to wonder if there’s anything new under the sun. They will read of the various “hooks” within Disney music that make it popular and ask why these same things could not be said about any music. While it is my firm belief that there are certain exclusive characteristics of Disney music, I am also not naïve enough to believe that Disney musicians have a monopoly on the techniques they use. After all, the use of these familiar techniques for all music is most likely what makes it so comforting to us. There are definitely certain features in most popular songs that make their patterns predictable. That ability to predict provides us an unconscious form of relaxation and security, while at the same time increasing our desire to hear the song again. It is clear that Disney does not hold the exclusive patent on the “hooks” we will discuss, but they just may be the best at using them over and over again in an ever-increasing variety of contexts.

So why should I be the one to write this book? Am I the expert on this topic? Absolutely not! But I was truly amazed to find that after years of searching for material on this subject, I could find nothing. There are many great books on the topic of Disney music, but none covering the wonderful features that make it qualified to be “Disney”. I look for the behind-the-scenes magical formulas that make Disney what it is and I am rarely disappointed. Since I am also a musician, I find that my “mouse ears” are often tuned to everything going on at the parks and in the movies. As a result, at the very least, the reader of this study can expect a child-like sincerity and excitement, combined with a lifelong passion for and study of both Disney and music.

PS. Throughout this book, you’ll find short comments by Disney fans about the kind of Disney music they enjoy, and why it’s meaningful to them. I think it’s important not just to study Disney music as a quasi-academic topic, but to give examples of its use “in the wild” and the effect it has on people like you and me.