Walt Disney Productions. - Music in Disneys animated features: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to The jungle book

MUSIC IN DISNEYS ANIMATED FEATURES

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to The Jungle Book

JAMES BOHN

FOREWORD BY JEFF KURTTI

www.upress.state.ms.us

Publication of this book was supported by the Bridgewater State University College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the office of the provost of Stonehill College.

Designed by Peter D. Halverson

The University Press of Mississippi is a member of the Association of American University Presses.

Copyright 2017 by University Press of Mississippi

All rights reserved

Manufactured in the United States of America

First printing 2017

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Bohn, James Matthew, 1970 author.

Title: Music in Disneys animated features : Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to The jungle book / James Bohn ; foreword by Jeff Kurtti.

Description: Jackson : University Press of Mississippi, [2017] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016058506 (print) | LCCN 2016059255 (ebook) | ISBN 9781496812148 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781496812155 (epub single) | ISBN 9781496812162 (epub institutional) | ISBN 9781496812179 ( pdf single) | ISBN 9781496812186 (pdf institutional)

Subjects: LCSH: Motion picture musicUnited StatesHistory and criticism. | Animated filmsUnited StatesHistory and criticism. | Disney, Walt, 19011966Criticism and interpretation. | Walt Disney Productions.

Classification: LCC ML2075 .B64 2017 (print) | LCC ML2075 (ebook) | DDC 781.5/42dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016058506

British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data available

LOVINGLY DEDICATED TO MY PARENTS, LAWRENCE AND MARY BOHN, FOR FORTY-SOME YEARS OF LOVE AND SUPPORT

CONTENTS

Walt Disney once wrote, I cannot think of the pictorial story without thinking about the complementary music which will fulfill it. Like so much of the creative work that was inspired by his artistic vision, Walt Disneys music catalogue is frequently regarded (and sometimes dismissed) at face value, with little further attention. Like Disney movies, the term Disney music is a blanket expression applied to a vast number and remarkable variety of works created during Walt Disneys lifetime.

Some people will tell you that music was a key ingredient of Walt Disneys success, film historian Leonard Maltin wrote. Dont you believe it. Music was the foundation of Walt Disneys success. That statement may seem extreme, but remember that the cornerstone of Walts career was Steamboat Willie in 1928. What made Steamboat Willie a hit was the novelty of animated characters moving in rhythm to a musical soundtrack, enhanced by colorful sound effects. Everything depended on that jaunty musical score.1

He did know an astonishing amount about music, longtime collaborator and Disney Imagineer John Hench said, which always amazed everybody, because he kept arguing with the musicians, and did frequently, when he put the films together.2

Music continued to play an essential role in his film and television projects, for the rest of his career, and when he expanded to the creation of live spectacles and his innovative amusement park, music was always a part of his storytelling instincts.

He couldnt read music, Oscar-winning composer Richard Sherman says. He couldnt play an instrument. But Walt was innately musical. He understood how it worked, and he had an instinct about how to make it work for his projects.3

Walts leadership style has, in fact, frequently been compared to that of an orchestra conductorcertainly not able to play a symphony alone, but erudite and able to cast the parts, and get the right talent to fit his desired creative goals.

The music of Walt Disneys films created a seemingly simple but actually sophisticated songbook for millions of children (of all ages, as the saying goes) around the world. This work has been almost ritually passed along to succeeding generations, along with rich cultural memories and memorable entertainment experiences, to gain an even deeper meaning in the ensuing decades.

Within Music in Disneys Animated Features: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to The Jungle Book, James Bohn has assembled an abundant and informative history of the music and musical techniques in Walt Disneys animated films, the circumstances of their creation, and a detailed biographical and professional understanding of the many creative people who coalesced, collaborated, and created a rich and diverse musical score that has collectively come to be regarded, with great esteem and affection, as Disney music.

Introducing us to the many and varied people and events behind Disney music, Bohn not only gives a fascinating and enlightening insight to a particular creative process, he alsorather than diminishing Walt Disneys genius by explicitly giving proper credit to his employeesadds an extra appreciation for a unique kind of creative vision, and a style of leadership that demandsand achievesa collaborative creative goal.

Music in Disneys Animated Features: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to The Jungle Book is an edifying and entertaining volume about perhaps the most important cultural contributions of the twentieth centurys most enduring and influential creative personality, Walt Disney.

JEFF KURTTI

My gratitude goes out to Stonehill College and Dean Maria Curtin for providing support for two research trips to the Walt Disney Archives, as well as providing funds to cover most of the image licensing costs for this volume. Further thanks are due to Bridgewater State University and Dean Paula Krebs for their financial backing of this publication, as well as their assistance through ten course enhancement grants related to the research for this book. Assistance from members of the curriculum committee at Bridgewater State University Music Department, Jean Kreiling, Sarah McQuarrie, and Carol Nicholeris, was central to making the class that made this book possible. I would also like to acknowledge Salil Sachdev and Donald Running, department chairs at Bridgewater State, for their continued support.

I would like to express gratitude to my students, who helped me think this volume through by allowing me to test content on them. Claudine Griggs of the Writing Center of Rhode Island College provided support through three of the Centers Summer Faculty Writing Retreats, as well as through miscellaneous mentoring. Friends and former colleagues from Rhode Island College, Andrew Aziz, Paul Beaudoin, Samuel Breene, and Kathryn Kalinak, also provided advice and support. I also owe a debt to Stacy Grooters and the Center for Teaching and Learning at Stonehill College for their support through a writing boot camp. Bridget Meigs of Stonehills Farmhouse aided in my work as a Farmhouse Writing Fellow.

Many individuals aided me in my research. Jonathan Heely and Rob Schneider at the Disney Music Group graciously provided the information included in the appendix of this volume. Steven Vagnini, Kevin Kerns, Ed Ovalle, Alesha Reyes, Dennis Emslie, Jennie Hendricksen, and Joanna Pratt were very helpful during my research trip to the Walt Disney Archives. Lisa Janacua from the Disney Music Group also aided me with research.