PDA

View Full Version : Songs in Disney Animation



Brown Monkey
02-11-2002, 02:16 PM
I'm not too sure that this thread should be posted here, but I just wanted to ask everyone what you all thought of the direction Disney seems to be taking when making their animated films.

The one thing that most concerns me with Disney movies lately is the absence of songs which are sung by the characters themselves. One thing that made Disney animation stand out from the rest were the really great, original songs that they would compose. And everyone associated great Disney animation with great Disney songs, right? Disney was famous for this.

Although a movie might still have a great storyline and will probably sell without any songs, what alot people remember the most from the movies ARE the songs. Remember how excited you would get when your favorite Disney song started playing and how happy you felt remembering how great that certain part of movie was because of it? You just can't get that with Disney's movies lately. It feels like you lose the connection and the special feeing of magic. All because of the fact that there just aren't any songs to begin with.

I hope that in the future, Disney will bring back the songs! I think we all would really appreciate it!

What are some of your opinions?

Gemini Cricket
02-11-2002, 02:31 PM
A couple of points I have about songs in their animated feature films:

1. Glenn Close should have been the only singer of "You'll Be in My Heart" during the film "Tarzan". When Phil Collins chimed in, covering her up, I gagged. Ms. Close has a great voice.

2. I'm glad they didn't show Beast sing in "Beauty and the Beast". His voiced over solo for "Something There" was better.

3. I'm glad Prince Eric didn't sing at all in "Mermaid". The sequel...that's another gag story.

4. Having the cast sing throughout "Emperor's New Groove" would not have worked. The Tom Jones guy was just enough...

I agree, they should go back to the type of storytelling singing in their films. Like "Belle" from "Beauty and the Beast". But, in some stories it doesn't work. I wouldn't have wanted to see Phoebus sing in "Hunchback". He didn't need to, although he (Kevin Kline) can sing... Same goes for Mulan's dad, King Triton, Tarzan and the cast of "Atlantis"... it just wouldn't work.

innerSpaceman
02-11-2002, 04:01 PM
I, for one, am glad that Atlantis represented an end to Disney Animation's slavish insistence upon every film being a musical. Last year's Atlantis was the first non-musical animated film since 1980's The Rescuers Down Under.

After the critical and commercial success of The Little Mermaid, it was apparently decreed that all cartoon films must be movie musicals. Hence, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Pocahantis, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules and Mulan were released consecutively, with no non-musicals during that long stretch of years. It seems that Disney has wised up and realized that not all films are appropriate for the full musical treatment. So Emperor's New Groove featured only an opening number, Tarzan featured songs voiced by Phil Collins as opposed to being sung by the toon characters, and Atlantis returned to a completely non-musical format.

I like the musicals as much as the next guy, but make sure the story fits that type of treatment, and then make sure that the songs are great. If you don't have these two elements, then make the movie without music.

BELLEH5
02-11-2002, 05:53 PM
Lately I've been really disapointed with Walt Disney Studos, because of all the meaning-less sequals coming out years later and are just plain stupid!! Cinderlla 2, Dumbo 2, Lady& the Tramp 2, and now Peter Pan 2. The sequals try to pick where the story ended 50 years ago. There's no magic in the sequals!! Is the studio in need of cash? I for one love the disney songs in a animated flim. I look forward to them. The songs are part of the magic. Atlantis was a great flim! What is going on behind the studio gates? Are they too cheap to hire/write music??? I think the Great Disney flim has come to an end.