# Diversity in Disney music?



## faustinephel (Apr 24, 2022)

Hello to all ! I'm going to take my exam this year to get my solfege diploma. My subject is Disney music and I would like to explore how Disney music has managed to be diverse *in its musical genres, and its cultural inspirations*. My problematic is still not very clear in my head. But I would like to have opinions from people who know about Disney music if the subject is worth to be studied. I also noticed that until the Jungle Book, the Disney movies were very "European" already in relation to the places where the stories are set, so that the music has a very homogeneous style but I would not be able to describe this style exactly. 

Anyway, if someone knows about it, I'd like some advice!


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## reutunes (Apr 25, 2022)

Sounds like a job for @ChrisSiuMusic


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## ChrisSiuMusic (Apr 25, 2022)

Hey there! Imo, classic Disney was largely centered around traditional musical theatre, with sweeping melodies, lush harmonies and full orchestration. Since the late 2010's though, they've seemed to shift to a more 'poppy' tendency, as well as incorporating various international influences into their films (an example being Encanto). This is not to say the older films didn't have cultural ones as well (Pocahontas, Mulan), but I think they're making a more deliberate effort now to cater to as many audiences as they can.


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## Harzmusic (Apr 25, 2022)

ChrisSiuMusic said:


> Since the late 2010's though, they've seemed to shift to a more 'poppy' tendency, as well as incorporating various international influences into their films (an example being Encanto).


Regarding the songs there is also a direct connection to the current developments in musical theatre, as the songwriters for Disney animated movies are usually extremely successful songwriters from musical theatre (Kirsten Anderson-Lopez&Robert Lopez and Lin Manuel Miranda being responsible for the latest hits).The stylistic changes that are coming to the disney songs at the moment have been pioneered and proven on broadway before.


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## JJP (Apr 25, 2022)

I do a lot of work for Disney. To understand the growth of styles, it’s important to be aware of who the audiences are for these films and TV shows and how they generate revenue. Since the latter half of the 20th century the youth market has been a huge part of their revenue, and youth styles change just like broader cultural styles. Look at the Mickey Mouse Club and how that changed or disappeared over the years. People also tend to forget that there were a number of Disney productions since the 60s that had less music and were more pop-oriented, because they weren’t the things we think of as classics today.

Today a major film may generate more than 50% of its revenue outside the USA. Big tentpole films may not even recoup expenses with revenue from the USA alone. Streaming has shifted those economics further into the TV market. I recently worked on a Disney TV/streaming film sequel that was made solely because of the franchise’s unexpected international success.

Add to that Disney’s awareness that their customers in the USA are more diverse, and it’s logical that they would shift the style of their products to appeal to the widest possible audience. However, this doesn’t apply to all productions. They put out a wide variety of things, some of which are designed to target specific demographics or regions. It’s harder to make broad generalizations about musical styles with Disney because of the breadth of productions.


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## rgames (Apr 25, 2022)

One thing I think you need to address in any discussion of diversity is what you mean by "diversity" and how that definition impacts society. I think that's what you intend to get at but maybe not.

The word "diversity" in modern times usually means cultural or ethnic diversity. But there are other forms of diversity that are, arguably, of greater impact to society, most importantly diversity of thought.

While it is generally true that ethnic diversity is related to diversity of thought, that is not always the case. Diversity of thought correlates better with socioeconomic status than race or ethnicity. A rich white guy and a rich black guy generally think more alike than a rich white guy and a poor white guy.

In the context of Disney, they've made strides in terms of ethnic and racial diversity. That's the easy topic to write about. The harder but more worthwhile topic gets at the ideas that they're presenting and, more importantly, how those ideas impact society. That's the better focus for a paper, IMHO.

A good example of a general lack of diversity of thought within an ethnically/racially diverse group is academia. Though you might not want to mention that fact to an academic who's giving you a grade 

Cheers,

rgames


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## faustinephel (Apr 25, 2022)

Thank you for your help and all your answers! After a day of intense research, I think my problematic will be: How Disney makes us explore time, territories and cultures through music. I would also try to explain the impact on the audience. For the cultural aspect I think I will talk about the treatment of Native Americans, indeed if the song "What made the red man red?" treats Native American culture in a stereotypical and racist way, on the contrary "The colors of the wind" is an ode to Native American beliefs and animism. I'll also have to deal with Disney songs that are in particular dialects, I'm thinking in particular of the introductory music for "Frozen", "The Circle of Life" and "We know the Way" (Vaiana). Historically, the Gregorian chant used in "


Again, if anyone has any thoughts to share with me on this topic, I'd love to hear them and thank you for your help !


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## Snarf (Apr 25, 2022)

rgames said:


> A good example of a general lack of diversity of thought within an ethnically/racially diverse group is academia. Though you might not want to mention that fact to an academic who's giving you a grade


Given their wording & examples, it seems that OP is talking about musical diversity, e.g. instruments and styles used throughout the history of Disney. Not sure how useful your ideas from feminist philosophy of science are in this context.

Edit: OP added more details 1 minute before this post.


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## faustinephel (Apr 25, 2022)

ChrisSiuMusic said:


> Hey there! Imo, classic Disney was largely centered around traditional musical theatre, with sweeping melodies, lush harmonies and full orchestration. Since the late 2010's though, they've seemed to shift to a more 'poppy' tendency, as well as incorporating various international influences into their films (an example being Encanto). This is not to say the older films didn't have cultural ones as well (Pocahontas, Mulan), but I think they're making a more deliberate effort now to cater to as many audiences as they can.


Thanks for your answer! I finally decided to change my problematic, it will be : How Disney makes us explore time, cultures and territories through music. I think it will be an interesting subject to treat. For the cultural aspect, I will deal with the evolution of the vision of the Native Americans through the music of Disney. It might be interesting to contrast "What makes the red men red?" from Peter Pan and "Colors of the Wind" from Pocahontas. If the first song is racist and stereotypical but reflects its time, the second is an ode to Native American beliefs. I will also talk about musics in particular dialect (introduction of Frozen, We know the Way, The Circle of LIfe). I will also talk about the diversity of musical genres: the influences of African-American music in "The Princess and the Frog" and Afro-Caribbean music in "Under The Sea". Historically, I would discuss the use of Tchaikosky's music in "The Sleeping Beauty", Fantasia and the Gregorian chants in "The Bells of Notre Dame". I'll also talk about the fact that Disney's earliest musical influences are almost exclusively American and European with jazz, English folk music in "Robin Hood" and Tyrolean tunes in "Snow White". 

I think I've covered all the information I can find. If you have any tips or information I would greatly appreciate it!


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## RogiervG (Apr 25, 2022)

Well, if you say Disney, you say Alan Menken and Oliver Wallace. they made a lot of scores for disney movies. Listen to their works for the more traditional disney sound and find the elements @ChrisSiuMusic talked about.

And ofcourse the most memorable music theme from Disney is composed by Leigh Harline. It's being used as the Disney logo music for ages (When you wish upon a star).


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## ChrisSiuMusic (Apr 25, 2022)

RogiervG said:


> Well, if you say Disney, you say Alan Menken and Oliver Wallace. they made a lot of scores for disney movies. Listen to their works for the more traditional disney sound and find the elements @ChrisSiuMusic talked about.
> 
> And ofcourse the most memorable music theme from Disney is composed by Leigh Harline. It's being used as the Disney logo music for ages (When you wish upon a star).


So true! 'When you wish upon a star' is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard. 

Funny enough, I'm currently doing a breakdown series of a Disney medley I put together. In case you might be interested in hearing it:


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## GtrString (May 14, 2022)

Well, Rudyard Kipling who wrote the jungle book, which is the foundation of Disney, was english and was inspired a lot by british india, so a colonial perspective is at the core of Disneys emergence.

Today, their world building may be more "woke" about representation of class, culture and gender of course, but the producers aren't all sociology majors. Music is part of that world building, but often used in a cliché'd form, which in turn can be quite lacking in terms of nuances and representations.

Often music is used as a paratext to reduce the interpretive space, not open it further beyond the plot and the framework of the characters, especially when they start targeting younger audiences, who does not have big interpretive repertoires.

So music is quite limited that way, as a slave to the production parameters.


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## Tusker (May 14, 2022)

Excellent ideas here. I do think that a discussion of diversity should have some mention of “cultural appropriation” as an issue which does not have to be central to your paper … 









Here's Why Cultural Appropriation Can Be So Harmful—and How You Can Prevent It


Cultural appropriation: what it is, how to recognize it, and why it can be harmful, according to experts.




www.health.com


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