In movies there are two kinds of music: diegetic and non-diegetic.
Diegetic music refers to music that occurs onscreen, in the universe created by the movie. A great example is seen in Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (which came out in the summer of 2015). Without spoiling too much, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) ends up fighting some bad guys in the staging area of the Vienna Opera House while a performance of Puccini's last opera Turandot is going on below (see the picture). Throughout the fight, you can hear the performance going on and this serves as the "background music" to the drama happening onscreen.
Non-Diegetic music, by contrast, refers to music that is being played by an offscreen source, namely an orchestra, and most film music is considered to be non-diegetic. To record the music, the film plays on a screen while the orchestra records and it looks rather similar to the image below.
And there you have it, a little look into some of the terminology of film music. Expect another installment next week! Hope you enjoyed it.
The prologue of the film being over, the story flashes forward to Aurora's sixteenth birthday. The teenage princess is voiced by opera singer Mary Costa, who also stood in as the physical model for Aurora, though in the story she has been raised under the name Briar Rose by her three "aunts."
Being an opera singer, Aurora's singing style is something of a call back to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Costa is a true soprano (as her vocal improvisation at the beginning of "I Wonder" makes perfectly clear.) On this day, her "aunts" Flora, Fauna and Merriweather need Briar Rose out of the house so that they can make a few surprises for her birthday, so the teenager is shooed out of the house to pick some berries. After Briar Rose leaves, it soon becomes obvious that the fairies have set a huge (read: impossible) task for themselves. According to Merriweather, Flora "can't sew" and Fauna "has never cooked." (Which really makes one wonder who's been keeping the household running all these years.) Nevertheless, the fairies set out on their task and we're soon following Briar Rose out into the forest.
Poor Merriweather...
Of all the Disney Princesses, Aurora speaks the least, and this scene in the forest marks the opening of her first song, "I Wonder." In this song, Aurora/Briar Rose summons her animal friends by improvising a clear soprano melody. It is during this vocal introduction that we also meet the grown up Prince Philip. The prince has no idea that his betrothed is very near by, so naturally he's curious to see the source of this gorgeous melody. As they attempt to find the singer, we go back to Aurora's song.
Riding his faithful horse Samson
As her friends gather, the princess muses aloud about why all the animals around her have their own loved ones, but not her. She then wonders, if she keeps singing, maybe she'll find a lover of her own (ironically the song concludes with Aurora looking wistfully at the royal castle in the distance, not knowing that she's looking at her birthplace and rightful home.) It would seem that at sixteen years old, Aurora feels somewhat...smothered...by her well-meaning aunts who "still treat her like a child."
Like many sixteen year old girls, Aurora wants very much to be in love, in fact she claims to have met her true love already....just in her dreams though. She seems so depressed that he isn't real that the animals decide to do something to cheer her up. It just so happens that Prince Philip is still nearby, drying off after Samson accidentally dunks him into the river. The animals sneak off with his hat, cloak and boots and dress up the owl as her "dream prince" (much to Aurora's amusement). This leads to the first rendition of "Once Upon a Dream" (taken directly from Tchaikovsky's "Sleeping Beauty Waltz.") The melody is very sweet and relatively simple, with hardly any leaps at all (as can be seen in the excerpt below).
While Aurora and the animals are having their fun, Philip and Samson finally lay eyes on the mysterious singer and of course Philip falls in love at first sight. So what does the prince do? Join in the song of course!
The lovely prince and princess share a dance and then at the crucial moment when Philip asks her name, it's only THEN that Aurora remembers that she's not supposed to speak to strangers and runs off. Meanwhile, back at the cottage...things are going...well....not well actually.
Merriweather finally snaps and lets the others know that if they're going to do this properly they just need to use magic. Flora finally agrees and soon enough the cake is nearly ready, the cottage is clean and the dress is almost done. There's just one little snag...shall the dress be pink or blue? (On a side note: the running gag of changing the dress's color stems from a real-life argument the animators had over the very same question. They simply could not agree on whether the dress should be pink or blue so they ended up doing both...in a way.)
Of course, to add to the suspense, the magical fight that breaks out between Flora and Merriweather draws the attention of Maleficent's raven Diablo, who has been searching far and wide for the missing Aurora ever since her other minions revealed that they've been searching for a baby for sixteen years! Diablo peeks his head in and witnesses Aurora coming home to tell her aunts about the wonderful man she's just met, only to hear some rather earth-shattering news (one, her name is Aurora and not Briar Rose. Two, she's a princess and she's going back to the royal castle tonight and three, she must NEVER see that young man again (because of course the fairies have no way of knowing who he is.)) This news delights Diablo and he rushes off to inform his mistress while Aurora, quite naturally, has an emotional breakdown. This leads to one of the most ridiculous lines I have ever heard. Merriweather turns to the others and says "And we thought she'd be so happy..." I'm sorry but, how would YOU react if everything you'd ever known your whole life turned out to be a lie? I don't think I would be pretty happy about it personally (but that's just me.) And remember when I said that Aurora speaks the least out of any Disney Princess? Once Aurora runs upstairs and throws herself on the bed...she doesn't speak again for the rest of the movie!
Part 3 will see the conclusion of the movie, I hope you are enjoying this ongoing series. I should note that once the holidays hit there will probably be a hiatus of a week or two, but I appreciate everyone who's taking the time to read this blog, you guys are awesome!!
After the success of Cinderella, nine long years passed before Sleeping Beauty came to the theater. It wasn't supposed to be that long of a wait, but the production (as many Disney animated features tended to do) ran over-budget and became the most expensive Disney film to date when it was finally finished. Unlike the previous two Disney Princess films, the score to Sleeping Beauty was derived entirely from the music Tchaikovksy wrote for his Sleeping Beauty ballet. The only original item is the lyrics added to the songs (as well as a simplified arrangement of the melody).
After an introduction by an unseen narrator that explains the circumstances of Princess Aurora's birth, the film opens with the song "Hail to the Princess Aurora," ostensibly sung by all the nobles journeying to the castle to see the newborn Princess. This was the first Disney movie to be animated in a widescreen format and the animators took full advantage of the extra space given to them.
"Hail to the Princess Aurora" is a rich choral piece that takes the audience from the town all the way up to the castle where the King and Queen are receiving their guests. The vocal range is not particularly wide (which is the general norm for a Disney song) and it serves as a good introduction to the story.
As we arrive at the castle, King Stefan and his Queen are just receiving King Hubert and his son Prince Philip (the latter is pictured above). The court is next joined by the three Good Fairies: Flora, Fauna and Merriweather (pictured below). All three have come to bestow gifts on the princess. Flora and Fauna give their gifts first; the gifts of Beauty and Song, respectively and they are explained in the form of song, as seen in the lyrics below:
The Gifts of Beauty and Song
One gift, beauty rare,
Gold of sunshine in her hair,
Lips that shame the red, red rose,
She'll walk in springtime wherever she goes!
One gift, the gift of song,
Melody your whole life long!
The nightingale her troubadour,
Bringing his sweet serenade to her door.
According to the original fairy tale, Merriweather's gift was supposed to be the gift of happiness, but before she can grant it, an unexpected guest arrives (and based on the horrified looks on the fairies, it can't be anyone good!
Left to right: Fauna, Flora, Merriweather
The unexpected arrival is none other than Maleficent, one of the most iconic villains Disney ever created (and incidentally, voiced by the same actress who played Lady Tremaine in Cinderella). Maleficent is miffed that she alone was not invited to the christening of Princess Aurora and things are only made worse when Merriweather snaps that Maleficent was "not wanted." However, the dark fairy appears willing to make amends by bestowing a "gift" of her own regardless.
Maleficent's "Gift"
"Listen well, all of you!
The Princess shall indeed,grow in grace and beauty
Beloved by all who know her
But...before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday,
She shall prick her finger, on the spindle of a spinning wheel,
and DIE!"
The damage done, Maleficent departs. However Merriweather still has her gift to give, so she casts her spell, saying that Aurora will not die, but only fall into a deep sleep, and she can be awakened by true love's kiss "for true love conquers all."
But will the fairy's plan to hide Aurora from Maleficent (for sixteen YEARS) actually work? She IS the Mistress of all Evil after all....find out in part 2....where I'll also look at one of Sleeping Beauty's best-known songs.
Now at the end of part 1 we saw that the mice and birds during their "Work Song" had made a beautiful dress for Cinderella to wear to the ball. Now the moment to leave has arrived and Cinderella believes Lady Tremaine is going to stick to her promise of letting her go to the ball. What follows is my least favorite scene in all of Disney (because I can imagine all too well what it would feel like to be Cinderella as her mother's dress is ripped to shreds.) I'm including it though because it's a direct lead-in to one of the cutest Disney songs ever written.
Poor Cinderella has finally reached her breaking point and just when she is on the verge of giving up all hope, *POOF* here is her Fairy Godmother! And with the power of magic, Cinderella will be able to go to the ball after all! Listening to this song brings back all the good memories of childhood. The melody practically bounces from one note to the next, this is because the primary melody is a string of triplets (groups of three notes, see the number three under or above each group, that signifies a triplet.) Also, it's really fun to try and say the nonsense words!
Of course, with any bit of magic, there is always a catch: the spell that created her carriage, her dress and everything else, will break at the last stroke of midnight "and all will be as it was before." Essentially, the Fairy Godmother is giving Cinderella her one chance to make her dreams come true, so she needs to make the most of it.
In her new carriage, Cinderella finally arrives at the castle where the ball is already underway. The Prince stands at the head of a receiving line where every single maiden is being presented to him. Cinderella (in her sparkling Christian Dior-inspired dress, no seriously!!) arrives and attracts the attention of everyone, particularly the Prince, who brushes right by Cinderella's stepsisters and asks her for a dance. This leads to "So This is Love" also known as "The Cinderella Waltz." Unlike Snow White's songs, Cinderella isn't exactly singing while she dances, the words reflect her thoughts as she dances with the man of her dreams. While this love scene goes on, several things happen at once. The King orders the Grand Duke to give the couple some privacy (as he is desperate to see his son married) and Lady Tremaine becomes suspicious about who this mysterious young lady is. But before she can get a closer look, the Grand Duke shuts the curtain and doesn't let her get any closer to the pair.
In terms of tone (and placement in the film), "So This is Love" is Cinderella's equivalent to "Someday My Prince Will Come." Both are waltzes, and both come not long before the climax of the story. The song ends and the couple is clearly in love, but just as things are getting interesting, the clock begins to strike midnight! This is the part that always confused me. If they are truly in love (and the Prince may marry any eligible maiden he chooses), what does it matter if the spell breaks and Cinderella's dress goes away? Nevertheless, all films must have that dramatic moment so as the clock chimes Cinderella flees in her coach, closely pursued by the palace guards. But just as she reaches the house, the clock chimes midnight, the carriage breaks apart, and Cinderella is left in rags once more, but she still retains a single glass slipper (the other was left behind on the palace steps). This leads the King to instigate a kingdom-wide search: the maiden whose foot can wear the glass slipper will be the Prince's bride. Back at the Tremaine house, Cinderella is still half in dream-land over her night with the Prince, but her step-family doesn't suspect that she was there (not yet anyway). When Lady Tremaine announces to her stepdaughters that a messenger from the Prince is coming, Cinderella drops her tray in shock. Then, as she picks up the dishes and heads back to the kitchen, she absentmindedly begins to hum the tune from the waltz last night. Recognizing it, Lady Tremaine realizes that somehow, Cinderella was that girl at the ball last night!
Determined to make one of her daughters the future Queen, Lady Tremaine locks Cinderella in her room and, when that ultimately fails, trips the footman so that the glass slipper shatters. But then Lady Tremaine is in for a shock: Cinderella has the other slipper!
So Cinderella gets her happily ever after despite her evil stepmother! The last shot we see is of Cinderella and the Prince sharing a kiss as the carriage rides off (with a choral refrain of "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes.")
I know this one was shorter than Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs but next time I will be looking at Sleeping Beauty. I hope you enjoyed reading about Cinderella and please feel free to leave a comment (or two!)
A lot has happened since Walt Disney released Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to worldwide acclaim. World War II has come and gone, along with a string of several flops at the box office. Pinocchio (1940), Fantasia (1940) and Bambi (1942), beloved though they may be today, all failed to generate a profit when they first opened in theaters. Heavily in debt, Disney agreed to produce another animated feature film, this time using the classic fairy tale Cendrillon by Charles Perrault as the inspiration. Begun in 1948 and released in 1950, Cinderella was hailed as the greatest animated film since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and is widely considered to be one of the greatest animated films ever made.
The future princess was voiced by singer Ilene Woods. She had become friends with songwriters Mack David and Jerry Livingston, and one day they called her over to record demo tracks for three songs: "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo," "A Dream is A Wish Your Heart Makes," and "So This Is Love." When Disney heard the recordings, he hired Woods immediately to voice Cinderella, choosing her over 300 other girls who had auditioned.
Cinderella in the prologue of the movie
Like Snow White before her, Cinderella (as the story proper opens) is living life under the whim of her brutal stepmother Lady Tremaine and her mean stepsisters, Anastasia and Drizella. They also have a devious black cat named Lucifer, who is always trying to catch the mice that are Cinderella's friends and helpers. While her stepfamily enjoys a luxurious life, Cinderella is forced to do all the chores in her own home. It's during this time that she rescues a new mouse from Lucifer and names him Gus.
Left to right: Lady Tremanie, Drizella, Anastasia
Cinderella sings to Gus and the others about how important dreams are, that "dreams are wishes your heart makes." This is how Cinderella goes through life. You can see the opening of the song in the music below. Compare the opening of this song to any song that Snow White sings and you'll see the difference. Whereas Snow White was a high soprano (Adriana Caselotti was an opera singer later in life), Cinderella's vocal range is closer to that of a contralto (lower than a soprano, but still with a fairly wide range of notes). Keep in mind that over a decade has passed since Snow White was released, and musical styles have changed greatly since then.
Later in the day, Anastasia and Drizella are taking music lessons from their mother and we are "treated" to the sound of Drizella's.....talents....followed in contrast by Cinderella's take on the same melody. This song is special because in it, Walt Disney pioneered the use of double tracked vocals (years before the Beatles did the same thing). A double tracked vocal is when you record an artist singing a song, then record it again and have the artist sing in harmony with the first recording. Ilene Woods did this at least four times, to create a four part harmony with her own voice, and the results are spectacular.
Of course the message Cinderella gets is the one announcing a royal ball where "every eligible maiden is to attend" so that the Prince may select a bride. This does include Cinderella and Lady Tremaine knows that perfectly well. However, as she herself says "IF Cinderella can finish all the chores, get her sisters ready AND have a suitable dress to wear, THEN she may indeed come with them." The key word in that entire sentence, is IF (as a kid it took me years to understand that Lady Tremaine never intended for Cinderella to come with them at all.) The mice, hearing the stepsisters and Lady Tremaine keeping Cinderella busy by running all over the house, are furious and decide to work on the dress so that she can go to the ball in spite of her stepfamily. This leads to "The Work Song." I personally love this song, especially the opening part where Jaq is imitating the nagging voices of the family.
Of course, to finish the dress, the mice may have...borrowed...a few things that Anastasia and Drizella threw away (particularly a necklace and a sash (the ribbon that ties around the waist)). What will her stepsisters think of this? You'll have to read part 2 to find out!
Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinderella_(1950_film)
All music/images are the property of Disney
(*all music and scenes quoted are the property of Walt Disney Co.)
Let's get to it!! After Grumpy is unceremoniously bathed and draped in flowers, we check in with the Evil Queen (not seen since she ordered the Huntsman to take Snow White away and kill her) who is eager to hear that she is once again the fairest in the land. Boy does the Magic Mirror have some bad news for her...
In part 2 I mentioned that this was ten years after the advent of sound film so they were still experimenting somewhat with synchronizing sound to movement. For a good example, listen to the music immediately after the Queen says "Then I've been tricked!" The orchestra begins a melody that spirals downard, matching up with the Queen's movements as she reappears going down a spiral staircase into the dungeon. There is even a musical "slam" to match the sound of the door the Queen slams shut behind her (the raven wakes up to the sound).
What happens next is considered (for some) to be a particularly terrifying sequence: where the Evil Queen transforms into the Evil Witch. Believe it or not, they are voiced by the SAME woman. The story goes that she tried several variations on a "hag's voice" but Disney wasn't satisfied by any of them. Suddenly, the actress excused herself and came back five minutes later and in the next take did a perfect rendition of the witch's voice. Stunned, Disney rushed to the recording booth and asked what she had done to change her voice so radically. "Simple," she answered "I took my teeth out."
The music for the scene where she actually transforms is full of suspense. It begins quietly, with a high pitched note held by the strings (beginning with the words "Now...begin thy magic spell...") It's only once he Queen drops her glass that things really pick up musically. As the room begins to whirl around her, the music responds in kind, almost whipping up into a frenzy, especially in the shot revealing her hair turning from black to white.
Leaving the Queen to plot her revenge against Snow White, we return to the dwarf's cottage where a very "Silly Song" is taking place. Also known as the "Yodel song," it features Snow White and all the dwarves dancing and singing with the animals watching. Bashful is playing an accordion, Doc is playing what looks like a cross between a bass and a dulcimer, Grumpy is playing the organ, Sleepy is occasionally playing a recorder (it's shaped like a fish too), Sneezy is playing a small ukelele and Dopey is playing the drums while the others sing and dance. The entire song is a great example of a rustic folk melody, with two nonsensical verses (performed by Happy and Bashful respectively) in between.
First verse (sung by Happy)
"I'd like to dance and tap my feet
but they won't keep in rhythm!
You see I washed 'em both today
and I can't do nothing with 'em!"
Chorus (sung by all)
"Ho, hum, the tune is dumb
The words don't mean a thing.
Isn't this a silly song
For anyone to sing?"
Second verse (reluctantly sung by Bashful)
"I chased a polecat up a tree
way out upon a limb.
And when he got the best of me,
I got the WORST of him!" (blushes)
The Silly Song is immediately followed by Snow White's final song in the film "Some Day My Prince will Come," where she sings to the dwarfs about how she'll be reunited with her Prince someday and all will live happily ever after. Apparently there was supposed to be a dream sequence to accompany the song but the production either ran out of money or it wasn't coming up to Disney's standards, so it was cut. Musically, the song is a gentle waltz (in 3/4 time). As with other songs in this movie, the melody repeats several times (for a good example, check out the sheet music of the opening of the song below.)
Of course by now the Queen/Witch has made her poison apple and heads to the cottage where Snow White is all alone the next day as the dwarfs leave for the mine. The animals figure out rather quickly that something is fishy about the old woman so they race off to get the dwarfs, but by the time they return, it's too late. The Queen's evil laugh as Snow White appears to fall dead introduces the climax of the film, as a sudden storm breaks out. Before she can even think of leaving, she sees the dwarfs racing in and runs for her life.
Hooray the villain got what was coming to her!!! But seriously, I love watching this sequence, particularly for the music. Watch the scene as the Queen is fleeing through the storm (she gets briefly tangled up in some vines) and heads for a cliff. The orchestra is practically screaming at this point, to match the growing storm, as if everything is coming together to say to the Queen "Why did you harm the innocent Snow White?" Notice also how, as the Queen is trying to pry the boulder loose, the music begins to build to an ominous climax. The dwarfs see the boulder and as the Queen laughs the music gets louder and louder and then the lightning strikes! And the music completely stops. All you hear after the Queen's final scream is the sound of the storm. And really what music would do the scene justice at this point?
Now comes the sad, very sad scene where the dwarfs mourn Snow White. The music for this scene is entitled "Chorale for Snow White" and was composed by Paul J. Smith. The short piece was written for the organ and fits the mood perfectly (you'll notice there is no speaking in this scene.)
After one last piece of narration to get us through the winter and into spring, the Prince finally returns, singing one last refrain of "One Song." Curiously, as the Prince approaches the coffin, you hear the same tentative music as when we first approach the Queen's castle at the opening of the film. Of course the Prince gives her Love's First Kiss and Snow White wakes up, to the joy of all. This last piece of music as the Prince leads Snow White away (on a white horse no less!) never fails to bring tears to my eyes, especially as the camera zooms in on a gorgeous castle appearing up in the clouds (maybe it's up on a really really high mountain?)
I hope you've enjoyed reading about and listening to the songs and music from Snow White andtheSeven Dwarfs. Please leave comments below if you liked it (or even if you didn't like it, I'd love to know how to make it better.) Next time I'll be looking at the next Disney Princess, Cinderella!! Until next time!
Previously, Snow White had just escaped to the forest and made friends with the animals therein. Now she needs a place to stay and the animals are more than happy to help out.
Unbeknownst to everyone (including the animals apparently), this cottage is actually the home of the seven dwarfs: Doc, Happy, Sneezy, Sleepy, Bashful, Grumpy and Dopey. Based on the evidence, that house was never cleaned a day in its life:
Snow White, of course, has a plan to fix all that so she and the animals decide to clean the house for the "children" so that when they come back, maybe they'll let her stay. This idea serves as the introduction for "Whistle While You Work."
I can't tell you how many times I sang this song to myself as a child while I cleaned my room or did a chore. It was funny because at the time I couldn't whistle so I'd sing the verse and then blow air frantically to try and whistle the tune (but I digress...). Look at the sheet music above and you can see how simple the melody is: lines 1 and 3 are identical, as are lines 2 and 4, the only thing that changes are the words (this is the epitome of strophic form). Of course in the movie the song is joined by funny scenes of the animals (along with Snow White) cleaning the filthy cottage. My particular favorite is seeing the chipmunk winding up the spider's web like a ball of yarn only to have the spider come down to object! This is where we leave Snow White for now, as it's finally time to meet the seven dwarfs.
(Above clockwise: Bashful, Happy, Grumpy and Sneezy)
Appropriately enough, as we meet the dwarfs in their incredibly sparkly mine, they're singing about....digging!!! This cute little ditty actually doesn't have too much in the way of melody going on, as the notes are mostly in sync with their picks. What is cool though is the introduction before the song starts (the first four measures): it's musically recreating the sound of the dwarves mining!
Below is the full sequence that introduces the dwarfs, from "We dig dig dig" to "Heigh Ho" which starts the dwarfs on their journey home. The latter technically begins with a call and response as it is Doc who sings out the first "Heigh Ho!!" And all the dwarfs (minus Dopey who doesn't talk) respond with their own "Heigh Ho" which leads into the beginning of the song where they all sing and whistle in unison, basically singing the same verse over and over again (I've said it before and I'll say it again, Disney songs at this point are designed to be relatively simplistic in terms of melody and lyrics). Sound film had only existed for about ten years at this point so filmmakers and animators were still showing off how closely they could synchronize sound to movement.
Enjoy the classic scene below!
Of course, once the dwarfs get home, they quickly realize that something is amiss because their entire house is CLEAN!! (To which Grumpy retorts: "There's dirty work afoot!!") Finally though, Snow White and the dwarfs formally meet and they realize that the princess has been cooking dinner in a big pot. But before they can eat, everyone has to go wash up for dinner. "The Dwarfs Washing Song" or "Bluddle-Uddle-Um-Bum" is early Disney silly at its finest. The song (led by Doc) is juxtaposed against the stubborness of Grumpy (who notably refuses to sing and speaks his lines during this sequence). Actually, compared to the other songs in the movie, this almost isn't a "song" at all, as the dwarfs aren't actually "singing" so much as "speak-singing" the lyrics with musical accompaniment.
This has nothing to do with music, but one of my favorite scenes is when the other dwarfs ambush Grumpy after the main song ends and drag him to the wash tub. Be honest now, at some time or other you've fantasized about getting to do that to someone (I confess: I wanted to!) That's all for now, Part 3 will conclude the film, I hope you're enjoying!
It's hard to imagine, but there was a time when Disney did not completely rule the world of animation and children's movies. Back in the 1930s, Disney was seen as a small studio that created funny cartoons, but little else. Of course Walt Disney had bigger plans, including an idea for making a full-length film that was completely animated (something unheard of at the time). What was once known as "Disney's Folly" became known to history as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
Released in 1937, the titular character is voiced by the singer Adriana Caselotti. She sings several songs over the course of the film, the first of which is "I'm Wishing," sung to her bird friends as she gets water from the well in the castle courtyard. The melody is relatively simplistic, with many leaps from the tonic to the dominant (D to A) and back again. Before the melody returns for a final reprise (just before the Prince interjects), there is a lovely interlude where Caselotti shows off her vocal prowess and sings a call and response with her "echo" in the well. The song serves as a good introduction for the character: she's a young (at least teenage) girl who's clearly done her best to be happy, but still dreams of finding true love (and probably getting away from her stepmother the Queen). The music for this song (and most of the others) was composed by Frank Churchill, who's last work would prove to be the score for Bambi in 1942.
It's amazing how lifelike Snow White looks (and remember this was 1937, before computers, all of this was done BY HAND).
By the way, look at the Prince below, doesn't he remind you just a little of Prince Philip from Sleeping Beauty? (I love his line "Did I frighten you?" Nooo, all women like it when a strange man suddenly drops in on them.)
This charming song is immediately followed by "One Song" sung by the unnamed Prince (his role was supposed to be larger but Disney wasn't entirely convinced that his animators could bring a male character to life convincingly so this is the first and last time we see him until the end of the movie). Like "I'm Wishing," "One Song" is a simple melody, well-suited for a tenor's voice, that clearly sets out what the Prince is saying (i.e. I've fallen in love with you at first sight). The melody is again very simple, with a medium range of notes. Disney songs have a tendency to be very simple melodically (the idea was that this made them more appealing to children).
The only question I have is, if the Prince really loves Snow White that much, why didn't he just take her away right then and there? Where did he go after this song ends? Nevertheless, it is a sweet moment (and the look on the Queen's face when she sees the Prince wooing her stepdaughter is priceless!)
Lyrics to "One Song"
Now that I've found you
Hear what I have to say!
One Song, I have but one song
One song, Only for you
One heart, Tenderly beating
Ever entreating, Constant and true
One love, That has possessed me
One love, Thrilling me through
One song, My heart keeps singing
Of one love, Only for you
Of course for the Queen, seeing the Prince in love with Snow White is the last straw and she arranges to have the young Princess murdered. Fortunately for us, the Huntsman has a conscience and Snow White runs deep into the forest where she encounters a large group of forest animals (interesting how they can understand humans, isn't it?) Now trying to cheer herself up, Snow White sings "With a Smile and a Song" to remind herself how being positive can help you get through tough times. As with the earlier songs, looking at the music below, the vocal part is relatively simple.
With the end of this song, the story transitions now from Snow White to the other part of the title, the Seven Dwarfs! In part 2, we'll pick up the story and meet the dwarfs in their mine as they finish their day and begin the long march home (but boy do they have a surprise waiting for them!!) In the meantime, enjoy the overture to the movie below and I hope you enjoyed Part 1!!
In 1963, MGM released The Pink Panther, the first in what would prove to be a long series of films featuring the bumbling Inspector Clouseau. For the title sequence, the studio created an animated cartoon revolving around a "pink panther" (a play on the Pink Panther Diamond seen in the prologue) who is sneaking around and getting into trouble by messing with the credits.
For the theme itself, Mancini (a noted jazz composer in his own right) created a jazz theme to accompany the insane comedy that the film is noted for.
The theme is primarily performed with a group of trumpet, saxophone and trombone and is a favorite of mine because of how quirky the music is (I challenge anyone to listen to this theme and NOT smile, it is impossible). The main theme is something of a "sneaking" that moves by steps and small leaps up the scale until it reaches the top and then "slides" back down again. I believe it's meant to be reminiscent of the Panther (or the thief in the film) sneaking around and trying not to get caught.
In fact, the theme (and the Pink Panther) became so popular that a cartoon series was created specifically for the character (as well as a comic book series published by Gold Key).
Listen now to the full theme and enjoy the jazzy glory of it all, thanks to Henry Mancini.
*All music shown is the property of Disney and Lucasfilm, I own nothing.
"I love you....I know..." One of the most remembered lines from the Star Wars universe came moments before Han Solo was frozen in carbonite by the evil Darth Vader. Leia finally realizes that she loves the scoundrel of an ex-smuggler and he reveals that he's known it pretty much all along.
(On a side note, Han's response was a complete ad-lib by Harrison Ford, as they had tried numerous takes using the generic "I love you too" and it just wasn't working out.)
The music heard immediately before this line (when Han and Leia share a brief kiss) is the culmination of a theme that has been building since early in the film when the two are seen arguing in the ice caverns of Hoth.
Musically, this love theme is remarkably similar to Leia's original theme (as heard in the first film):
Notice that both begin with large leaps from the first note to the second, using a pickup note. Both can also be divided into two sections, with the second section featuring a leap as well. The primary difference is that whereas the love theme drops down a whole step after the initial leap, the original Leia theme keeps going up. It's almost like an inversion of the original theme, where the music now moves downward instead of up.
Of course Empire Strikes Back is also where we get to meet Yoda, the diminutive (size matters not!) and slightly eccentric Jedi Master who reluctantly agrees to train Luke in the ways of the Force. Yoda's theme, a quiet melody for woodwinds, is first heard after Yoda is walking back to his hut and inviting Luke to follow. Of course at this point we have no idea that this is actually Yoda (or maybe we do, but Luke certainly doesn't).
The theme is a perfect match for the ancient Jedi Master. It exudes a quiet confidence, the exact opposite in fact of the "Imperial March." This theme really comes out in full when Yoda demonstrates what the Force can do when he successfully raises Luke's sunken X-Wing from the swamp.
Here is an interesting feature that talks about the entire score of Ben-Hur by Miklos Rozsa. As far as epic scores go, this is one of my personal favorites. Unfortunately, the composer (to my knowledge) did not film many interviews, so we have to rely on interviews with other composers to learn about how the score was put together.
The late James Horner was well-known (and criticized) for heavily borrowing from previous work when he was making new film scores. The first Deja vu post looked at one melody that is shared between Horner's two films Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Aliens. Not surprisingly, this was not the only melody in common between the two films and this post will look at a second one now.
In Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, the titular villain is introduced after Commander Chekhov and Captain Terrell beam down to the planet that Khan and his followers were marooned upon (in the events of the original season one episode "Space Seed"). The reveal of Khan's identity is slow, with tension building in the music with strings and woodwinds. At last though, the mysterious character unveils his face and a terrified Chekhov whispers "Khan..."
Listen to the melody beginning at 0:34
When I watched this movie as a teenager, I originally thought that this exotic melody was an homage to Khan's theme in the original "Space Seed" episode. However, when I went back and watched "Space Seed," the music sounded nothing like the theme in the film. It wasn't until I began to watch the movie Aliens that I made the connection as to where I had heard this theme (however briefly) before (originally I had seen Aliens first). In the film Aliens, Ripley is talked into travelling back to the asteroid where the xenomorph was originally found because Earth has lost contact with a colony established there. As the ship approaches land, a large object looms out of the mist: the atmospheric processing station. As they circle, you can hear the theme from Wrath of Khan once more at the beginning of the clip.
Many critics liked to disparage Horner's reusing of themes by calling it "unoriginal." But I don't agree with them. I feel that if a composer creates a theme for one film, and then feels that it would also work in a later project, then they should go ahead and use it.
One thing that must be understood about "classic" Hollywood films (usually anything made before 1960) is that in those days, the large epic films were constructed very much like an opera or a play would be. By this I mean, they would have separate screens labelled "overture" (as Ben-Hur does above), "Intermission" and also "Exit Music" (music that would play while the audience left the theatre). This overture was composed by the Hungarian Miklos Rozsa for the 1959 epic Ben-Hur. He won the Academy Award for Best Score and many cite it as being one of the greatest film scores of all time. The image is an extreme close-up of the figures of Adam and God on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
Above is the first eight measures from the beginning of the overture (from the original score)
In a nearly two hour long interview, Jerry Goldsmith tells his life story for the Archive of American Television project. This is a great resource for anyone wishing to learn more about the life of the composer.
It is always invaluable to hear a composer speak about why he created a film score in a certain way. Just imagine if it had been possible to videotape Beethoven or Mozart speaking about THEIR works. Resources like this become all the more valuable (and poignant) when the composer passes away suddenly. While many of the greats (including James Horner) have passed on, at least we have a portion of their thoughts set down and recorded.
A look inside Goldsmith's thought process when he created the score for the ever-terrifying Alien (for a sense of contrast, keep in mind that he composed Alien in the same year as Star Trek: The Motion Picture!!) In fact, if you listen closely, some say that you can hear some of the same minor themes in both films. Primarily listen to the music early in Alien when the camera is panning through the empty corridors of the Nostromo and compare to the music in the scene where Spock is stealing a thruster suit rather late in the film.
