Film Music 101: Mickey Mousing

In the world of film and animation music, "Mickey Mousing" is the affectionate (and occasionally derogatory) nickname given to a technique whereby the music and the action on the screen are completely in sync with each other. The reason this technique is called "Mickey Mousing" is because it first appeared in the 1928 cartoon Steamboat Willie starring Mickey Mouse!

Incidentally, Mickey was originally voiced by Walt Disney himself!

The reason "Mickey Mousing" occurred at all is because, after film studios learned the trick of making sound film, they all wanted to show off the fact that their films had sound. To that end, the soundtracks of many, MANY films, were overly synchronized with the actin on the screen, and this happened a lot in the early Disney cartoons as well.

For instance, the 1929 cartoon Skeleton Dance is a 5 1/2 minute example of "Mickey Mousing." Take a few minutes to watch it and I believe you'll see what I mean.

My favorite moment in "Skeleton Dance" comes when the one skeleton is sneaking around, taking first three long strides and then quick stepping (and how the music matches his movement, it's a trick seen more than once in cartoons).

While "Mickey Mousing" has decreased greatly over the years, it is still being used. A more recent example can be found in the first Spider-Man movie in 2002. In the scene where Peter (Tobey Maguire) discovers he has the ability to climb walls, listen to what the music does when his hand first touches the brick wall and then begins to climb up, it's mimicking his actions! Pretty cool right? Have a look here below:



Hope you enjoyed another look at the world of film music, have a great day!

On this day in Film History: January 6th

January 6th, 1942: Disney's Fantasia opens in theaters (not to be confused with its official New York premiere in 1940)

Seventy-four years ago, a strange movie opened in American cinemas. Fantasia was far from the typical feature film, beacause rather than telling a unified story, it was separated into a series of musical segments, some told stories, others consisted of abstract images. Disney originally intended for Fantasia to be the first in a recurring series of films that would continuously update itself by including old segments and adding in new portions as time went on. Although Fantasia 2000 attempted to follow this model, the plan ultimately fell through. Nonetheless, Fantasia is nowadays considered a masterpiece of animation and of musical talent.

The film is divided into eight musical segments and they are as follows:

• Toccata and Fugue in D Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach

Of all the segments in Fantasia, the Toccata and Fugue is by far the most abstract segment of them all. The Toccata consists of the camera panning through the orchestra, with occasional shots of conductor Leopold Stokowski's back (seen in the picture above). The Fugue section is when things get interesting (or weird, depending upon how you feel about classical music). The viewer is taken through a medley of rolling red and purple hills, endless staircases and fantastical landscapes, all before plummeting back to earth and the orchestra as the piece finally comes to an end.

• The Nutcracker Suite by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Despite it's name (and the host informs the audience as well), the titular Nutcracker does not appear in this segment. What does appear are a number of dances from the ballet, namely: "The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy"; "Chinese Dance"; "Dance of the Flutes"; "Arabian Dance"; "Russian Dance"; and "Waltz of the Flowers."

Dancing mushrooms from the "Chinese Dance"

Dancing flowers from the "Russian Dance"

Ice fairies from "Waltz of the Flowers"

• The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Paul Dukas

This is the only segment to be brought back in Fantasia 2000 and one of the most famous, mostly because of its famous star: Mickey Mouse is the titular apprentice, who works tirelessly for the wizard Yen Sid (Disney spelled backwards). Once the wizard departs for bed, Mickey decides to create some "help" to get his chores done quicker, but things quickly get out of hand...

Mickey and the broomstick

Daydreaming of being a great wizard...

Busted!!

• The Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky

This segment is usually the one kids remember because this is "the dinosaur segment" (at least that's how I always remembered it when I was growing up). Disney took Stravinsky's ballet about a group of primitives performing ritual sacrifice (not kidding about this) and transformed it into a story about evolution, starting with the primitive Earth boiling in lava, through the creation of microbes up until the mighty dinosaurs themselves. The climax of the segment (before the extinction anyway), is a terrifying segment where a T-Rex attacks a group of peaceful dinosaurs and the T-Rex squares off against the Stegosaurus (keep in mind that T-Rex was viewed primarily as a hunter in those days, and not believed to be the scavenger we now suspect he might have been).

The two square off, but you just know Stegosaurus doesn't stand a chance

How the dinosaurs were thought to have gone extinct before the Chicxulub crater was discovered

• Intermission/Meet the Soundtrack

Now comes an interlude where first, we see the musicians having an impromptu jam session and then our host introduces us to the soundtrack, personified as an animated string standing in the center of the stage. This animated string is used to demonstrate the different sounds the orchestra makes. Below is just one example (it's really funny to watch):

Demonstrating the sound of a harp

• The Pastoral Symphony (Symphony No. 6) by Ludwig van Beethoven

Now into the second half of the program, we see Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 (also called the Pastoral Symphony). Beethoven wrote this symphony as his deafness was progressively getting worse and so he deliberately evoked the landscape of the country in his musical writing and the Disney animators took these sounds and created a fantastical Greek world where all the creatures of mythology live. For instance you have (in no particular order):

Pegasus

Centaurs and Cherubs

Little unicorns, and of course...

Greek gods!

The whole program revolves around a day in the life in this little paradise. We see the life of a Pegasus family, courtship among the centaurs, a huge wine party hosted by Dionysus, a gigantic thunderstorm created by Zeus (apparently because he can), the aftermath and a spectacular sunset (with a brief cameo by Apollo no less!)

Apollo waving goodbye

• Dance of the Hours by Amilcare Ponchielli

Next comes the ever hilarious Dance of the Hours, an allegory of the progression from Day to Night. The segment starts with Madame Upanova waking up her ostrich dancers (they represent the Morning)

Truthfully? I did NOT know these characters had names

The ostriches are frightened away by Hyacinth Hippo and her servants (and they represent the Afternoon)

While Hyacinth takes a nap, several elephants (led by Elephanchine) come in and do a bubble dance (and they represent the Evening)

Finally, the Elephants are (literally) blown away by the evening wind and Hyacinth remains asleep, unaware that Night has now fallen and she is being observed by Ben Ali Gator (get it?) and his troop of gators. Somehow, Ali Gator falls hopelessly in love with Hyacinth and she seems to reciprocate (an alligator and a hippo?!?!) and they share a brief dance together before Hyacinth gives a brief glance of "come and get me if you want me" and Ali Gator gladly gives chase, leading to the wild finale where the other alligators chase throughout the palace, pulling out ostriches, Hippos and Elephants, all while Hyacinth and Ali Gator dance oblivious. The finale is SO tremendous in fact, that it literally brings the palace crashing down at the very end.

• Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria by Modest Mussorgsky and Franz Schubert respectively

The climax of the program now comes with Night on Bald Mountain. On a distant mountain in the Eastern European countryside, the black demon Chernabog awakens at midnight and begins his devilish plan of wreaking havoc upon the world below.

This scared me so much when i was a kid!!

Chernabog summons ghosts, witches, lesser demons and who knows what else and all converge in a riotous dance of death on the mountain top.

But just as Chernabog has gathered his full power and is about to attack, a bell rings and the demon stops. The bell continues to ring, and each time a white flash appears to blind him. It is the early hour and a nearby church is calling the monks to prayer. It is the holy power of prayer that stops Chernabog and forces him to go back to sleep for another night. Meanwhile, the monks continue to pray, and the segment gives way to Schubert's Ave Maria

The monks walking to prayer

And that is how Fantasia ends. After the segment ends, we see the musicians departing the same way we came in, but there's no more narration, no more music.

Sleeping Beauty Part 3: True Love Conquers All!

As we begin to reach the end of the film, we finally go back to the castle where King Stefan is impatiently waiting for the sun to set so he can finally see his daughter. King Hubert (Philip's father) tries to cheer Stefan up by presenting him a bottle of wine that he has been saving for sixteen years.

This is "Skumps" (also known as "The Drinking Song"), a jovial song performed by Hubert and Stefan as they toast Aurora's imminent return and the fact that the marriage of their children will unite their kingdoms. Of course Hubert wants the wedding to happen right away and, as Stefan rightly points out "I haven't even SEEN my daughter yet, and you're trying to take her away from me!" (The film Maleficent delves a whole lot deeper into the question of what happens when you're not actually raised by your parents and then reintroduced to them)



Now that Aurora knows the truth about who she really is, the movie shifts to the part I like to call "The Comedy of Errors" because of all the misunderstandings that occur in short order. It can be summed up like this:

1) King Hubert thinks his son Prince Philip is in love with a peasant girl
2) The fairies think Aurora is in love with a commoner
3) Neither side realizes they've actually met Aurora/Prince Philip (though admittedly Hubert does think this initially)
4) And most importantly, Maleficent is wise to the fairy's scheme and nobody knows it.

Based on all of these misunderstandings, Aurora is miserable being led back to the castle, Philip has left to seek the girl he loves and Hubert is in a quandary about how to tell Stefan that Philip doesn't want to marry Aurora anymore.

Fast forward and close to sunset, a miserable Aurora is being led into the castle by the fairies. They give her one last gift, a golden crown, but Aurora is still (and rightfully so) miserable because she's been ripped away from the only life she's ever known and just as she's found true love. The fairies leave her alone and this is when Maleficent strikes. As the fire magically goes out, we see Maleficent briefly appear in the shadows before she appears as a Will o' the wisp (a glowing sprite that was said to lead travelers to their deaths). Now the music in this segment is very interesting. It also comes from the Sleeping Beauty ballet and its original title was Le Chat botté et la Chatte blanche (The Booted Cat and the White Cat). Now in the original piece, the music was symbolizing two cats circling, hissing and scratching at each other!

(I don't know why, but this image has always scared me a little)

Of course the fairies realize a little too late that Maleficent has got Aurora in her clutches and, inevitably, Aurora pricks her finger and falls into an eternal sleep...unless her true love wakes her up that is. And about that...just before all of this took place, it turns out that Maleficent lay in wait at the cottage and ambushed the first person who came back...Prince Philip! Now the only way to save Aurora is to rescue Prince Phillip, by going to the Forbidden Mountain, stronghold of all evil.

And Maleficent's plan for Prince Philip is really devious if you think about it. She could just kill Philip, but in her mind that would be letting him off easy. Instead, she'll keep him nice and safe for the next hundred years (I could see her using magic to make this possible), and then she'll let him go, knowing that the spell will have kept Aurora young all this time. So true love will still wake Aurora, but she'll be with an old man who will probably die as soon as she wakes up.

Of course, this being a relatively early Disney movie (where a happy ending was guaranteed), the fairies are narrowly successful in breaking Prince Philip out, but not without alerting Maleficent to what is going on. What follows is one of my favorite scenes (musically and visually) in the entire movie. Maleficent, watching from the highest tower, tries everything to stop Prince Phillip, up to and including setting a forest of thorns around the castle, but still Philip breaks free! With a loud cry, Maleficent whirls through the air and confronts the prince directly.

Note how as Philip charges the dragon, the music builds and builds until the first breath of fire and then it abruptly cuts off, leaving the roar of flame (provided by a flamethrower) as the only musical accompaniment. At the end of a thrilling battle, Maleficent finally gets what she has coming to her and plummets to her doom! Now all that is left is to climb to the tallest tower and awaken his love, which prompts everyone in the castle (put to sleep by the fairies) to wake up as well. Poor Hubert is still trying to tell King Stefan about Philip when, thankfully, the arrival of Philip and Aurora cuts him off.

Now, again this being Disney, the story can't end without one last piece of entertainment. As Philip and Aurora dance in front of the court (and Hubert gives up trying to understand what's going on), the fairies observe the scene when Flora notes that...oh the horror...the dress is blue!! And that's how the movie ends: Pink! Blue! Pink! Blue!! Even in the last shot of the story book closing, the dress is still changing colors!

I'm sorry if this is slightly abbreviated, I felt really bad for taking so long to finish it. Have a good evening!

Sleeping Beauty Part 2

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!!

Evolution of Disney : Sleeping Beauty Part 1

(Everything here is the property of Disney)

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.

Cinderella Part 2

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!)



Evolution of Disney: Cinderella Part 1

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