We've made it all the way to Part 4 of my “layman's Disneyland
playlist” (previous installments can be found here, here, and
here). All that's left for the main park is Mickey's Toontown and
Tomorrowland. I may or may not also tackle California Adventure, but
for now, we're in the home stretch!
“Toontown
Kids” Theme Song
When Mickey's Toontown opened, Disney produced this extremely cheap
TV series to promote it. Each “episode” was nothing more than a
handful of classic shorts separated by bumpers of these two kids
hanging out in an otherwise deserted Mickey's Toontown. It's so
obscure at this point that I can't even find a video of the opening
theme on YouTube, so here's
a link to an audio version.
Goofy's
Cartoon Theme
Mickey's Toontown is one of those lands that has a bunch of familiar
music ready-made to apply to its attractions. A remastered version of
Goofy's classic theme is used in the area music loop, but for Goofy's
Playhouse, I thought it best to go straight for the original.
Donald's
Cartoon Theme
The same logic as above obviously applies here, to Donald's boat.
However, rather than the tune labeled as “Donald Duck Theme” in
the music loop, I decided to go with the actual song...basically
because the sarcastic lyrics about the Duck's temper are too good to
pass up.
Raymond
Scott - “Powerhouse”
Gadget's Go-Coaster was the only Toontown attraction that really gave
me trouble. The obvious choice would be the Chip 'n' Dale Rescue
Rangers theme song, but said song doesn't mention Gadget.
And the two chipmunks have their own (albeit nearly defunct)
attraction. Obviously, “Powerhouse” doesn't mention her either,
but it is the ultimate “weird contraption” musical theme, and
this ride is certainly designed with a “weird contraption” sort
of vibe.
“We
Are Chip and Dale”
I may be one of, like, five people who still remember the Chip 'n'
Dale special from 1987 or thereabouts, which collected several of the
pair's best shorts with some new bridging material. The opening song
composed for it is much more memorable than the fairly generic tune
that accompanied the classic shorts, and I wanted to spread it around
a bit more.
“Mickey
Mouse Club March”
I had a multitude of possible melodies to assign to Mickey's House
and Meet Mickey, but I opted to go with the most famous
Mickey-related song of all.
“Minnie's
Yoo Hoo”
And this, then, would be the most famous song about Minnie Mouse, for
Minnie's House right next door.
Franz
Lizst - “Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2”
Who Framed Roger Rabbit isn't
a musical as such, but it does include a few signature songs and
musical cues that I could have picked from. Instead, I decided to
class the joint up a little with this well-known classical piece. In
case you're wondering what this could possibly have to do with Roger
Rabbit's Car Toon Spin...keep listening.
“There's
a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow”
If there is an “official” Tomorrowland theme song, this has got
to be it, even if it was technically written for one attraction,
which has been closed for over 40 years. (Yes, there's the “Welcome
to Tomorrowland” instrumental that appears on some of the park
soundtracks, but—and this is key—it has never actually been used
in Disneyland.) Hence, this unashamedly optimistic song about the
future, which first debuted as the theme song for the General
Electric Carousel of Progress, which itself first debuted at the 1964
New York World's Fair.
“Strange
Things”
It can be hard to tell due to the stylized instrumentation, but
rearrangements of this song from Toy Story comprise the
majority of the music in Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. It lapses
into a martial version of “You've Got a Friend In Me” by the end,
but that song is everywhere in the Disney musical annals. “Strange
Things” needs more love. I actually prefer it as a song.
Star
Wars Main Theme
There is no shortage of opportunities to use Star Wars music in
Tomorrowland these days, but Star Tours gets special mention for its
longevity—can you believe that ride is 30 years old? It seems only
fitting to assign the famous main title theme for the film franchise
to this first incident of Star Wars content in the parks.
End
Credits from Tomorrowland
Space Mountain has its own unique theme music, of course,* but that's
just it—it's unique, not existing in any other context, and
doesn't seem to be reaching the level of general familiarity that the
songs with lyrics tend to garner. So this one was a bit of a dilemma.
In the end, however, I went a bit tangential. The 2015 movie
Tomorrowland wasn't much good, but it was absolutely marinated
in classic imagery from the land's heyday, including structures very
reminiscent of Space Mountain, and it had a lovely score.** The end
credits suite compiles most of the major motifs throughout said score
into one swooping, inspiring piece that sounds like
spaceflight.
Rey's
Theme
It was about at this point that it really hit me what a sad state
Tomorrowland is in these days, with some Pixar, lots of Star Wars,
and little else (and it's going to lose its claim on the Star Wars in
a couple years). In any case, the museum-y parts of the Star Wars
Launch Bay mostly feature props from the new trilogy and side films
(e.g. Rogue One), so I went with the leitmotif for our new
Force-wielding heroine.
The
Playmates - “Beep Beep (the Nash Rambler)”
It would have been nice to have a real slam-dunk melody for the
Autopia, but I just couldn't think of one. However, the 1950s
produced a plethora of great car songs, including this ditty about a
little car with surprisingly big horsepower. Between that and the
simple, child-friendly melody and lyrics, I think it's a natural fit
for this classic ride.
“Monorail
Song”
I'm cheating a little with this one—the “World on the Move”
theme, popularly referred to as the “Monorail Song” (even though,
as there is no singing, it is not actually a song), probably isn't
quite in the mainstream. But what else would you use to
represent the Disneyland Monorail?
“Beyond
the Sea”
The song accompanying the end credits of Finding Nemo is also
used, in instrumental form, to cap off the Finding Nemo Submarine
Voyage.
“Imperial
March”
And
finally, I wrap up the Star Wars content, Tomorrowland, and
Disneyland Park itself with an appropriate piece to indicate the Jedi
Training Academy. Since the show involves close encounters with the
Dark Side of the Force and its representatives, I decided to use what
must be the most famous villainous theme music in film history.
You know what? I think I will go ahead and do California Adventure as well, But it's going to be more freeform and less in-depth. See you next week!
*
Composed by Michael Giacchino. I would be remiss if I didn't mention
that.
**
Also composed by Michael Giacchino!
No comments:
Post a Comment