Disneyana Re-Mix

Disneyana Re-Mix color and graphic logos
Digital mix media.

As part of the re-sequencing projects on the soundtracks to Disney's "The Little Mermaid", "Beauty and the Beast" and "Aladdin," I decided to brand the series with these logos - for the same reason that I decided to created packaging in the first place: so that it would look good in my CD collection.

"Disneyana" is the name of the collectible retail shop on Main Street USA in Disneyland. The term, coined in the 1960's, refers to collectibles from the Walt Disney Company or those featuring the licensed images from the company.

And Birds that Warble on Key

Walt Disney Presents Aladdin, Re-Sequenced Soundtrack cover
12.06 x 12.06 cm (4.75 x 4.75 in)
Digital mixed media

As I had done with "The Little Mermaid" and "Beauty and the Beast," I re-sequenced the tracks of the "Aladdin" soundtrack in the order in which they are presented in the original motion picture.

"Aladdin" in some ways represents the end of a brief era, Howard Ashman's and Alan Menken's third and final collaboration on an animated Disney musical as well as the early years of the whole animation renaissance in American pop culture. This particular project I had actually completed before the "Beauty and the Beast" one, in order to gift a copy. Since then, additional work was done on the packaging, similar to what was done with "Mermaid" with an expanded booklet.

1. Arabian Nights 1:19
2. Legend Of The Lamp 1:25
3. On A Dark Night 2:56
4. One Jump Ahead 2:23
5. Street Urchins 1:53
6. One Jump Ahead (Reprise) 1:02
7. Jasmine Runs Away 0:47
8. Marketplace 2:37
9. The Cave Of Wonders 4:58
10. Friend Like Me 2:26
11. To Be Free 1:39
12. Prince Ali 2:52
13. A Whole New World 2:41
14. The Kiss 1:51
15. Aladdin's Word 1:52
16. Jafar's Hour 2:43
17. Prince Ali (Reprise) 1:08
18. The Ends Of The Earth 1:36
19. The Battle 3:38
20. Happy End In Agrabah 4:13
21. A Whole New World (Aladdin's Theme) 4:07

There aren't any surprises here as in new or alternate tracks added.

Track #1 is from the original soundtrack with the lines, "Where they cut off your ear/ If they don't like your face," which has been replace in subsequent re-releases of the soundtrack and the home video releases with the lines, "Where it's flat and immense/ And the heat is intense." The original lines, I think, aren't so bad, if you accept that Agrabah, the sultan-dom that it describes, is a fantasy world. In defense of the revised lyrics, while not as colorfully image invoking as the original, are fine but suffer due to poor sound mixing, leaving the inserted dubs audibly different than the rest of the song. It is perhaps more curious to me that where original lyrics were deemed offensive, the subsequent lines were kept, "It's Barbaric, but hey, it's home."

Bonus tracks are mostly demonstration versions taken from "The Music Behind the Magic," the four disc box set of music from the three Ashman/ Menken collaborations (and Tim Rice on "Aladdin"). If you are not familiar with this collection and you're a fan of Disney's "Aladdin," then you should know that the fourth disc contains the Ashman/ Menken demo tracks written for a version of the story in which Aladdin has a mother and is part of a team of four scavenging boys. From this original score, "Proud of Your Boy" was recorded by Clay Aiken and is included on the 2005 collection "Disney Mania 3."

Lastly, speaking of deleted songs, you can find a cover version of "Call Me a Princess" (Ashman/ Menken) on the iTunes Store by Broadway performer Kerry Butler. It's obviously written for a spoiled, self-centered girl that little resembles the spunky Jasmine that's in the final film.

Something There That Wasn’t There Before

Walt Disney Presents Beauty and the Beast, Re-Sequenced Soundtrack cover
12.06 x 12.06 cm (4.75 x 4.75 in)
Digital mixed media

The re-sequencing project of Disney's The Little Mermaid soundtrack was practice for this one, Beauty and the Beast. The image here is from a scene shortly before the famous ballroom sequence. Mrs. Potts and Footstool were digitally erased, and I re-drew and re-colored Belle and Beast for improved resolution.

In 1991, I was was swept up in the renaissance of animation which began with The Little Mermaid. I had at the time, and still own, so much B&B merchandise, it was ridiculous. Working at Disneyland, I easily found myself among other B&B fans. The soundtrack, beloved as it was, suffered from the flaw of having its tracks out of order, with the songs grouped together in the beginning and the orchestral score tracks grouped at the end.

17 years later, I get to correct that error. Well, it makes me happy, at least.

1. Prologue 2:27
2. Belle 5:10
3. To The Fair 1:58
4. Wolf Attack (Unreleased Master) 2:42
5. Belle (Reprise) 1:05
6. Gaston 3:40
7. Gaston (Reprise) 2:04
8. Be Our Guest 3:45
9. West Wing 3:42
10. Something There 2:19
11. Beauty And The Beast 2:47
12. The Beast Lets Belle Go 2:22
13. The Mob Song 3:31
14. Battle On The Tower 5:30
15. Transformation #2 (Final) 5:48
16. Beauty And The Beast (Duet) 4:05 featuring Celine Dion & Peabo Bryson

Track 4, "Wolf Attack" is taken from the four disc set of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman music, "The Music Behind the Magic."

Also from that collection is track 15, "Transformation #2," replacing the similarly named track on the original soundtrack. This composition, however, matches the cue in the final film. In the notes, Menken explains that he composed "countless demos of underscore for this moment when the Beast 'dies' in Belle's arms." The final version in the film is more somber.

Also of note, about 2 minutes and 17 seconds into track 9, "West Wing" is a cue that comes from the scene beginning in the tower just after Maurice is shuffled away from the castle in a walking carriage and through Beast leading Belle to her room. Had I fancy audio editing tools, I might have separated the two cues, but that second part of track 9 does finish off the first rather well; working as underscore, hardly being strong enough to stand on its own.

As I had done on The Little Mermaid, Re-Sequenced, additional bonus tracks fill out the CD. One of the more interesting that I found is an orchestral version of "Beauty and the Beast" in 3/4 time, like a waltz. In the film, Mrs. Potts sings the song in 4/4 time, but one would assume that Belle and Beast are waltzing. This is another item proving the strengths of the story to overcome such annoying continuity details, like double hinged front doors, temporally incongruous tower-shaped stacked wine glasses and the prince/Beast not having a name.

Beauty and the Beast, Belle, Beast © Disney

Maybe There Is Something the Matter with Me

Walt Disney Pictures Presents The Little Mermaid, Re-Sequenced Soundtrack, CD cover
12.06 x 12.06 cm (4.75 x 4.75 in)
Digital mixed media

About a year ago, I designed a cover and packaging for an audio CD of The Little Mermaid soundtrack, with the tracks set in the order that they are featured in the film. Not happy about the final image resolution, I re-drew the characters of an image that was originally scanned from the Sotheby's auction catalog of the art from the film. The digitally colored new character art was then pasted over the old image.

I also expanded the CD booklet from four pages to eight pages; from only featuring the track listings and a time bar indicating track placements, to now include song lyrics and extended film credit list. The original 1989 soundtrack was released with out song lyrics or many of the booklet information with which you now expect a CD to come.

Now I'm happy.

And I can listen to the soundtrack in the proper order with bonus tracks on my iPod.

... Wait a minute.
Why did I make CD packaging?

"The Little Mermaid," Ariel, Sebastian © Disney.

Mix Me Something New

CD cover.
Illustration: "Looking Good," 1950, Gil Elvgren

One of the things I enjoy about down loading music is finding tunes from television commercials advertisements. Google make it even easier.

Here is a list that I put together on a CD:

1. Jerk It Out - Caesars - Paper Tigers
Apple iPod Shuffle (2005)
2. Let Me Take Your Photo - The Speedies - You Need Pop
HP Printers (2005)
3. Feed It (A Place In the Sun) - The Candyskins - Feed It - EP
Lays (2006)
4. Beautiful Life - Fisher - The Lovely Years
Toyota (2005)
5. Anticipation - Carly Simon - Carly Simon: Clouds in My Coffee 1965-1995
Heinz Ketchup (c. 1975)
6. Pink Moon - Nick Drake - Pink Moon
Volkswagen Cabrio (2000)
7. Say Something New - The Concretes - The Concretes
Target (2005)
8. Our Country - John Mellencamp - Freedom's Road
Chevrolet Silverado (2006)
9. Yellow - Coldplay - Parachutes
ABC (2000)
10. No Sleep Tonight - The Faders - No Sleep Tonight - Single
Cingular ROKR (2005)
11. Starry Eyed Surprise - Oakenfold - Bunkka
Diet Coke (2005)
12. Heartbeats - José González - Veneer
Sony Bravia (2004)
13. Nth Degree - Morningwood - Morningwood
Mercury (2006)
14. Mah Nà Mah Nà - Piero Umiliani - Mah Nà Mah Nà (Vulcanology.It Remixes)
Dr. Pepper Diet Cherry Vanilla (2006)
15. Such Great Heights - Iron & Wine - Such Great Heights - EP
M&M"s (2005)
16. I Melt with You - Modern English - The Best of '80s Pop: Party Songs
Burger King (1999)
17. Half Acre - Hem - Rabbit Songs
Liberty Mutual (2006)
18. Catch My Disease - Ben Lee - Awake Is the New Sleep
Dell Computers (2006)
19. Big Yellow Taxi - Joni Mitchell - Dreamland

That last track is a not so subtle commentary on consumerism, although I'm pretty sure somebody has used it in a television commercial ad, for the irony or not.

For my research, the site "What's That Called?" has been helpful and fun. It features music used in USA commercials including video content.
http://www.whatsthatcalled.com

Firebrand was a fun site to checkout entertaining ads, but now it's closed.

Snarfblatt

Here's a little project I've been working on and off and on for the past couple of months: re-sequencing the tracks of The Little Mermaid soundtrack in the order presented in the motion picture.

Why? - Because I'm just that way.

1. Fathoms Below
2. Main Titles
3. Fanfare
4. Daughters Of Triton
5. Flotsam And Jetsam
6. Part Of Your World
7. Fireworks
8. Jig
9. The Storm
10. Part Of Your World (Reprise)
11. Under The Sea
12. Sebastian And Triton (Final)
13. Destruction Of The Grotto
14. Poor Unfortunate Souls
15. Les Poissons
16. Bedtime
17. Tour Of The Kingdom
18. Kiss The Girl
19. Wedding Announcement
20. Eric To The Rescue
21. Happy Ending

Track 12 is from The Music Behind the Magic - The Little Mermaid, part of a four disc collection of demo and work recordings from Alan Menken and Howard Ashman's work on The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin.

To that I added various cover versions as bonus tracks.