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I was on a plane and had nothing to do, so I took out my MP3 player and started listening to a bunch of the complete music from a few Disney World rides. It got me thinking about several things:
1: Why didn’t Disney ever hire any major composers for their rides? Lots of it is very synth-y and basic. I know that they hired Jerry Goldsmith to score that California Adventure ride “Soarin’ Over California,” but that’s about it.
2: Does anyone here have a favorite ride, music-wise? Mine is the Epcot ride “Spaceship Earth.” That music rocks.
More composers have worked on Disney rides than you’d think.
John Debney worked on Paris’ Haunted Mansion: Phantom Manor.
James Horner did Captain EO
Bruce Broughton did Timekeeper, Honey I Shrunk the Audience, Golden Dreams, and Ellen’s Engery Adventure, which is a close second to my favorite ride soundtrack: Horizons at EPCOT.CoasterKid
Ha, recently rediscovered Bruce Broughton. Memories of watching “The Rescuers Down Under” suddenly overcame me and now it’s stuck in my brain. By the way, Horizons was a fantastic ride but it is now extinct at Epcot. Mission: Space, its replacement, is a pretty sweet ride, but the music is less-than-great. When I first went on it, I felt that the Armageddon score should have been attached to it.
But what about America, where these guys are from? Sure, Broughton has done his share, but Debney doing the Paris Haunted Mansion? And what’s Captain EO? And why hasn’t Danny Elfman done anything for them?
Horizons was my favorite ride at EPCOT. If you say Mission: Space sounds like Armageddon, I wouldn’t be surprised, Trevor Rabin did both.
Captain EO was a 3-D film with Michael Jackson
I think Danny did Haunted Mansion Holiday in it’s second year, but I have heard that John Debney did it.
CoasterKid
TREVOR RABIN DID MISSION SPACE? Wow, I thought it was Armageddon-esque. I’m surprised that they didn’t get Ennio Morricone, the composer of “Mission to Mars” (the movie on which the ride is loosely based) to write it. Like I said, the score was so-so, and I would have been much happier if Rabin did a direct adaptation of his Armageddon score.
Even though my visits to Disney World have been limited now that I’m old enough to see all of their scams, I’d love it if new rides featured more complex scores from more well-known composers. Trevor Rabin is a start. I’m wondering if they brought in Alan Silvestri for the new Lilo and Stitch ride replacing alien encounter…?
And by the way, where do you find out all this stuff? I’ve been searching for ages for a source that tells about the ride composers. It took me weeks to find out that Edo Giudotti scored Spaceship Earth!
The “new lilo and stitch ride”, Stitch’s Great Escape, has been composed by Mark McKenzie, who was the orchestrator on Silvestri’s score to the film.
As far as other composers, Gavin Greenaway, of Media Ventures, did 3-4 (long) pieces of music for Epcot’s Millenium Celebration.
Buddy Baker orchestrated and composed original music for Epcot’s “Impressions de France”
Already mentioned have been Goldsmith, Horner, Broughton, Debney and more. Numerous “hollywood” composers’ themes have been heard within the rides based off of the movies they scored. “Star Tours” and “Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye” for example both extensively used John Williams’ respective themes from the two franchises.
I believe that Disney has an amazing way of picking the perfect music to complement their theme park rides. From synthesized insects singing broadway tunes to the “ethnic” music at each Epcot country, I don’t think they need more hollywood talent there as it is.For more on Disney / Disney Park music, check out the Magic Music Discussion Board at: http://www.magicmusic.net/discuss/index.php?board=1
For more on Walt Disney World behind-the-scenes and current theme park rumors and news, check out WDW Magic at: http://www.wdwmagic.com/whatsnew.htm
-Matt
In case this topic gets resurrected, I’ve just discovered a great site that lists several Disney composers and their work.
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