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What's up, D23? You know, one of the
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most important parts of an attraction is
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the music. Hitting just the right notes
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can really help an attraction resonate
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with guests. How do Imagineers do it?
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>> Well, good evening. Wow. Good evening,
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D23. I'm Matthew Selby. I'm a principal
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music producer for Disney Live
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>> Hello, D23. I'm Mary Webster. I'm a
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senior creative director of music for
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Walt Disney Imagineering and we're here
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to talk about what we do for the parks
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in this super bright light. It's really
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>> So, Mary, why don't you tell them what
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your team does first?
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>> Uh, okay. So when you're walking around
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the parks and you hear music in a land
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or you're sitting over on Smother's Run
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and you hear those great iconic themes,
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that's what my team does. Uh we do music
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for attractions, Q- lines and also the
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background music in the lands. What
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>> So I work in live entertainment. So, we
1:31
take care of in my department, we take
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care of the uh World of Color type
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shows, the fireworks shows, any like
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dapper dance, Furly Band, all of that
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stuff. That's part of my overview as
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Disney Live Entertainment,
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>> We're moving forward. Uh why don't you
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tell them what we've done together?
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Since we have two different teams, we
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sometimes get to collaborate, which is
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Yes, we do. And one of those great
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collaborations was the fireworks show at
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the new Star Wars Galaxy's Edge in
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Disneyland Fire of the Rising Moon.
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if you've been to Star Wars Galaxy's
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Edge, you know that the fireworks are
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incredibly loud because they're
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incredibly close behind the scenes at
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Galaxy's Edge. So, one of the uh one of
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the things that we noticed was that
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there's no sound happening during those
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fireworks shows. There's sound like on
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Main Street. If you're watching Wondrous
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Journeys, then you hear the the
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soundtrack to Wonders Journeys on Main
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Street, but you're not hearing any music
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in Star Wars Galaxy's Edge. So, we
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decided to retrofit music to fit the
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Wonders Journey shows or the Remember
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Dream Come True uh Dreams Come True
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show, but with music that would work in
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Galaxy's Edge. And so, Mary and I got to
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do that. Got to go um record a great
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orchestra doing that. It was very fun.
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>> Yes, it was super fun fun. And before
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that, we collaborated on on Tiana's
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Bayou Adventure. Uh, my department
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created the new songs and the new
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underscore. We got to collaborate with
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PJ Morton on Special Spice and the
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composer Terrence Blanchard for the rest
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Um, and there um, even though Mary's
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part they worked on the attraction, we
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wanted to do a grand opening celebration
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to launch Tiana's Bayou Adventure. So,
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we had, as you can see, Ana Noni Rose
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and Jennifer Lewis and PJ Martin came
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and joined us and we did a big show on
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the Mark Twain with the band down in
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front. Um, and did some of the songs
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from that as part of the grand opening
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celebration and then it culminated with
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Special Spice, which is super fun.
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So, oh yeah, sorry. The new mission on
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Smugglers Run. That was you. Yeah,
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Oh, yeah. You were a star of the recent
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episode of what is it called? Disney
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>> They had a whole show if you haven't
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seen it. Disney Parks Unscripted. They
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go through rides. They go through all
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sorts of stuff. And it's true behind the
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scenes as we're working. So,
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>> so I think we're going to watch a clip
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from that and then Mary's going to
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explain what the heck happened here.
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>> Rebel Pearl is it's just totally getting
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lost in this build. um where the
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trackers come out the first part of the
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and bring it up and then you could duck
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it when when all the sound effects come
5:00
in and we need to hear the trackers.
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Like I'm fine if the music then kind of
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takes a backseat. I'd like to push the
5:05
music a little more in there. I know
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there's a lot going on, but it gives us
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that story thread of like we still are
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doing something. We're still going. So
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when you get that duh duh and you crash,
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it feels like that's the payoff of it.
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You know, it like drives the story a
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>> So what does all of that mean? What are
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you doing there? You're clearly in
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Smuggler's Run, like actually in the
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>> Yeah. So I worked on the original
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Smuggler's Run. I was part of the music
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team that brought that music to life.
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So, it was really fun to come back and
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do it all again with a new mission,
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Mando Grou, pulling all these new
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classic themes into the ride. So, this
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showcases one of the final steps in our
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process. We go out, we make the demos,
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we record it, but how do we get it
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actually in the park or in the
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attraction? So, for this particular one,
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they decided they wanted us on third
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shift. Uh, so that's 8:00 PM to 3 or 4
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a.m. So, hence the bags under my eyes
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and my kind of, you know, kind of
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This is at the end of a very long week.
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And we just ride the ride over and over
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and over with a team of individuals and
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we make notes and we mix and mix and
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dialogue, against visuals, against
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motion based and we do it until we're
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happy or the ride opens.
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>> So, I have a question for you. How do
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you Is there somebody with a mixing
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board like on the like somewhere in this
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>> That's actually a really good question
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and I actually think they have um they
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show it over here at the Spunkers Run
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booth there. This is integrated with
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Wise, which is an audio engine for the
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Unreal uh video game engine. So, we
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actually had a tech from uh Sky Sound
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come and mix this thing in Wise. So, we
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have one pod that's got ProTools in it,
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and we're mixing to the best of our
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abilities just the music by itself, and
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then we take that, put it in this pod,
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print the stems, and we do it in twice.
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So, it's a lot of what can you do? Can
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we do this? Can we do that? Can we lower
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this here? Can we lower that there?
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>> That's amazing. And the buck stops with
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you, right? So, since you're in charge,
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or is there somebody above you that's
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>> Our creative director was Assa Kamala.
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He's done a lot of interviews about this
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particular ride and so really it's us
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going through audio reviews on our own
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and then he comes in and he plays back.
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Some folks from Sky Sound also come um
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they give opinions and suggestions and
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it's actually a really collaborative
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team like we all everyone was so proud
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and energetic about the music on this
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attraction. Has anybody written anybody?
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Anybody? Yeah. Yeah. So, a lot of new
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themes, right? We have the force theme.
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We have um we integrated Mando uh the
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Mando and Grou theme. So uh everyone was
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actually really happy with what we did
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and pushing the music forward a little
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bit more than the last mission. So
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>> But that's not all. Mary's very Mary's
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Um before uh Smugglers Run, um I had the
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pleasure of working on the new expansion
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to Disney Adventure World. Uh this was
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the Disney Adventure Way. Uh it early
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opened earlier this year in March and it
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extends all the way back to Frozen. Uh
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it also features a couple themed
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gardens. One's right here. This is our
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we nicknamed it the English garden. It
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has characters and statues based on the
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kind of classic London animated films
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Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, 101
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Dalmatians. And we also have the tangled
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garden which is right here. Um which has
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a couple Easter eggs of Tangled themes
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like mother knows best etc. And then
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this is um it's not really a garden but
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it's just the walkway that extends it
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>> Anybody been to Paris? Ah
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>> yeah. I was just telling Mary backstage
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that I've done music for all of the
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parks, but I've never been to Paris and
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I've never stepped on a cruise line. Not
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>> So, bucket list. Uh, what what's this?
9:27
>> Uh, so this is Adventure Bay. So, the
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whole concept of this is that Adventure
9:33
Way was the crossroads between the front
9:36
of the park and the immersive areas that
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are going to go in beyond. We've already
9:40
opened Frozen, the new Frozen Land. Very
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exciting. And soon to come is our new
9:46
Lion King. Um, and it's also um home to
9:50
in the Tangled Garden right next to it
9:52
is a new Tangled themed uh teacup ride
9:55
named Rapon's Tangled Spin. It's very
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cute. Um, and the other feature, which
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you can kind of see in this, which is
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right over here, is the new restaurant.
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So, we also do these for restaurants.
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So, that's the Regal View Restaurant and
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Lounge. So, this one was actually really
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fun. We took it's a princess meet and
10:17
greet uh in a sit-down restaurant. It's
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very beautiful. Has floor to ceiling
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windows, velvet chairs, very nice. And
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so, we decided to um take all the
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princess themes, part of your world,
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colors in the winds and wind and
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reimagine them in a French
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impressionistic style. So, in the bar
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area, you have a solo piano as if you're
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in a lounge playing these beautiful
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piano themes. And as you walk into the
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uh the restaurant part, you actually get
10:47
this little compressed uh hallway and we
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bleed in the orchestra background. By
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the time you get to the restaurant, it's
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a full piano plus orchestra track. It's
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>> I'm learning something along the way.
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>> yes. So, as part of this, we had the
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opportunity to do a brand new theme for
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the park. We hired a composer, Philippe
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Romy. He's local to Paris. Um, very
11:13
prolific, award-winning.
11:15
And we titled it Adventure Way Symphonic
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Suite. Go look it up on Spotify. It's
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totally released. We recorded it at the
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iconic Abbey Road in Studio 1 with the
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London Symphony Orchestra. Um, I think
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there's a video. We can take a listen.
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>> Yes, that was super cool. And there's
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actually a lot of Instagram stuff with
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Philipe Romy, so go check it out. Philip
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>> Okay, so Matthew, your turn.
12:28
>> That sounds great. Uh, so anybody
12:31
recognize this? Yes. I had the pleasure
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of working on the the 70th anniversary
12:37
celebration of Disneyland cuz that's my
12:39
home turf. And um this is called
12:42
Tapestry of Happiness, which was uh we
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called it a love letter to the park. and
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it's on the iconic facade of It's a
12:51
Small World as you can see. And the goal
12:52
was to use the art of Mary Blair, who's
12:55
a legendary Disney artist. Um that that
12:59
was we wanted to put all that art in a
13:01
vibrant um kind of what's it called?
13:06
Well, I can't think of the word, but
13:08
anyway, we wanted to do a vibrant show
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of uh but then we had to
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put some music with it. and 70 years of
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music. It's a lot of years of music to
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come through. And uh we thought, oh, you
13:21
know, it'll be like a half hour show,
13:22
like a fireworks show or maybe 20
13:24
minutes. It was a 6-minute show or it is
13:27
a 6-minute show. Um so,
13:30
and music um the music that we do for
13:34
like the fireworks, World of Color is
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the complete opposite of what you would
13:38
do for film or TV scores. So usually in
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film and TV they write the script and
13:43
then they film the script with all the
13:45
actors and then the music comes in at
13:47
the last uh part of that to underscore
13:50
everything and and the big themes come
13:52
in. This uh type of show that we do we
13:56
are always required to do the music
13:58
first. So we come up with the script of
14:00
how the story is supposed to go but then
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the music really decides how the visuals
14:05
are going to get put in there. So it's
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it's uh a complete flip and then the
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extra challenge of trying to squeeze 70
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years of themes into six minutes. So uh
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worked with a great composer arranger on
14:18
that and I think this is a cliff.
15:48
As I say, we're just getting started.
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>> we had to squeeze some fireworks in
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there somewhere. Yeah. So, lots of
16:12
challenges. I had forgotten that we also
16:14
needed to incorporate within 6 minutes
16:16
the celebrate happy song, which is the
16:19
song that we um commissioned to have
16:21
written for the celebration that the
16:23
Jonas Brothers sang. Um so that was the
16:26
through line. Um, but you could hear
16:28
that there were like, you know, Grim
16:29
Granny Ghost was 5 seconds and Moana was
16:32
just, you know, not even a vocal, just a
16:35
little bit of the theme there to cram it
16:38
>> Incredibly impressive.
16:41
>> Uh, and that that requires a whole bunch
16:44
of experts to get that installed. So,
16:47
like Mary did with going out in
16:49
Smugglers Run in the middle of the
16:50
night, we went out to It's a Small World
16:52
and sat there with a ProTools rig and we
16:55
had also put a bunch of sound effects
16:56
in. So, we had to make sure that the
16:58
sound effects um read in the space so
17:01
that you can hear them so that you
17:03
attach the sound effects to what you're
17:04
seeing. Um so, it's a whole bunch of
17:07
people that we use for that. And then if
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you think that's a lot, then we had even
17:11
more people for a parade. Any of our
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parades requires uh an army of uh people
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>> a little army. So this was the magic
17:22
happens parade which I was super proud
17:27
we had Todrick Hall hired Todrick Hall
17:30
to come uh write us a song and he is so
17:34
prolific that he actually wrote us three
17:36
songs to choose from. And uh part of my
17:39
challenge was I didn't want to lose any
17:41
of that. So, I decided, let's figure a
17:43
way to make all three work, which was
17:46
kind of cool. So, if you've experienced
17:48
a Disney parade, which I imagine you
17:49
have, um, it kind of all goes along in
17:52
the same tempo. And one of the songs and
17:55
and the song that he wrote dictated the
17:57
tempo of the parade. So, then we did the
17:59
rest of the arrangements to fit that.
18:01
Um, but the finale song he wrote was in
18:04
a completely different tempo. So, I had
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to do some heavy duty math to try to
18:08
figure out how to make it sound not
18:10
cacophinous, but still be able to use
18:12
this um piece of music that Todd wrote.
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So, that's that. Let's see what else do
18:18
we have for you. Oh, and then this is my
18:20
absolute favorite of all time. Um this
18:23
was only one Did anybody see Muppets
18:26
Christmas Carol? So good.
18:27
>> Awesome. Thank you. Um, this is my
18:30
favorite thing because this was just
18:31
postco times and so the creative
18:34
director and I uh just sat in our home
18:36
studios and we're like what do we want
18:38
the muppets to say? What do we want them
18:40
to sing? Um, this was an idea that I had
18:43
that uh that we would do deck the halls
18:46
but that the chickens instead of singing
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So that's this one. [music]
18:59
>> Come on everybody, let's dig the holes
19:07
season to be charie. [music]
19:15
>> It was super fun. And it only lasted um
19:17
one year, which is very sad for me, but
19:20
it was just a total blast to work on.
19:22
Super awesome. Uh, okay. What's this,
19:25
Mary? Tell me what this
19:26
>> up next. Yes. So, currently me and my
19:29
teams are working on a lot of upcoming
19:31
stuff. Some of the stuff you've heard
19:33
about. So, we're working on the new
19:35
villains music for the Villains Land and
19:39
Uh, and also the new Monstropolis Land
19:42
coming. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. To Disney
19:45
Hollywood Studios. Uh, it's been awesome
19:47
to be able to dive into all this music,
19:49
the rich catalog, all the animated
19:51
films. Um, lots and treats, lots of
19:54
treats for y'all in this example.
19:59
>> Oh, these are just a couple extra
20:01
things. So, I worked on Mickey Mouse,
20:04
Disney Jr. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Live,
20:06
which is the most difficult title to
20:09
remember and say in front of people. Um,
20:11
but that was a super fun project. We
20:14
brought in a composer, Brandon Rogers,
20:16
to compose five new songs for that. Has
20:18
anybody seen that little thing? Yeah.
20:21
That's a fun one. You should check it
20:23
out. It's a It's an all ages type of
20:25
thing, even though it's kind of meant
20:26
for the littles. Um, and then this one
20:28
is coming up. I think it starts this
20:32
next week. This is Madame Leota's
20:35
Swinging Wake. Um, it's a kind of a
20:38
parade for Oogie Boogie Bash. It's not
20:40
kind of a parade, it is a parade for
20:42
OogieOogie Boogie Bash and opens this
20:44
week. And we did a new song for that and
20:46
uh some other treats for you on that.
20:53
That's it for us, y'all. So, next time
20:55
you're in the park and you hear some
20:56
music in the land or on your favorite
20:58
ride, think of us and, you know, smile.
21:05
>> Okay, thanks guys.
