Where are the Disney Songs....

[Marker]

I'm watching Beauty and the Beast with my daughter, and she mentioned that you just don't see the Disney Musical productions any more.

We want Traditional Animation with songs. I know Brother Bear, and Tarzan has music, but not songs for the Characters.

Look that long tradition of those Disney Animated features with great songs. All the old ones, and then Aladdin, Lion King, Little Mermaid, Beauty & the Beast.

Or the great live action songs like from Mary Poppins.

WE WANT TRADITIONAL ANIMATED FEATURE WITH GREAT CHARACTER SONGS!!!!!!

[Jasper]

I agree!!!

However, I am afraid that those days are long gone!:mad: The whole musical genre is in such a deplorable state in all its formats that it would take a serious effort to resurrect it. All you have to do is look at Broadway or London's West End to see that original music theater is in a real state of decline. I realize your comments are about Disney movies but what has gone on in the theater world is what has gone on in the movie world. And right now there just doesn't seem to be anyone who is willing to step forward and make the change.

[Mousemates]

Musicals of any kind are few and far between, and my personal opinion is that one the things (beyond a general "taste shift away from them") that kind of keeps them off the big screen are the special talents needed to make a true musical happen. (i.e. To be able to create meaningful lyrics and then seamlessly weave them into the flow of a storyline, requires talents not needed in your basic production)

But not only does it require musical/lyricial talent, that talent must also be developed through usage, which to me makes it something of a catch-22 situaiton. For in a time when there are fewer musicals being produced, writers are not apt to develop those particualr writing skills....and when those skills aren't developed, musicals aren't apt to be produced and written.

[Melanie]

Oh the glory days of Menken and Ashman. How I miss them!

I had hoped 'The Princess and the Frog' would go back to this, but with Randy Newman doing the music, it's not looking promising. More 'Toy Story' than 'Beauty and the Beast'? :unsure:

[LauraleeH]

I miss good movies like that in general! I was watching Beauty and the Beast the other night on my laptop, and I just kept pausing it to admire the scenery. And I love the soundtrack. This has been my favorite movie ever since I was little; nothing else I've seen has come close, and I'm afraid there won't ever be!

[robnadina]

Todays animation is all about the CGI. Pixar has totally changed the way animation is done. Not that its a bad thing. But I have to admit that I would watch Little Mermaid over Cars anyday.

[Ian]

What's odd is that, if you look back at the most successful Disney animated films of all time they all have one thing in common: great music. Even the Pixar films, while they might not have a musical score in the sense that a BatB or a Little Mermaid did, they still have music as a significant component of the film, use it to advance storylines, etc. I mean, one of the single most poignant and moving moments of any of the Pixar films is the "When Somebody Loved Me" segment of TSII.

Since Disney has abandoned that format, almost all of their films have failed. The only exception is Lilo & Stitch, which also made extensive use of music.

[brownie]

I don't think they all need to be musicals, but they all need to have good music.