An atmosphere \ufb01lled with celebration, bells that ring, timeless songs: it\u2019s Christmas that resonates at Disneyland Paris, and particularly when Mickey and his Dazzling Christmas Parade pass by. To \ufb01nd out more about this magical and festive music, the InsidEars team asked Musical Producer Jonathan Barr to tell us the secrets behind this creation. It\u2019s also an occasion to look at the new music celebrating the destination’s 30th anniversary that we\u2019ll also be hearing during this Disney Enchanted Christmas.

Jonathan, can you tell us about your work for Disneyland Paris?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My collaboration with Disneyland Paris actually dates back to the launch of the Disney Cinema Parade at the Walt Disney Studios Park (2002-2008). At the time, I was both composer and arranger. Throughout my entire Disney Career, I’ve written over 80 songs for the Disney Parks across the world. Which helped me gain an in-depth knowledge of the workings behind the creation of the music of the Disney Park shows, and I enjoyed it so much that I decided to leap the fence and become an independent Musical Producer. For each project, there can be several composers and several arrangers involved, all working to serve the vision of the Director. Our work as a team is to provide the perfect music for their show, and as Producer, my role is to manage the whole music creation and production process.

MUSIC BRIMMING WITH JOY

What is the musical concept behind Mickey and his Dazzling Christmas Parade

All the parade music revolves around \u201cShine a light\u201d, the wonderful song written by Senior Music Producer and Creative Director at Walt Disney Imagineering, Yaron Spiwak. The song was difficult to find. We had various proposals, but we weren’t satisfied with them. They were all really lovely, all in the spirit of Christmas. Some even had a nostalgic element that evoked past Christmas parades that we adored. But for this 30th anniversary, Disneyland Paris wanted to look forward, and to o\ufb00er something that celebrated not only the love of the season, but also excitement for the future. Yaron, being from Walt Disney Imagineering Music, was my supervisor and assisted me in this search. He started to get an idea of what the song needed to be, and proposed a song that he felt would work. So as to be impartial, I presented all the songs to the parade creators anonymously, and they voted unanimously for Yaron\u2019s, \u201cShine a light\u201d!

Once we had the song, it had to be applied to each \ufb02oat, while developing its own style. It\u2019s a technique Disney has developed since Main Street Electrical Parade. It involves a main theme that is played throughout, and then a variation on that theme for each \ufb02oat. As the \ufb02oat moves down the street, it\u2019s variation combines with the main theme and creates a new sound. For the guest, it all seems very seamless, but it\u2019s a complicated and elaborate process, that\u2026.when it works\u2026.is truly magical. I remember feeling that magic in my childhood, and today, I continue to strive to recreate this emotion for our guests.

What are the di\ufb00erent musical moods for this parade?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first \ufb02oat, \u201cMickey\u2019s Holiday Express\u201d (En route pour les F\u00eates avec Mickey) focuses on \u201cShine a light\u201d in its original version. This was recorded with a pop-rock group of 8 musicians for the rhythm, to which we then added the strings and brass. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second \ufb02oat, \u201cMinnie\u2019s Christmas Delights\u201d (Les d\u00e9lices de Minnie) has a bit more of a dance feel, with electronic drums. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third, \u201cDonald\u2019s Winter Wonderland\u201d (Donald et la Magie de l\u2019Hiver) has a cuckoo clock vibe, with clock and accordion sounds. For this, we\u2019ve taken out the whole rhythm section to focus on a purely orchestral approach, completely di\ufb00erent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next comes the \u201cA Fairytale Waltz\u201d (La Valse des contes de f\u00e9es) \ufb02oat, very symphonic, elegant and romantic, just like the Disney Princesses, before finishing on a high note with \u201cSanta’s Magic\u201d (La Magie du P\u00e8re No\u00ebl), which gives pride of place to the song \u201cSanta Claus is coming to town\u201d.


The result is a wonderfully successful mix of pop and orchestral music. The original demo of the song was a little more rock. But as the parade originally only took place at night, we opted for an arrangement that emphasizes the magical side of Christmas. Then, it was decided that the parade could take place during the day and at night, and this was why we’ve created this hybrid version that can work for both occasions.

As a counterpoint to the song, we have lots of song excerpts, both traditional and Disney. It’s a really complicated exercise, almost mathematical, to choose and then incorporate all these songs into the loop of 2 and a half minutes allocated to each \ufb02oat. To do this, we start with Yaron’s song and then we try to envision the variations. Depending on the theme of the \ufb02oat, we draw up a list of possible songs, like \u201cVive le vent\u201d for Donald, or the romantic tunes for the Princesses. Then we test what might work, and at what moment to incorporate them, a little like for a duet or a mash-up. I was fortunate enough to work with arrangers from The Imagination House in Orlando, who did a phenomenal job creating these \ufb02oats. They also produced the Halloween and Christmas Parade for Walt Disney World, in Orlando.


Timeless songs sit alongside more unusual ones like \u201cTant qu\u2019il y aura No\u00ebl\u201d, from Beauty and the Beast 2: the Enchanted Christmas.

Emanuel Lenormand, the parade Director, wanted to have this song for Beauty as part of the \u201cA Fairytale Waltz\u201d \ufb02oat. He adores this song, which is really superb, and it was absolutely the perfect place to use it.


He also wanted this parade to have a very European feel.
Absolutely, and this applies to the music too. As an American, I have a di\ufb00erent culture when it comes to Christmas traditions, and I really feel this in Prague, where I currently live. There’s the tradition of the Christmas tree erected each year at the heart of the old town, with the lights and music. When I discovered it, I heard songs that I\u2019d never heard before and I really felt the distinctiveness of Christmas music in Europe. Emanuel was very specific about the traditional songs he wanted to feature in the parade. We discussed this aspect extensively and I focused on ensuring that a European audience would recognize itself in the music of Mickey and his Dazzling Christmas Parade.


From the arrangement to the recording, how did it all happen?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Imagination House, with Tyler Koontz and Mike Avila were responsible for the \ufb02oats, and then we had Oren Sela and Amos Ben David create the production show stops. We gave them the creative treatment for the parade, then they sent us their demos. We made a few adaptations and then we turned to an orchestrator based in London to finalize the score and prepare for recording at the legendary Abbey Road studies. This final stage was particularly complicated because of the recent pandemic. We had to organize sessions section by section (so strings alone, then brass, etc.), making sure the musicians were as socially distanced as possible. But this process actually gave us greater freedom when it came to the mixing. By working like this, we were able to regulate the level of each group very precisely, which is more difficult when you record the whole orchestra at the same time.

The parade\u2019s staging has changed compared with last year to provide an even more magical experience. And what about the music?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, because of Covid and other constraints linked to the reopening, we weren\u2019t able to make the music precisely how we envisioned it. And so we’ve taken advantage of the return of the parade this year to remix it completely. Dan Scott, an independent, global sound designer for the Disney

Company, played an integral role in helping us find that sound. We\u2019ve worked really hard to make it sound better than ever. If you were here in 2021, you will definitely notice the difference.

CHRISTMAS WITH A CHORUS

And to end a wonderful day of celebrations at Disneyland Paris, what could be better than the Follow the Light show, with its particularly lyrical arrangement of \u201cUn monde qui s\u2019illumine\u201d bringing together a chorus and soloist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This music was originally created for the 30th anniversary launch day. But we weren\u2019t able to use it the way we wanted. It was finally possible a few days later, on 28 April, when Mickey lit up the Ei\ufb00el Tower. Thierry Magne, the creator of the event, wanted to use \u201cUn monde qui s\u2019illumine\u201d and I told him about this version, which he thought was perfect. We ended up doing something very special and very beautiful, and from there came the idea to reuse this music each evening just after Disney Dreams! Celebrate Christmas. It\u2019s a bit of a bonus for our guests, a way of combining the magic of our 30th anniversary with the magic of Christmas.

LAUGHTER, LOVE AND DREAMS\u2026

For this 30th anniversary, one of the big new features is the Dream… and Shine Brighter show, still in its parade style. Musically, it creates a very di\ufb00erent energy.
An incredible energy, no? Honestly, in 25 years, I’ve never seen an audience react with such enthusiasm. It\u2019s something about how they created an immersive experience for the guests using the music. Initially, for the part where the \ufb02oats are paraded in, we were undecided between \u201cUn monde qui s\u2019illumine\u201d and \u201cReady for the ride\u201d. While \u201cUn monde qui s\u2019illumine\u201d was the perfect anthem for the 30th anniversary, \u201cReady for the ride\u201d brought something so exciting and perfect for our show. It even in\ufb02uenced the way we recorded this soundtrack, using production methods taken straight from pop.



For the mash-up that unfolds in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle, we have used a pretty incredible number of excerpts from Disney songs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This part breaks down into three sections, \u201cLaugh\u201d, \u201cLove\u201d and \u201cDream\u201d, and Director Matthieu Robin and Natalia Beliaeva wanted to incorporate the maximum number of songs into each section. It was a real challenge. We had a lot of discussions to decide on the songs from the Disney and Pixar Classics that chimed with this story, and we didn’t stop adding them, right up to the day of the recording. We also worked really hard to ensure that this part delivered the same energy as \u201cReady for the ride\u201d. And when you see our guests spontaneously breaking into dance, that’s our biggest reward!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An atmosphere \ufb01lled with celebration, bells that ring, timeless songs: it\u2019s Christmas that resonates at Disneyland Paris, and particularly when Mickey and his Dazzling Christmas Parade pass by. To \ufb01nd out more about this magical and festive music, the InsidEars team asked Musical Producer Jonathan Barr to tell us the secrets behind this creation. It\u2019s … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":103598,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n