The playlist project continues! (Just checking in? First check out
Part 1 and Part 2!) Fantasyland is so rich in attractions, and the
song choices are so obvious, that it gets an installment all to
itself.
Now, “obvious” doesn't mean “automatic.” The dark rides tend
to sample pretty liberally from their source materials' soundtracks,
and in limiting myself to one song per attraction, I have to do some
heavy pruning to pick the best
one.
“When You Wish
Upon a Star”
This
song has long been considered the anthem for not just Disneyland, but
Disney Studios itself. For as long as I can remember, the original
version from the opening titles of Pinocchio
has played under the archway of Sleeping Beauty Castle. It is
the quintessential Fantasyland song.
“Kingdom Dance”
from Tangled
Fantasy
Faire, AKA Princess Central, leans pretty hard on Tangled
imagery, from the sculpture of the tower in the middle of the square
to the little show in the Royal Theatre. It probably says something
about that film that the most memorable piece of music from it might
be one of the score pieces, rather than one of the songs...but either
way, “Kingdom Dance” has a great “Renaissance Faire” vibe
that goes great with Fantasy Faire. A version of it is used in the
area music loop, too.
Loreena McKennitt -
“To the Fairies They Draw Near”
I have to admit that replacing
Ariel's Grotto with Pixie Hollow is one of the more unusual decisions
to come from park management in the last decade or so. Everyone has
seen The Little Mermaid
and almost everyone loves it and its expressive star. The Disney
Fairies series, despite being headlined by Tinker Bell, has achieved
much less recognition among the mainstream public.* It was a genuine
risk, and I'm not positive it paid off.
But whatever you might think of
Disney's answer to...W.I.T.C.H.?
The Barbie movies? I dunno...it got off to a great
start with this haunting song. Remember what I said last time about
Celtic music? It still applies.
“Main Title: Once Upon a Dream/Prologue” from
Sleeping Beauty
For
the Castle itself, I wanted something to hint at both the grandeur of
the structure, and the content of the attraction inside. The Sleeping Beauty main title sequence opens with a nice fanfare and then segues into a medley of songs and instrumentals from throughout the film. On
the soundtrack, it's coupled with the stately prologue music, thus
returning to grandeur.
“Far Into the
Forest” from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
The
first dark ride you encounter upon entering Fantasyland is, after
all, Snow White's Scary
Adventures. The ride uses no end of disturbing imagery from scenes in
the film, usually accompanied by appropriate snippets of the original
score, but I think this one boils it down nicely. It starts off sweet
and pleasant before abruptly transitioning to a horror show. And you
may recognize some phrases from their actual use on the ride.
“You Can Fly! You
Can Fly! You Can Fly!”
This
was one of the easy ones. The bulk of Peter Pan's Flight is based on
the animation sequence for this song, which is the
defining song of the film. The whole point of chumming around with
Peter Pan is that he'll give you pixie dust so you can fly, right?
“Nowhere in
Particular”
Another
super-easy decision. This is basically the only song in
the Mr. Toad segment of The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr.
Toad, and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
features it extensively.
“That's What
Makes the World Go Round”
This, on the other hand, was a bit of a puzzler. The King Arthur
Carrousel is not named in
honor of The Sword in the Stone,
which didn't come along until eight years after the park opened with
the Carrousel up and running. Moreover, the soundtrack from said film
is...not the most memorable, and none of its songs have ever been
part of the Carrousel's distinctive band organ sound.
On the other hand, the Sword in the
Stone prop is out in
front of the Carrousel, and there's a song in the movie called
“That's What Makes the World Go Round.” Get it? Go
round? Like a—never mind. If
only there were a band organ cover of it, it would be perfect.
“Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee (An Actor's Life For Me)”
The
best song from Pinocchio (by
a huge margin) has already been claimed by Fantasyland as a whole,
but the second-best—judging by how often it is used in multi-film
music loops—is more than adequate to represent Pinocchio's Daring
Journey.
“Be Our Guest”
Did
you know that the Village Haus has been temporarily reskinned as the
Beauty and the Beast-themed
“Red Rose Taverne?” At least I assume it's temporary; the changes
to the building are entirely cosmetic and give the impression of
being easily removable once the current promotion (for the
live-action remake**) runs its course.
In
any case, not only is “Be Our Guest” the
breakout song from the film, but the familiar soundtrack version is
used in the interior music loop
“When I See An
Elephant Fly”
For
Dumbo the Flying Elephant, we're back to the blatantly obvious, and
hey—we're two for two on flying songs for flying attractions in
Fantasyland.
“Casey Junior”
I
could almost suspect that both Dumbo attractions were designed around
songs from the film rather than scenes as such. The Casey Junior
Circus Train partakes of a little more of the film's soundtrack than
just this song, but what else could I rightfully have chosen?
“Who's Afraid of
the Big, Bad Wolf?”
Storybook
Land does not really have a musical signature of its own. Snippets of
a few well-known Disney songs can be heard at various points around
the brief journey, but there is no song that really defines the ride
due to its conglomerate nature. It took me a good while to decide
what to put here, but in the end I went with “Who's Afraid of the
Big, Bad Wolf?” mainly because it's one of the great Disney
classics that I would otherwise have no place for in this playlist.
Also, “The Three Little Pigs” is truly
one of Disney's storybook
fables,
as opposed to their sweeping fairytales. It's quaint and charming and
centered on cottages...much like Storybook Land itself.
“The Unbirthday Song”
Here
we have yet another case of an attraction based on one specific movie
scene that has well-known musical accompaniment. Little
digression—one of my most prominent childhood memories of
Disneyland is being in...various places in Fantasyland, and hearing
the bass line from the Mad Tea Party on endless repeat. Those jug and
bassoon sounds really carry! Incidentally, if you were ever wondering
why The Second Sense is a thing on this blog, it's because music
makes a strong impression on me in general.
“March of the
Cards”
While
the film Alice in Wonderland
does contain a song entitled “Alice in Wonderland,” the ride
Alice in Wonderland doesn't really use it (except in the queue loop,
which is hard to hear). On the other hand, the score piece “March
of the Cards” can be
heard on the ride, as well as in the queue, and also crops up in
Esplanade loops. It's hard to argue with those credentials.
Bundner
Landlerquintett – Obervazer-Schottisch
This
tune, famously used in the Matterhorn Bobsleds queue loop, has spread
far and wide under the name “Matterhorn Polka #1.” (Its actual
title is given above.) I would have liked to use something that would
be more of a slam-dunk even for people of average observational
skills and familiarity with the park soundtracks, but the Matterhorn
has no actual theme song and is not associated with a movie known for
its music.
“It's a Small
World (After All)”
The
most unfairly maligned ride in Disneyland is represented by its own,
most unfairly maligned theme song. This version actually comes from a
record produced for the 1964 New York World's Fair, and has been
featured on Disney compilation album for decades.
“The Sorcerer's
Apprentice”
I admit it: I love “Mickey and the Magical Map,” now showing at
the Fantasyland Theatre. The show uses the premise of Mickey as the Sorcerer's Apprentice, hence the use of the classical
piece of the same name to represent it. Naturally, it's the version
from Fantasia.
Come back next week, when I wrap up Disneyland Park!
* Once burned, twice shy, and we got burned a lot
by direct-to-video releases.
** Meh, don't bother.
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