0:10 with over fifty six animated films
0:12 countless Oscars and a discography of
0:15 300 plus songs Disney Animation Studios
0:20 is at Titan in the film industry they
0:22 brought us classics like Beauty and the
0:24 Beast Aladdin
0:27 in my personal favorite The Lion King
0:30 but a part of Disney's charm blazing its
0:31 music so in this episode I want to
0:33 explore how Disney tells a story through
0:36 its songs weaving music plot character
0:39 and theme into a cohesive and engaging
0:43 story before a note is even written the
0:45 creators at Disney first come up with a
0:47 story our films start in story along
0:49 with the director and the writer we
0:51 figure out what happens using simple
0:53 drawings a story which is then turned
0:55 into a script with cues on where and
0:57 when a song should take place the writer
0:58 then works in collaboration with
1:01 songwriters lyricists and animation to
1:02 combine everything into a finished
1:04 script here's how the first few moments
1:32 [Music]
1:35 for Disney the purpose of a song isn't
1:37 to overtake the story rather to elevate
1:39 it the narrative strength of a Disney
1:41 song lies in its ability to do one of
1:44 three things drive the plot reveal
1:46 character or express a theme
1:49 now some songs can do all three but for
1:51 Disney a song must have at least one of
1:53 them for its placement to make narrative
1:54 sense so let's take a look at a couple
1:56 examples and see how Disney infuses
2:02 these elements into its songs first
2:05 drives the plot if a song isn't driving
2:07 a plot the movie isn't moving there's no
2:09 forward momentum driving us to its
2:12 inevitable conclusion take the Lion King
2:15 for example it has five songs in its
2:18 hour and 29 minute long runtime total
2:20 together these songs make roughly 20% of
2:23 the movie now imagine if 20% of your
2:25 movie had nothing happening in it no
2:27 plot movement thankfully the Lion King
2:28 doesn't have this problem but it's why
2:31 many Disney songs move plot through song
2:37 and can you feel the love tonight Simba
2:39 is reunited with Nala and we witness
2:41 their budding romance a romance that
2:43 will eventually lead him back to Pride
2:46 Rock to confront scar this plot shift
2:48 will also have different effects on the
2:55 other characters kill the beast from
2:57 Beauty and the Beast accomplishes plot
2:59 progression through gas stalls mustering
3:01 of the townspeople he wants them to take
3:03 up arms and storm the castle a plot
3:05 point that defines much of the third act
3:08 in Cinderella's bibbidi-bobbidi-boo we
3:10 watch as Cinderella with the help of her
3:12 fairy godmother prepares for the princes
3:14 ball but not all songs need to advance
3:18 the plot in revealing character songs we
3:20 get a deeper look into you guessed it
3:22 the character specifically what they
3:24 wanted life or how they view the world
3:25 in fact many of the characters
3:27 explicitly tell us what they want in the lyrics
3:28 lyrics [Music]
3:32 [Music]
3:34 Mulan's reflection is another great
3:35 example it's a beautiful song that
3:38 delves into what her characters feeling
3:39 and the struggles with having to be
3:41 someone she isn't although it helps us
3:43 connect with her and offers valuable
3:45 insight into her character it doesn't
3:47 move the plot and that's not a bad thing
3:49 these songs don't need all three
3:51 elements in I'll make a man out of you
3:53 we see a song that drives plot and
3:56 reveals character we see the army train
3:57 and prepare for the impending hun
3:59 invasion while simultaneously showing
4:01 Milan's determination to earn the
4:03 respect and admiration of her fellow soldiers
4:05 soldiers
4:08 in part of your world we see another
4:10 character revealing moments aerial
4:12 confined to her underwater world longs
4:14 for nothing more than to explore the
4:20 world beyond her own more often than not
4:22 these songs tend to be emotionally
4:24 driven diving deep into the characters
4:26 in her feelings they deal with wants and
4:28 dreams but more importantly they show us
4:30 what motivates them Belle wants to break
4:32 free of her provincial life Arielle
4:34 wants to explore the world beyond
4:35 hercules wants to discover where he
4:38 truly belongs moulin wants to be her own
4:40 person finally we have songs that
4:42 develop a theme whether they developed
4:44 the main theme or a smaller one entirely
4:46 they often prepare us for the moral of
4:48 the story in colors of the wind
4:50 Pocahontas explains the importance of
4:53 respecting nature in hakuna matata Simba
4:54 learns it's better to take it easy than
4:57 to worry in something there Belle earns
4:58 that there is more to beast than meets
5:00 the eye she's on her way to learning
5:02 that it's better not to judge a book by
5:04 its cover songs are a great tool because
5:06 they can help mask it mean without it
5:08 being too in-your-face or preachy and
5:10 Disney has done a great job at mastering
5:12 this over the years rarely to do their
5:15 themes become too heavy-handed but what
5:17 happens when a Disney song expresses
5:19 theme reveals character and drives the
5:25 plot all in one song not only is let it
5:27 go a great standalone song which by the
5:30 way has over 1.4 billion views on
5:32 YouTube it incorporates all three of the
5:35 Disney song elements Elsa having run
5:36 away from home after engulfed in
5:39 arendelle into internal winter decides
5:41 to live a life of solitude and builds
5:43 her ice castle plot she embraces her new
5:45 powers instead of suppressing them
5:47 revealing character and finally she
5:49 decides that it's better to let go of
5:51 her inhibitions and accept who she is
6:01 now I'm not saying let it go is the
6:03 greatest Disney song nor that its
6:05 success is based on having these
6:07 elements rather that a great song fit
6:09 into the proper context of the movie
6:11 which drives plot character and a theme
6:13 is infinitely more powerful and engaging
6:15 than songs that are placed just for the
6:17 sake of having a song the three elements
6:19 I mentioned can also be applied to
6:21 action sequences the fight scene between
6:23 Will Turner and Jack Sparrow at the
6:25 blacksmith's and Pirates of the
6:27 Caribbean drives plot reveals character
6:29 and expresses a theme while
6:31 simultaneously providing unique action
6:33 compounded with characters who we care
6:37 about you keep it pirate for Disney song
6:39 and story are inextricably linked we've
6:41 learned that by using songs to drive
6:43 plot reveal character or express themes
6:45 we end up with more engaging and
6:46 fulfilling narratives so if you're
6:48 thinking of writing a story with songs
6:50 take a note from Disney and make sure
6:51 that they're there to elevate the story
6:54 and not overshadow it as always keep online
6:58 [Applause] [Music]
6:59 [Music] [Applause]
7:02 [Applause]
7:04 thanks for tuning in
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