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