Disney’s Unforgettable Ribbon Cuttings

December 21, 2013March 27, 2018

For nearly 60 years, Disney has welcomed visitors from around the world by throwing open the gates to worlds of fantasy and adventure. Beginning in 1955 with Disneyland, an array of Disney theme parks, resorts, and other attractions have marked their grand openings with festive unveilings. A common sight at such events is the ceremonial ribbon cutting; over the years, any number of rides, shows, and celebrations have kicked off their debuts with a pair of oversized scissors and the participation of Disney characters and celebrities—or even Walt himself!

A Disney ribbon cutting is always cause for celebration

So as we here at D23 “cut the ribbon” on a whole new way to experience the treasures of the Disney vault, it seems like a good time to look back at these moments from Disney history. As you can see, no matter the occasion, a Disney ribbon cutting is always cause for celebration.

We’ll start off with the photo above, taken at the dedication of Disneyland’s Opera House and the West Coast debut of Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln in July 1965. Already a smash hit from the New York World’s Fair’s 1964 season, the show continued to play in Flushing Meadows throughout 1965. To bring the show to Disneyland, a duplicate of the attraction was constructed with a new, second-generation refinement of Lincoln’s Audio-Animatronics® figure.

Here’s an unexpected Disney princess: actress Shirley Temple Black, who helped Walt rededicate Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland on April 29, 1957. The then 29-year-old star is seen here cutting the ribbon for the Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough, which Walt was unveiling for the first time.

For the festivities, Shirley brought along her daughter Linda and son Charles, seen in the foreground, as well as her daughter Lori. The family spent the day in the park, waving to photographers from Dumbo the Flying Elephant and other attractions. For the rededication ceremony, Shirley appeared in a velvet cape and golden crown, and she read the tale of Sleeping Beauty to the assembled crowd.

This wasn’t Shirley’s first brush with Disney royalty, of course. Nearly 20 years prior, she had presented a special Academy Award®—complete with seven miniature Oscar® figurines—to Walt for his groundbreaking animated feature Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Walt wasn’t the only Disney to get in on the tradition of Disneyland ribbon cuttings. Here we see Walt with three of his grandchildren—Tammy, Joanna, and Chris Miller—as well as a family of friendly Audio-Animatronics® beavers. With their trusty wilderness hatchet they’re dedicating Disneyland’s new Mine Train Through Nature’s Wonderland attraction in May 1960.

200 Audio-Animatronics® critters

One of the park’s first major expansions, the new area was an improved version of the earlier Rainbow Caverns Mine Train. Its more than 200 Audio-Animatronics® critters occupied a seven-acre footprint, with areas themed to Walt’s various True-Life Adventure documentaries. The 1950 release Beaver Valley inspired this riverside area, where riders could witness the industrious creatures at work.

Perhaps the most famous ribbon cutting in Disney lore is the one that didn’t actually happen: the “scissors malfunction” that plagued Vice President Richard Nixon and his family in 1959 when Nixon, his wife Pat, and daughters Julie and Tricia had come to Disneyland to celebrate the debut of the Disneyland-Alweg Monorail System, Matterhorn Bobsleds, and Submarine Voyage.

The Nixons had been frequent Disneyland guests going all the way back to their first visit on August 11, 1955. As the then VP sailed out over moonlit London on Peter Pan’s Flight, his wife remarked to reporters, “Dick’s getting a bigger kick out of this than the kids.”

For the festivities on June 14, 1959, the Nixons led an hour-long parade down Main Street in a 1908 Oldsmobile. Following a gala celebration, and the release of 10,000 balloons, the new Disneyland E-tickets were dedicated.

The Nixon family proceeded to Tomorrowland to dedicate the Disneyland Monorail; the only issue was that the oversize ceremonial scissors picked for the occasion refused to cut through the ribbon. In an event that he himself would later poke fun at on his Wonderful World of Color television show, Walt was forced to intercede and tear the ribbon by hand to inaugurate his sleek, futuristic transportation system.

A few years later, when the Disneyland Monorail track was extended to service a new station at the Disneyland Hotel, the Nixons were invited to re-dedicate the attraction. “Inasmuch as your young ladies dedicated the original system,” Walt wrote to Nixon in May 1966, “it would be appropriate for them to dedicate the new extension.” Walt even assured that Disneyland had sorted out the finer points of ribbon cutting, promising, “I can even assure you that the scissors will be sharp this time!”

The Nixons were unable to attend the re-opening of the Monorail on June 11, 1961, but the celebration went on nonetheless, as you can see above. This ceremony was held on the new Monorail platform at the Disneyland Hotel itself; you can see the station’s trademark “Erector Set” architecture in the background. In attendance was California Congressman James Utt, seen on the left. He’d also been a guest for Disneyland’s 1955 opening-day celebration. Cutting the ribbon was actress Bonita Granville and her husband, Disneyland Hotel owner and president Jack Wrather. On the Monorail is Mary Boggess of Kentucky, the first passenger to ride the newly expanded route.

This festive event took place July 29, 1963, when Disneyland unveiled “Salute to Mexico,” a three-month showcase of Mexican culture that transformed Main Street, U.S.A.’s Center Street into a little slice of Mexico in Anaheim. Sponsored by People-to-People, Inc., for which Walt was a trustee, in cooperation with the Mexican Tourist Council, the exhibits ranged from “pottery and jewelry to contemporary art and bull fighting.”

Opening the exhibit were Teresa Lucero, 8, of Los Angeles and Patrick Wade, 12, of Anaheim; they were joined by Edmundo Gonzales, Mexico’s Consul General in Los Angeles as well as Carlos Arruza, a famous bullfighter from Mexico City, and Joyce C. Hall, chairman of the People-to-People committee. Hall, founder and head of Hallmark, was a long-time Disney friend and business partner.

Walt had been a People-to-People trustee since 1961, when friend and organization founder, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, recruited him. He was even approached by the president to head the organization in 1966 when Eisenhower stepped down from the role.

The ribbon-cutting tradition didn’t end with Walt, of course. For six decades, an endless parade of ceremonies and festivities has proclaimed the debut of new Disney adventures. The most recent of these came on December 6, 2012, when the ribbon was cut on New Fantasyland at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. Always on the lookout for new items of historical interest, the Disney Archives in California brought back a piece of ribbon from the event to save for posterity.

To all who come to this happy place, welcome!

No matter the occasion, Disney ribbon cuttings have always heralded the arrival of fresh wonders and great excitement. It is in that spirit that we welcome you to this new adventure through Disneyana past, present and future. To all who come to this happy place, welcome!

How Steve Martin Helped Wally Boag Get on The Muppet Show

By Jim Fanning

Such Disney Legends as Julie Andrews and Elton John were among the many guest stars on The Muppet Show, but perhaps the most fascinating Disney Legend to trod the boards of the Muppet Theater was Wally Boag.

Master vaudevillian and king of comedy.

One of Walt Disney’s favorites, Wally was the comedic star of the long-running Golden Horseshoe Revue at Disneyland. Wally’s vaudevillian background and zany performing style made him a natural for the madcap show-biz shenanigans of The Muppet Show. In fact, Kermit the Frog introduces Wally as “master vaudevillian and king of comedy.”

Muppet designers transformed Wally’s set of bagpipes into a wacky bird-like creature . . .

It was another Disney Legend, Steve Martin—Steve had guested on The Muppet Show in 1977—who introduced Wally (Steve’s comedy mentor) to Jim Henson in 1980. A big Boag fan, Jim invited Wally to guest on the show, and soon the Frontierland funnyman was making balloon animals, spouting corny one-liners, and spitting out “teeth” as Pecos Bill, surrounded by Miss Piggy, Rowlf the Dog, and Annie Sue . . . and heckled, naturally, by Statler and Waldorf. For this episode, which aired May 9, 1981, the Muppet designers transformed Wally’s set of bagpipes—he purchased them back in 1947—into a wacky bird-like creature, and Wally kept the “bird pipes” intact ever after. Of course, Wally wasn’t the only future Disney Legend in that episode: there was also Jim Henson performing Kermit.

It’s no coincidence that both Jim and Walt Disney loved vaudeville—and that love was best expressed in their mutual admiration for Wally Boag.

May The Muppets Be With You

December 21, 2013May 3, 2019

By Jim Fanning

The Muppet Show was always a showcase for stars, but never more so than when the stars of Star Wars joined Kermit and Company for some intergalactic insanity. In this January 15, 1980, episode, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), C-3PO, and R2-D2 burst into the Muppet Theater with an SOS from Chewbacca:

“Help, I am being held prisoner by a bunch of weird turkeys.”

The comedic chaos jumped into hyperspace with the appearance of Luke’s “cousin,” Mark Hamill as himself. Finally, aboard the “Pigs in Space” ship, the Swinetrek—with first mate Piggy filling in for Princess Leia—Luke and the droids rescued Chewbacca from Dearth Nadir (Gonzo in full-on Vader armor).

As zany as it was, this unique episode boasted some of the only new Star Wars material created between the first movie in 1977 and the release of The Empire Strikes Back on May 21, 1980. The Empire Strikes Back, of course, introduced Yoda, performed by master Muppeteer Frank Oz who later commented on the cosmic connection between the Muppet and Star Wars universes: “They both had the vitality and purity and joy and dreaming, and there’s certainly geniuses behind both of them. George Lucas and Jim Henson worked together on Labyrinth, and I think that which got them together was that synergy. There was an awareness and an appreciation… They were [both] very smart, very quiet, very strong people.”

Miss Piggy on the set of The Empire Strikes Back with Mark Hamill.

Kermit the frog and Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker

Miss Piggy and C-3P0 on the set of The Empire Strikes Back with Mark Hamill.

Chewbacca, Miss Piggy and C-3P0 on the set of The Empire Strikes Back with Mark Hamill.

The Pink of Perfection: Walt Disney’s Summer Magic

December 21, 2013March 27, 2018

By Jim Fanning

As charming as a lovely girl in a frilly summer frock, as delicious as an ice cream social, as carefree as an old-fashioned sing-a-long around the player piano—that’s Walt Disney’s Summer Magic (1963). This lovingly crafted slice of Americana stars Disney Legend Hayley Mills in her fourth film for Walt, as the exuberant, quixotic, and effusive Nancy Carey, sweet 16 in Beulah, Maine, where she discovers new experiences, new friends, and new romance.

“‘Summer Magic’… two words that go well together, because summer always means a certain kind of magic to most of us. In fact, I think almost everybody looking back remembers summer times more often than the other seasons. Well, our story is about summer and about magic too. [It’s what] happened in one magical summer that changed the lives of an entire family—the Carey family.”
—Walt Disney

As Walt Disney explained, “Mrs. Carey and her three children, Gilly, Nancy, and Peter, found themselves in a financial bind that could only be helped by finding a cheaper place to live than Boston. So, without mentioning it to her mother, Nancy wrote a letter to a Mr. Popham in Beulah regarding a house they had seen there while on a trip some years before. The answer was even better than Nancy had hoped for.”

Thanks to Nancy’s resourceful and “slightly” exaggerated missive—full of tears, entreaties, and white lies—the Careys are able to live in the quaint Yellow House belonging to the long absent Mr. Hamilton, who is traveling in China. And through the kindness of postmaster-storekeeper-constable Osh Popham (Burl Ives), who is not above stretching the truth himself. Sparkling with seven Sherman Brothers songs and glowing with heartwarming nostalgia, Summer Magic this year celebrates 50 years of flitterin’ fun and feel-good family entertainment.

A Glorification: Story and Screenplay
Summer Magic is based on Mother Carey’s Chickens, the 1911 novel by educator and author Kate Douglas Wiggin who also wrote Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. Disney obtained the rights to the book in 1955 as a potential project for some of the Mouseketeers. In 1961, the story was slated for the Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color TV series, but Walt ultimately envisioned the delightful dramedy as a theatrical feature for his popular young star Hayley Mills. The prolific producer signed writer Sally Benson (author of the stories that inspired Meet Me in St. Louis, 1944, and the co-screenwriter of the small-town suspense Hitchcock thriller, Shadow of a Doubt, 1943) to pen the photoplay. Sally worked closely with Walt, keeping him up-to-date in between story meetings through an extensive series of memos detailing her many ideas. For example, it was Miss Benson’s inspiration to telescope the events of the book into one summertime, ending with an autumn celebration.

summer-magic-hayley-mills-walt-disney-studios-feat-1 — The *Summer Magic* Barn at The Walt Disney Studios, Berm 5; the Animation building can be glimpsed to the right of the trailers.

In the meantime, Walt cast Burl Ives as Osh Popham. (Nancy describes the good-heartedly deceitful postmaster as the family’s Fairy Godfather.) Long known as a folksinger and balladeer, Burl had also become an acclaimed actor in such films as East of Eden (1955), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), and The Big Country (1958), for which he won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar®. Walt had in fact given Burl one of his first acting assignments in So Dear to My Heart (1948), a film not unlike Summer Magic in its nostalgic sentiment and period detail. Sally Benson had written a non-musical draft of the screenplay, but with Burl aboard, Walt asked staff composers Richard and Robert Sherman to come up with a suitable song. “As an actor, he’s wonderful,” said Richard Sherman. “But we knew him as a folksinger. He just had this wonderful, mellow, rich voice. So we were thrilled.”

summer-magic-hayley-mills-walt-disney-studios-feat-9 — Between scenes: Hayley Mills, Eddie Hodges, and Richard Sherman.

Taking Walt’s idea a step or two farther, the songwriting brothers proposed a selection of songs that could enliven the screenplay. Walt liked the idea of adding more tunes, and the brothers worked closely with Sally Benson in developing the story and placing the songs. During development, the film was known as Beulah, then The Amazing Careys, before Walt came up with the perfect title for this cinematic confection. Said Robert: “We wrote a song called ‘City People.’ Walt called me at home one night and asked if I agreed that the words ‘summer magic’ scanned the same as ‘city people.’ I told him that it did. He replied, ‘Good, then that’s the name of my picture!’ We changed the title of the song as well as a few salient lyrics.”

Richard and Robert Sherman flank Hayley Mills.

Welcome to the Disney Fun Factory: The Cast
The vivacious Hayley Mills was under a non-exclusive contract with Disney, and Walt had already starred her in a period drama (Pollyanna), a contemporary comedy (The Parent Trap) and an action-adventure-fantasy (In Search of the Castaways). The imaginative impresario saw this lighthearted musical as another varied vehicle for his versatile star. But Hayley did not think of herself as a vocalist and had been reluctant to sing the Shermans’ “Let’s Get Together” in The Parent Trap. Richard and Robert encouraged Hayley to “just be yourself,” and her vocal performance was a sensation. When it came to singing several songs in Summer Magic, Walt explained his thinking about Hayley’s musical mojo in an April 23, 1962, telegram: “We are not trying to make a singer out of Hayley; neither does the script indicate that the singing she does is of a professional type. Instead, it is only her personality we are endeavoring to put over.” Indeed, Hayley’s adorable, offbeat personality shines through in her Summer Magic vocal performances.

With the film now featuring original songs, teenager Eddie Hodges was cast as Nancy’s musically inclined brother, Gilly. A veteran of stage (Eddie was the original Winthrop in the hit Broadway musical The Music Man, which debuted in 1957) and screen (he had co-starred and even sang a duet with Frank Sinatra in the film A Hole in the Head, 1959), Eddie was an accomplished musician. To play the gentle, wise, and preternaturally patient Mrs. Carey, Dorothy McGuire returned to the Disney fold. Walt sent the actress a special note of greeting on August 8, 1962: “Welcome back to the Disney fun factory. We’re glad you’re going to be with us while we conjure up a little “Summer Magic,” and I’m sure the end result will be as much of a success as Old Yeller and Swiss Family [Robinson].” Dorothy enjoyed playing a mother as she had in her previous Disney films: “It suits me to a T. I love children of all ages, and the joys and sometimes little problems they present both on and off the stage. I find, of course, that being a real mother helps immeasurably in interpreting a role and developing a character. My experiences at home, with my daughter Mary and son Mark tend to give a real-life feeling to my work.” Dorothy went on to play the most famous mother of all: she was Mary the mother of Jesus in George Stevens’ epic The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965).

summer-magic-hayley-mills-walt-disney-studios-feat-3 — Walt confers with director James Neilson on the backlot.

In addition to Deborah Walley as snobbish Cousin Julia and Jimmy Mathers (younger brother of Jerry Leave It to Beaver Mathers) as little Peter, the cast included Peter Brown as Tom Hamilton, the mysterious owner of the Yellow House. Off the set, Peter took Hayley to her first American baseball game—at Dodger Stadium, in dugout seats courtesy of his friend Dean Martin—and found her to have the wit, humor, and charm of a woman of 25. (Reportedly, a kiss—Hayley’s highly anticipated first on-screen kiss—was planned for Nancy and Tom Hamilton but was ultimately dropped.)

Gotta Crawl, Gotta Crawl: Songs
“We worked with the Sherman Brothers on the songs,” Eddie Hodges told historian Charles Tranberg. “What a delightful pair! They really supplied the musical energy of that picture, as well as the songs. The Sherman Brothers had a miraculous way of weaving a song into the very fabric of the story so that you just felt it belonged there.”

Burl Ives and Walt chat on the front porch of the Beulah barbershop.

As noted, the musical nature of the film began with the casting of Burl Ives. “Occasionally we had the good fortune of knowing ahead of time that a certain performer was going to play the character,” said Richard Sherman, “[as] in the case of Burl Ives in Summer Magic. We knew ahead of time that he was going to be featured, and we wrote the novelty called ‘Ugly Bug Ball.’” But, added Robert, “Walt didn’t want us to use the song because he didn’t like the word ‘ugly.’ So we said, you know to the creatures in the world, a hippopotamus to another hippopotamus is not ugly. And a caterpillar is not ugly to another caterpillar.” Continued Richard, “And he said, ‘you know, that’s not a bad idea. And if we put that into the script, then I think we can do the song.’” Burl made the “Ugly Bug Ball” song a Summer Magic highlight, as well as “On the Front Porch,” another homespun song composed especially for Ives and one of the Shermans’ personal favorites.

Beautiful Beulah, Maine: Filming
Principal photography began in July 1962 and concluded in October, corresponding with the time frame of the film story itself. Though the opening exterior scenes set at the Carey’s city home were filmed at nearby Columbia Ranch (now the Warner Ranch) in Burbank, the exteriors of rustic Beulah were filmed on the Disney Studios backlot. The exterior of the charming Yellow House and its spacious lawn was constructed on Berm 4 while the back of the Maine manse and the barn were constructed on Berm 5 near the Animation building. Special photographic effects master Peter Ellenshaw went on a research trip not to Maine, but to the Vermont countryside, where background footage was shot, the steam engine briefly seen in the film was photographed, and Peter soaked up the bucolic atmosphere in order to paint both pre-production concept art and the matte paintings used in the film to achieve the upper stories of the Yellow House and much of Beulah and its surrounding New England beauty.

Walt and Hayley chat in front of another Summer Magic “star,” the Stutz Bearcat motorcar.

The Well Worn Welcome Mat: Release
Summer Magic was released July 7, 1963. Although there was no true soundtrack recording, an original cast LP album was issued on Disney’s prestige label Vista Records. Recorded at the legendary Sunset Sound Recorders studio, the album featured new renditions of the songs by the film’s performers with the exception of Marilyn Hooven, who took the place of Dorothy McGuire for the LP. The LP was produced and orchestrated by the film’s vocal supervisor, Tutti Camarata, while acclaimed illustrator Neil Boyle (who would also illustrate the Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln LP) painted the album’s evocative cover.

summer-magic-hayley-mills-walt-disney-studios-feat-6 — Director James Neilson (right) discusses Summer Magic with Burl Ives and Hayley Mills.

Another LP featured the Summer Magic songs as “performed” by a player piano. A tie-in with the piano-player element portrayed in the film, the album was also a nod to the growing resurgence of this nostalgic instrument’s popularity in the 1960s.There was also a unique promotional tie-in with the Aeolian Piano Rolls company in which constantly playing player pianos were in the lobbies of Summer Magic theatres in such cities as New York, Cleveland, and Atlanta; in New York, according to a Buena Vista Distribution report, the player piano was “drawing big crowds right off the street.”

From left: Tutti Camarata, Robert Sherman, and Hayley Mills at a recording studio.

The movie’s biggest draw was unquestionably “that wonderful Hayley!” At the time Summer Magic was released, Hayley was receiving more fan mail than any other motion picture star in the world—some 7,500 letters each month! Hayley’s main ambition was to be “a good actress,” a status she felt she had not yet achieved. “I’m like an old flannel, just soaking up any bits of information I can get. You can’t learn a lifetime’s work in four years.”

summer-magic-hayley-mills-walt-disney-studios-feat-10 — From left: Richard Sherman, Hayley Mills, and Peter Brown clown at the Summer Magic wrap party.

As refreshing as a glass of ice-cold lemonade on a hot August day, Summer Magic is 50 and Fabulous and still as magical as ever.

D23 Members visited The Walt Disney Studios on Saturday, June 8, 2013, for a very special 50th Anniversary Screening of Summer Magic. Joining D23 Members and their guests for this special screening were Disney artist and historian Stacia Martin, Disney historian Les Perkins, and Jimmy Mathers, who played the spunky and loveable Peter Carey in Summer Magic.

As a tribute to the film, the Walt Disney Archives put together a small display of props and costume concept art from the film in the theater’s lobby.

Fateful Encounters: Mary Costa Talks Disney and Stravinsky

Several years after the maestro of the animation world skillfully blended art and classical music to create Fantasia, Walt Disney looked to classical music again as he planned a new animated feature, Sleeping Beauty. His selection of 22-year-old Mary Costa as the voice of Princess Aurora matched Peter Tchaikovsky’s beloved classical music with a voice destined to grace the world’s most renowned opera houses.

This Disney Legend still marvels at how her career was impacted by creative guidance from two of the 20th century’s most gifted geniuses

As it would turn out, Walt’s fateful casting of Mary Costa helped accelerate her fame. The singer’s early success ironically helped bring her to the attention of one of the world’s greatest composers, one whose work had been included in Fantasia years earlier. Hollywood is filled with unusual stories of life-changing encounters, and this Disney Legend still marvels at how her career was impacted by creative guidance from two of the 20th century’s most gifted geniuses.

More than 50 years after the release of Sleeping Beauty, Mary regards working with Walt on the animated classic as one of the positive influences on her decision to pursue opera. “Walt wasn’t really a musician, but he respected and admired people who made music their art,” she recalls.

As a result of the publicity generated by the movie, Mary saw her Disney work open doors to film and television appearances. As she voiced Briar Rose singing about her dreams of finding true love, Mary dreamed of an opera career. She knew a transition from popular entertainment into the more “serious” opera world was considered difficult to achieve. As production on Sleeping Beauty finished, Walt gave her some advice when she shared her ambitious goals one day at the studio.

If you apply the ‘Four Ds’—dreams, dedication, determination, and the discipline—you can make it

“An opera career is quite a desire,” he told her. “But if you apply the ‘Four Ds’—dreams, dedication, determination, and the discipline—you can make it.”

She took Walt’s alliterative principles to heart, and by the time Sleeping Beauty opened in 1959, Mary had launched a stellar career, including an early Hollywood Bowl appearance that would ultimately lead her to add more than three dozen operas to her performing repertoire. Just as Tchaikovsky’s music had brought her to Walt, Mary’s foray into opera was about to connect her to another Russian composer whose work had also been associated with Disney.

When Walt famously set classical compositions to animation for Fantasia, Igor Stravinsky was the only composer still living to see his work on the big screen. Born in Russia in 1882, Stravinsky was a boy when he saw Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty ballet during its premiere year in St. Petersburg. Stravinsky grew up intending to become a lawyer, but music lessons led him into a new career. Regarded as one of the early 20th century’s greatest composers, by the late 1930s he had moved to Hollywood where he often conducted concerts at the Hollywood Bowl. In 1940, Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring was included in Fantasia, and the rest is Disney history. It’s a connection not lost on Mary Costa.

Walt Disney was fascinated by The Sleeping Beauty ballet, and so was Igor Stravinsky

“Walt Disney was fascinated by The Sleeping Beauty ballet, and so was Igor Stravinsky,” she notes. Not too long after the release of Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty, Stravinsky heard a Mary Costa recording from her first Hollywood Bowl appearance.

Mary was appearing with the San Francisco Opera when she was told that Stravinsky had personally requested her to sing the role of “Anne Trulove” in the company’s first production of The Rake’s Progress, an opera completed in 1951 as one of the composer’s last great works.

“As exciting as that was, imagine the thrill when I was told that Stravinsky wanted to coach me himself for the role at his home in Los Angeles,” the singer recalls.

Then 80 years old, Stravinsky invited Mary to spend three weeks with him for private vocal coaching and intensive rehearsals. The idea of working directly with the composer himself was a little daunting, so Mary first worked with famed conductor Fritz Zweig, a protégé of another great composer, Richard Strauss. “I practically knew it backwards by the time Stravinsky was ready for me,” she says with a laugh.

He loved to make me laugh . . .

Accompanied by Zweig on the piano, Mary sang for Stravinsky in his studio. Although Stravinsky enjoyed a reputation for perfectionism that some artists found intimidating, Mary thought he had an incredible sense of humor. “He loved to make me laugh,” she says.

She even saw Stravinsky’s sensitive side during her three weeks with him. “He was remarkably knowledgeable about a singer’s voice. Like Walt Disney, he was intuitive about guiding my performance. Where Walt had coached me to think of singing like painting with a vocal palette, Stravinsky told me to keep up my energy level and to never ever let it drop, even during the softest phrases of my singing.”

Stravinsky was remarkably generous in that he encouraged me to take breaths where I needed them

With a challenging aria early in Act I of The Rake’s Progress, Mary viewed the role as one of the toughest in her young operatic career. “Singing of that caliber required being in top physical shape because of the energy a body needs to sustain that level of live performance,” she says. “Stravinsky was remarkably generous in that he encouraged me to take breaths where I needed them, even though we had the score right in front of us with his original suggestions marked to tell the singers when to breathe.”

To Mary’s relief, Stravinsky was pleased with her interpretation of the role, especially when she opened to critical acclaim in The Rake’s Progress. “He could be a very tough taskmaster, but he knew I was prepared and would do his work justice. He attended the performance and told me he thought it was perfect. That’s one of the great memories of my life.”

Prior to the production in San Francisco, she even joined Stravinsky and his wife for other performances of the composer’s work in Seattle during the Century 21 Exposition (1962’s Seattle World’s Fair). In Vancouver, she attended a performance of The Firebird, Stravinsky’s 1910 composition later adapted in Disney’s Fantasia/2000.

“I sat with his wife at that performance and she said, ‘Oh, Igor has grown to hate The Firebird if it’s not performed correctly. It just upsets him so.’ Off she went backstage to calm him down and make sure he wasn’t too upset. I thought it was just funny to see him fret about which of his compositions were better than the others, but I think that critical level of thinking just demonstrates greatness.”

Mary’s work with Stravinsky represents one of the legendary facets of a career that flourished throughout the 1960s, from her work with Leonard Bernstein in the London premiere of Candide to her 1964 debut in La Traviata at the Metropolitan Opera. In just a few short years, Costa realized the dreams she had shared with Walt Disney and became a respected soprano known for her devotion to the opera. With her movie and television background, she was frequently in demand as a guest on television variety shows where she made opera accessible to audiences.

Her reputation as an artist led to an invitation by Roy O. Disney to serve as one of the founding members on the Board of Directors at the California Institute of the Arts, the college established by Walt Disney in 1961. During her time on the board, the college hosted a benefit premiere of Walt’s last live-action film, The Happiest Millionaire (1967).

Walt wanted a combination of a classical and popular sound, and in many regards, my career always bridged those two worlds . . .

“I remember attending a CalArts function where Roy O. Disney and I had a lovely visit together, and he told me that Walt knew within five or six notes of my audition that my voice possessed the qualities he wanted for Sleeping Beauty. Walt wanted a combination of a classical and popular sound, and in many regards, my career always bridged those two worlds. I think that was true of Disney’s and Stravinsky’s work, too.”

In 2004, Mary returned to the Hollywood Bowl as a narrator in a musical extravaganza that featured a tribute to iconic Disney music. That evening, she couldn’t help but think back to her own history at the Hollywood Bowl, including the recording of the performance that led her to Igor Stravinsky just a few years after working for Walt Disney.

“As a singer, I rarely looked back,” she says. “I always looked ahead to the next project or the next concert, so only in recent years have I stopped sometimes to think about the wonder of how so many parts of my life are related to each other. In many ways, I think Sleeping Beauty was a kind of continuation of Fantasia, so how blessed I was to work with both Disney and Stravinsky in two different aspects of my career.”

Since her retirement from the opera, Mary set out to share lessons she learned from her show business experience and working with the likes of Disney and Stravinsky. She actively supports arts education and regularly visits schoolchildren to encourage them to explore their creative talents. In 2003, the U.S. Senate confirmed her presidential appointment to the National Council of the Arts.

In recognition of her contribution to the arts, the University of Tennessee in her hometown of Knoxville voted earlier this year to award her an honorary degree at its May 2013 commencement ceremony. The degree marks the third one she’s received in her life. Dr. Costa has mentored scores of young performers at the university’s School of Music and passed on much of what she learned from some of the creative geniuses who nurtured her own career.

“I learned the same principles from Walt Disney and Igor Stravinsky,” she shares. “Any music is serious if you’re serious about it, be it opera or popular music. That’s why I advise people to find their own voice when they sing. Never try to copy someone else. Be an original.”

It All Started With a Cat?

December 21, 2013March 27, 2018

Everyone knows that before Mickey Mouse there was Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. But before there was Oswald there was a little cat named Julius, one of the first and most prominent characters created by Walt Disney for the Alice Comedies. And even before the Alice Comedies, the evolution of the character of Julius can be traced back to the cats that appeared in some of the Laugh‑O‑gram shorts—notably the eponymous star of Puss in Boots.

However, Julius’ real raison d’être was that Disney’s distributor Charles Mintz wanted the shorts to be packed with as many visual gags as possible. Alice was not a comic role—and anyway it would have been a bit much to expect seven‑year‑old children to take on the burden of being humorists. So, perforce, the shorts required a central comic character—and Julius provided this.

Not all of the Alice comedies survive, and in some cases we have only the vaguest idea of their contents; it is therefore difficult to provide any sort of definitive account of Julius’ career. However, we can look at a few representative performances of this cheery little cat.

Although a prototype had appeared in Alice’s Wonderland, the first of the shorts in which we know that he featured was Alice’s Spooky Adventure (1924). In the live‑action preliminaries Alice climbs into a reputedly haunted house in order to retrieve a lost ball. After a few spooky creakings the short moves into animation, and we find ourselves, along with Alice, in “Spookville”. Up runs a little ghost shouting: “Help! Take it off!” Alice obliges by removing his “dustsheet” and he is revealed as Julius—a mighty grateful Julius at that. “Fair one,” he says, “you have saved me from the life of a spook!”

He takes her to an open‑air concert in Spookville, and they dance enthusiastically together. However, such innocent jollification cannot last for long when Julius is around. Nearby some ghosts are sitting playing mah‑jong when Julius lands on their table and wrecks the game. They react with perhaps excessive fury, and chase the cat and his new friend. But these two are not without their own resources: at one stage Julius pulls off his own tail and uses it as a club (the cat in The Four Musicians of Bremen was capable of the same trick); while Alice shows ingenuity by pulling down from above her head a cartoon exclamation mark and likewise using it as a club. After she has knocked out all the angry ghosts Julius swears his eternal love for her and we return to live‑action. Alice wakens to find a pussy cat licking her hand—an experience that startles her. She drives it off, but soon afterwards is arrested by the police for housebreaking. We leave her sitting forlornly in jail: there’s no Julius in real life to help her get out of this one!

Julius’ tail is certainly a versatile implement, as he proves in Alice’s Fishy Story (1924). We find him at the North Pole where, as he discovers from the newspaper (“GREAT FISH SHORTAGE,” screams the headline), there is a crisis among the Eskimos because the fish have gone on strike and refuse to bite. Ever anxious to help, he uses his tail first as a corkscrew to cut through the ice and then as a fishing‑line—but the fish are not as stupid as all that and refuse to bite. An aggressive swordfish takes the issue one stage further by cutting a circle in the ice around Julius’ feet so that he plunges into the icy waters. After being chased by a huge and enthusiastically carnivorous fish, Julius is lucky enough to be hauled back out again through a hole in the ice by a friendly Eskimo. It is at this stage that he meets up with Alice, who suggests that they could raid the conveniently nearby wreck of the Hesperus to get some chewing tobacco. This done, Julius drops the tobacco in through a hole in the ice and the fish swallow it. As they leap up through the hole to spit the offending stuff out, Julius uses that versatile tail of his to club them unconscious. Millions of fish later, the problem of the starving Eskimos has been solved.

Interestingly, in a short released only two months later, Alice the Peacemaker (1924), Julius does battle with a mouse that looks almost exactly like Mickey Mouse—except that this mouse, called Ike, has a full complement of fingers. Julius (here called Mike) rivals Ike in raiding the icebox. After the two of them have been forcibly ejected from home because of their persistent crimes, Alice arrives on the scene and persuades them to become friends.

In the 1925 short Alice Chops the Suey Julius appears right at the beginning, in a scene reminiscent of a rival series (Fleischer’s Out of the Inkwell cartoons): he is drawn in piecemeal by a live‑action hand, and is joined on the screen shortly afterwards by Alice leaping out of a nearby ink‑bottle. In this adventure Julius is promptly “skinned” by a demon who emerges from the ink‑bottle; this demon, having flayed the cat, kidnaps Alice in a sack and runs off. Julius restores his dark coat by jumping into the ink and getting well and truly covered in it, and then chases off to rescue the little girl he loves. He saves Alice—still in the sack—from a pack of Chinese rats and, after a chase, indulges in a sword‑throwing contest with them. In the end he catches three of their swords and uses them together as a propeller in order to fly off, bearing Alice with him.

Julius did not survive the demise of the Alice series—unlike the character Pete, although Pete evolved into a character unrecognizably different from the one in these shorts. Another character of interest in the Alice comedies made his first appearance in Alice’s Wonderland: a little mouse drawn on an animator’s drawing‑board does some nifty fencing with a live‑action cat. More than one critic has seen this mouse as a prototype of the most famous Mouse of all.

Deleted Songs From The Muppet Christmas Carol

December 20, 2013January 11, 2017

In 1992’s The Muppet Christmas Carol a very merry Christmas mash-up of Muppets and Dickens included music that expressed both heartfelt emotion and hilarity. The holiday-hued songs include “One More Sleep ’til Christmas,” “It Feels Like Christmas,” “Fozziwig’s Party,” “Thankful Heart” and “Bless Us All.”

Three songs were deleted from the film but they are included on the original soundtrack recording (available on iTunes): “When Love Is Gone,” sung by Belle (actually filmed but deleted from the movie before its release; its reprise at the film’s finale, “The Love We Found,” and the closing-credits version, sung by Martina McBride, were retained), “Chairman of the Board,” sung by Sam the Eagle as the Headmaster of young Ebenezer Scrooge’s school, and “Room in Your Heart” sung by Bunsen and Beaker. These last two musical sequences were recorded but never filmed.

No one captured that elusive balance better than past Muppet maestro Paul Williams. “Christmas has always been one of my favorite seasons,” said Paul.

“It’s Scrooge’s metamorphosis that touches me—

. . . the way he changes completely in one night.” The composer of many Muppet tunes, including “The Rainbow Connection” was invited to create a whole new set of songs to help tell the Christmas-y tale. Paul was deeply inspired by the original story by Charles Dickens about the transformation of a soul who had lost its way long ago. The composer claims that he wrote the “Scrooge” song, almost unconsciously as he focused on what he terms “the wonderful, wonderful script,” which indicated Scrooge’s entrance would only show his feet storming through the snow.

At first Williams and longtime music director Chris Caswell created an “almost Beatle-esque” sound but then Mike Goodman was enlisted to compose the underscore and augment the arrangements to give them a more traditional Christmas feel.

In working with Michael Caine as the star recorded his vocals, Paul went into the recording booth and, in what he referred to as “a miming of the intensity,” guided Michael over his headset in order to remind him of where the melody was going.

According to Paul, Michael “walked in and said, ‘I don’t know how to do this but I’ll do it anyway.’ And he did.” Paul also praised the leading frog and pig: “If anybody could make a living purely singing and just do nothing else, Piggy could. Kermit lives a very clean life, you know. And he watches his voice, he takes really good care of his voice.” (Paul also noted that both Kermit and Piggy are accomplished vocalists.)

For the holiday season of 1992, Muppet fans and moviegoers found a sparkling gift under the cinematic tree. The Muppets Christmas Carol was released on December 11, 1992. Jim Henson’s son Brian directed this seasonal treat, a Muppetational spin on the oft-told holiday “ghost story,” Charles Dickens’ immortal A Christmas Carol. Starring alongside the Muppets is Michael Caine as Ebenezer Scrooge, who is as Disney Publicity put it, “a parsimonious old penny-pincher, who is about to get his Christmas goose cooked in fun fashion by the inimitable Muppets.”

How Walt Disney Made Sure Every Child Could Afford a Mickey Mouse Doll

December 20, 2013November 20, 2018

By Jim Fanning

When actress Betty White was honored as a Disney Legend in 2009, the beloved star recounted how, as a child of the Great Depression, she asked her parents for only one toy: a Mickey Mouse doll, and she keeps that cherished Mickey on her desk to this day. One of the most sought-after examples of Disneyana ever, the huggable plaything, was at first a giveaway for VIPs; the dolls were handmade by the doll’s designer Charlotte Clark and six seamstresses in a cottage nicknamed “The Doll House.”

National public demand began when a photograph of Walt with the doll was published in a movie magazine in 1930. Even with producing three to four hundred Mickey dolls a week, it was impossible for Charlotte and her toy makers to meet the demand, so Walt decided to have the doll mass-produced—as long as it had the quality and appeal of the Charlotte Clark original.

He wanted every child to have a Mickey doll, even those who could not afford the cost—so the imaginative impresario authorized the famed McCall Pattern Company to issue a Mickey/Minnie pattern priced at 35 cents. McCall Pattern #91 enabled parents who couldn’t afford a store-bought Mouse to make their own—and that meant the Mickey doll could be every child’s main squeeze.

To See or Not to See?

December 18, 2013April 26, 2019

By Jim Fanning

The animal-loving host of Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color introduced “Atta Girl, Kelly,” a three-part episode from March 1967, with the help of a special “leading lady.”

Kelly, Walt noted of his canine co-star, was a Seeing Eye Dog from the Seeing Eye School in Morristown, New Jersey, where many of the “Atta Girl, Kelly” exterior scenes were filmed.

“Not all guide dogs are Seeing Eye Dogs,” Walt pointed out, “even though people mistakenly think so. The true Seeing Eye Dog comes only from Morristown.” Walt further noted, “In a good Seeing Eye Dog, it’s not so much a matter of unquestioning obedience—it’s a question of intelligence and temperament and sometimes judgment …and most important, a capacity to love.”

Walt sometimes featured animals in his TV lead-ins so it wasn’t unexpected that he would include Kelly herself in his introduction to part one of “Atta Girl, Kelly.” The truly unconventional part is that Walt was blindfolded as he entrusted the Seeing Eye Dog to lead him down a Studio hallway into his office. By allowing himself to experience a semblance of blindness, Walt was walking in another’s shoes—an example of the empathy possessed by the producer who created this novel TV production…an empathy some would term “a capacity to love.”

Christmas Carols From the Disney Vault

December 13, 2013March 27, 2018

As much as the Disney characters love the holiday season, you may be surprised to know that it took two decades before Mickey’s pals Donald Duck, Minnie Mouse, and Chip ‘n’ Dale performed on any Disney-produced Christmas recordings. And before there was a Mickey’s Christmas Carol animated film, there was a record album produced by the sidekick of TV’s Mister Ed. Not only that, but Walt Disney himself had an idea for a Christmas record that made millions—for someone else.

The Disney studio’s in-house record company has had a fascinating, groundbreaking and sometimes odd history, especially when it comes to holiday music and stories. The label, which began as Disneyland Records in 1956 and expanded to include Buena Vista Records in 1959, released precious few Christmas discs in the early days, but to paraphrase Spencer Tracy in the movie Pat and Mike, “What was there was ‘cherce.'”

The very first Disney-produced record was The Night Before Christmas, a 45 rpm single by Jiminy Cricket, voiced by Disney Legend Cliff Edwards. In this modest production, Jiminy tells us that crickets love to warm themselves by people’s home fireplaces, and that’s how he once witnessed the arrival of Santa Claus—in the form of Clement Moore’s famous poem. On side two, he crooned a tune called “Kris Kringle,” which would pop up on countless compilations on vinyl and CD.

The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.
Walt Disney approached Disneyland Records president Jimmy Johnson and musical director Tutti Camarata (both now Disney Legends) with his own idea for a 1957 holiday record. Let’s say, he proposed, there was a group of mice living under a recording studio. And when the humans left for the day, they formed their own orchestra and made their own record.

Walt’s concept became Disney’s Christmas Concert, featuring Ludwig Mousensky and the All-Mouse Symphony and Chorus. To create the effects, the speeded-up voice of another Disney Legend, sound effects whiz and second official Mickey Mouse voice Jimmy Macdonald, created a similar character sound as he done with his Jaq and Gus in Cinderella. Tutti’s entire orchestra was also sped up—a remarkable feat considering how the arrangements had to be compensated for a change in pitch and speed. It was released as a two-record 45 rpm extended-play “EP” package including a small illustrated booklet.

Despite such talent (including illustrations by yet another Disney Legend, Bill Peet) Christmas Concert was not a big seller. Walt suggested that it might have been due to the musicians’ lack of a sense of humor. But perhaps it was because the mice sang established songs rather than new songs. Additionally, none of the “singers” were identified as mice on the record itself, only in the book.

One year later, a holiday record that with a voice saying, “All right you chipmunks, ready to sing your song?” began to climb the charts. Three distinctive, sped-up voices sang an original tune called “The Chipmunk Song,” also known as “Christmas Don’t Be Late.” It was the most successful novelty recording of its time and is now a holiday standard. Walt got a kick out of needling Jimmy and Tutti about how his idea was a hit for Ross Bagdasarian, who recorded additional hit albums and singles as David Seville and The Chipmunks.

The other Peter Pan and an almost-Poppins.
Another legend—of the Broadway and TV variety—also appeared on a Disneyland Christmas record in 1957. An illustrated story called “The Little Lame Lamb” was presented by Walt Disney and his staff in the holiday issue of Family Circle magazine. To narrate the audio version of the story, Tutti assembled a full orchestra to back up Mary Martin, the toast of Broadway as the lead in South Pacific and an annual TV favorite as Peter Pan. Mary was also the first superstar (other than the animated kind) to record for Disney’s in-house label and was even considered for the role of Mary Poppins.

“The Little Lame Lamb” told the story of a young boy named Tonio who participates in the creation of the first Nativity crèche created by St. Francis. Exquisite illustrations accompanied the two-disc 45 rpm EP set. The recording was reissued in 1958 as a 12-inch long-playing “LP.”

Also in 1958, Cliff Edwards reentered the recording studio as Jiminy Cricket, this time with Mickey Mouse and Goofy (both voiced by Jimmy Macdonald). The occasion was the recording of “From All of Us to All of You,” the title song from what would become a perennial installment of the Disneyland TV show and its later incarnations. In the episode, Jiminy hosted a series of scenes from Disney animated classics, each preceded by its own Christmas card. In those pre-DVD and Blu-ray™ days, it was a rare treat to see these clips on our home TV screens.

The record album that should have been a TV special.
The 1958 Family Circle holiday issue featured “A Christmas Adventure in Disneyland,” again presented by Walt and his staff. Its whimsical verse was created by Disney Legend Dick Huemer, a story artist on such classics as Dumbo and Fantasia. In this tale, two children take a fantastic Disneyland romp hosted by Mr. Toad, are pursued by a witch and (spoiler alert!) rescued by Tinker Bell.

Dick and Tutti wrote songs inspired by this story that were released on a 45 rpm record in 1958, but it took another year before a full-length album was released combining the songs and the entire story. The album opened up into a book filled with the same art and text that appeared in the magazine. It was told by prolific studio singer and voice artist Gloria Wood, whom you may have heard singing “The Woody Woodpecker Song” with Kay Kyser’s band and in the choruses of countless films including Walt Disney’s Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland. Gloria was even the voice of Oswald the Rabbit on a Decca LP record!

If there were such things as animated holiday TV specials in 1959 (they did not exist until Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol in 1962), we’d probably still be watching A Christmas Adventure in Disneyland during the ABC Family 25 Days of Christmas programming event every year. But alas, it only exists as a recording and a series of illustrations. But it’s particularly notable for an unforgettable moment in which Mr. Toad and the two kids reach Fantasyland, enter the Snow White attraction and find a band of witches dancing around a decorated stalagmite to celebrate their twisted version of Christmas. Hmm… shades of Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, maybe?

A “one-deer” open sleigh.
The Disney record division closed out the 1950s with its first compilation of songs from most of the above records in an LP called Mickey Mouse’s Christmas Surprises. Though it was released on Disneyland’s Official Mickey Mouse Club label, none of the Mouseketeers are heard on it. And though surely no animals were harmed in the making of the album, the cover art depicts Santa Mickey’s sleigh being pulled by Bambi!

With the exception of a handful of holiday songs by The Mike Sammes Singers (recorded at London’s Abbey Road Studios), a single called “Senor Santa Claus” by Louis Prima and a collection of yuletide carols being sung by a choir, the 1960s did not see a bumper crop of new Disney Christmas records. Things changed dramatically in the ’70s with the second generation of Disney record personnel, led by president Gary Krisel.

You’re a mean one, Mister Scrooge!
New grooves of excitement began with the 1974 album Dickens’ A Christmas Carol Featuring The Walt Disney Players. On this disc for the first time, all the Dickens characters were played by stars of Disney animated films, including Mickey as Bob Cratchit and Uncle Scrooge Mc Duck as… well duh, Ebenezer Scrooge.

The producer of this musical version of A Christmas Carol was the multi-talented Alan Young, of such TV and movie classics as Mister Ed and The Time Machine. Alan and his creative partner, Alan Dinehart, assembled some of TV’s best voice artists for the project, including Janet Waldo (voice of Judy Jetson) and Walker Edmiston (of H.R. Pufnstuf). To play Scrooge, Alan went back to his Scottish roots for an authentic burr. He was even the voice of Mickey on the record, for the one and only time.

Nine years later, Alan Young’s script for this album was adapted, almost word-for-word, into Mickey’s Christmas Carol, an Academy Award®-nominated short cartoon. It was Mickey’s first new big-screen appearance since 1953’s The Simple Things and it cemented Alan Young as the official voice of Uncle Scrooge, the role he played on the hit DuckTales series and continues to this day for Disney Parks and other projects.

Mickey, Donald, Snoopy, Charlie Brown, and Frosty
Disneyland Records saw so much success with the triple platinum album Mickey Mouse Disco in the late ’70s that our favorite mouse and his gang found themselves experiencing a recording renaissance. Producer Jymn Magon reunited the characters for Disney’s Merry Christmas Carols, in which Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and even Clarabelle Cow warbled seasonal songs. Best of all, Chip ‘n’ Dale and Donald teamed for their own version of “The Chipmunk Song,” in a sense bringing Walt Disney’s original idea full circle!

During the same period, Disneyland and Buena Vista Records began licensing non-Disney characters and soundtracks, including Star Wars, Star Trek, Indiana Jones, Garfield, Gumby and Little Golden Books. Two Christmas TV soundtracks from Rankin/Bass Productions, the leading creators of holiday specials, made their vinyl debut on the Disney label: ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas and Frosty’s Winter Wonderland.

Buena Vista launched The Charlie Brown Record Company in partnership with Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates and a series of albums and read-along book-and-record sets resulted, starting with the complete dialogue soundtrack of the beloved A Charlie Brown Christmas.

The dawn of a another Disney era.
As the “second golden age” of animation began with The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and other worldwide hits, suddenly the in-house record division (now called Walt Disney Records) no longer needed to reach beyond the Disney studio gates for characters to feature in holiday recordings.

Major Disney producers such as Ted Kryczko and Randy Thornton crafted best-selling read-alongs and song albums starring Belle, Ariel and Pocahontas as well as 101 Dalmatians, Cinderella and of course, Mickey and the gang.

Many of these recordings took us beyond the film stories themselves. In the Cinderella read-along So This is Christmas, we’re treated to a “prequel” of sorts, in which the Fairy Godmother disguises herself as a noblewoman attending a holiday party at the home of Cinderella’s stepmother. When the Godmother discovers Cinderella’s handmade jewelry gifts, so cruelly discarded by the stepfamily, she delights in the heartfelt thought behind them. And she actually makes the Stepmother apologize to Cinderella!

Another character-based release, The Disney Princess Christmas Album, is a treasure trove of new and favorite holiday songs, many of which feature the acclaimed songwriting and music producing talents of former Mouseketeer Don Grady. And even if you’re not into princesses, what else can compare to a glowing Christmas album including performances by Paige O’Hara, Jodi Benson, Lea Salonga and Judy Kuhn?

“Ferb, I know what we’re going to listen to today!”
Each year brings with it new holiday albums and compilations from Walt Disney, Buena Vista and Hollywood Records. They’ve featured everyone from Bear in the Big Blue House and Hillary Duff to Winnie the Pooh and The Muppets (who earned a 2008 Grammy for their CD, A Green and Red Christmas).

One of Disney’s newest animated phenoms have spun out an album of highly eclectic and eccentric songs called Phineas and Ferb Holiday Favorites, including songs from their Christmas Vacation TV special.

In addition to pop stars like Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and Bowling for Soup, several Disney Channel stars (who also do some of the show’s character voices) appear on the CD, including Ashley Tisdale, Mitchel Musso and Alyson Stoner.

Besides witty scripts and vivid characters, one of the prime reasons for Phineas and Ferb‘s artistic and popular success is its steady procession of inventive songs. In addition to music producer Danny Jacob, most of the people on the show’s creative team are musicians, singers and composers—including “Spongebob” veteran Dan Povenmire, comedy writer/performer Martin Olson, Jon Colton Barry (son of legendary songwriter Jeff Barry) and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh (grandson of bandleader Les Brown). Even Martin’s daughter Olivia sings a solo.

Like almost every other “world” of Disney, we’ve only scratched the surface here. Please forgive me if I left out any Disney Christmas recordings that have become part of your yuletide traditions, like the Disney Parks-related albums and so much more. The only thing more fun that collecting and listening to all these Disney holiday recordings is discovering the upcoming ones — and the ones you didn’t know about before. It’s like Santa’s magic bag of music!

Special thanks to Tim Hollis, co-author of Mouse Tracks: The Story of Walt Disney Records, for help in gathering material for this story.