Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant passages that answer the question.
Query: Who wrote the music for Disney's Mary Poppins?
Mary Poppins is a 1964 American musical fantasy film directed by Robert Stevenson and produced by Walt Disney, with songs written and composed by the Sherman Brothers. The screenplay is by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, based on P. L. Travers's book series "Mary Poppins". The film, which combines live-action and animation, stars Julie Andrews in her feature film debut as Mary Poppins, who visits a dysfunctional family in London and employs her unique brand of lifestyle to improve the family's dynamic. Dick Van Dyke, David Tomlinson, and Glynis Johns are featured in supporting roles. The film was shot entirely at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California using painted London background scenes.
In 1928, to recover from the loss of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Disney came up with the idea of a mouse character named Mortimer while on a train headed to California, drawing up a few simple drawings. The mouse was later renamed Mickey Mouse (Disney's wife, Lillian, disliked the sound of 'Mortimer Mouse') and starred in several Disney produced films. Ub Iwerks refined Disney's initial design of Mickey Mouse. Disney's first sound film "Steamboat Willie", a cartoon starring Mickey, was released on November 18, 1928 through Pat Powers' distribution company. It was the first Mickey Mouse sound cartoon released, but the third to be created, behind "Plane Crazy" and "The Gallopin' Gaucho". "Steamboat Willie" was an immediate smash hit, and its initial success was attributed not just to Mickey's appeal as a character, but to the fact that it was the first cartoon to feature synchronized sound. Disney used Pat Powers' Cinephone system, created by Powers using Lee de Forest's Phonofilm system. "Steamboat Willie" premiered at B. S. Moss's Colony Theater in New York City, now The Broadway Theatre. Disney's "Plane Crazy" and "The Gallopin' Gaucho" were then retrofitted with synchronized sound tracks and re-released successfully in 1929.
The Little Mermaid is a stage musical produced by Disney Theatrical, based on the animated 1989 Disney film of the same name and the classic story of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen about a mermaid who dreams of the world above the sea and gives up her voice to find love. Its book is by Doug Wright, music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman (written for the film), with additional lyrics by Glenn Slater. Its underwater setting and story about aquatic characters requires unusual technical designs and strategies to create gliding movements for the actors.
The Little Mermaid is a 1989 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and Walt Disney Pictures. Based on the Danish fairy tale of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen, "The Little Mermaid" tells the story of Ariel, a mermaid princess who dreams of becoming human. Written, produced, and directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, with music by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman (who also served as a co-producer), the film features the voices of Jodi Benson, Christopher Daniel Barnes, Pat Carroll, Samuel E. Wright, Jason Marin, Kenneth Mars, Buddy Hackett, and René Auberjonois.
Cinderella is a 1950 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney and originally released by RKO Radio Pictures. Based on the fairy tale "Cinderella" by Charles Perrault, it is the twelfth Disney animated feature film. The film was directed by Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske, and Wilfred Jackson. Mack David, Jerry Livingston, and Al Hoffman wrote the songs, which include "Cinderella", "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes", "Sing Sweet Nightingale", "The Work Song", "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo", and "So This is Love". It features the voices of Ilene Woods, Eleanor Audley, Verna Felton, Rhoda Williams, James MacDonald, Luis van Rooten, Don Barclay, Mike Douglas, William Phipps, and Lucille Bliss.
In 1987, Jones was recruited by Chris , the head of Disney Music, to compose the music for Disney's first syndicated cartoon series, DuckTales. was impressed with Jones' work during a session on a Hanna-Barbera cartoon and admired the composer's philosophy to respect the intelligence of the audience rather than creating a "patronizing" or "cute" score that would play down to them. Jones accepted Montag's request to score DuckTales, which became one of the most successful animated programs of all time. Jones worked on DuckTales through 1988, during which time he composed, conducted, arranged, and orchestrated various memorable cues and themes which were reused throughout the show's two-season run.
Beauty and the Beast: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the official soundtrack album to the 1991 Disney animated feature film, "Beauty and the Beast". Originally released on October 24, 1991, by Walt Disney Records, the album's first half – tracks 2 to 9 – generally contains the film's musical numbers, all of which were written by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Howard Ashman, while its latter half – tracks 10 to 14 – features its musical score, composed solely by Menken. While the majority of the album's content remains within the musical theatre genre, its songs have also been influenced by French, classical, pop and Broadway music. Credited to Various Artists, "Beauty and the Beast: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" features performances by the film's main cast – Paige O'Hara, Richard White, Jesse Corti, Jerry Orbach, Angela Lansbury and Robby Benson – in order of appearance. Additionally, the album features recording artists Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson, who perform a pop rendition of the film's title and theme song, "Beauty and the Beast", which simultaneously serves as the soundtrack's only single.
"Cinderella" is a 1950 American animated romantic musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Based on the fairy tale "Cendrillon" by Charles Perrault, it is 12th Disney animated feature film, and was released on February 15, 1950. Directing credits go to Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske and Wilfred Jackson. Songs were written by Mack David, Jerry Livingston, and Al Hoffman. Songs in the film include "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes", "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo", "So This Is Love", "Sing, Sweet Nightingale" and "The Work Song".
During the 1930s, Durbin continued to pursue singing projects. In 1936, she auditioned to provide the vocals for Snow White in Disney's animated film "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", but was rejected by Walt Disney, who said the 15-year-old Durbin's voice was "too old" for the part.
Disney had provided the voice for Mickey Mouse since his debut in 1928, and "Fun and Fancy Free" was the last time he would voice the role regularly, as he no longer had the time or energy to do so. Disney recorded most of Mickey's dialogue in the spring and summer of 1941. Sound effects artist Jimmy MacDonald would become the character's new voice actor, starting in 1948. Disney, however, did reprise the role for the introduction to the original 1955–59 run of "The Mickey Mouse Club".
"Belle" is a song written by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Howard Ashman for Walt Disney Pictures' 30th animated feature film "Beauty and the Beast" (1991). Originally recorded by American actress and singer Paige O'Hara and American actor Richard White, "Belle", a mid-tempo French and classical music-inspired song, incorporates both Broadway and musical theatre elements. The film's first song and opening number, "Belle" appears during "Beauty and the Beast "as a large scale operetta-style production number that introduces the film's heroine Belle, considered a book-loving nonconformist by the townspeople of the village, who has grown weary of the provincial life in which she is supposed to live, and Gaston, the film's narcissistic villain who wishes to desire her hand in marriage despite Belle's rejections.
Mickey Mouse (originally Mickey Mouse Sound Cartoons) is a character-based series of 130 animated short films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. The films, which introduced Disney's most famous cartoon character, were released on a regular basis from 1928 ("Plane Crazy") to 1953 with four additional shorts released between 1983 and 2013. The series is notable for its innovation with sound synchronization and character animation, and also introduced well-known characters such as Minnie Mouse, Pluto, and Goofy.
Minnie was first voiced by Walt Disney, who was also the original voice of Mickey Mouse. Marjorie Ralston, a Disney inker who joined the animation team as Disney's thirteenth employee, voiced her in the 1929 short "Wild Waves", but did not further pursue the role out of shyness. Then, from 1930 until 1939, she was voiced by Marcellite Garner. Then from 1941 to 1942, and on the radio program, "The Mickey Mouse Theater of the Air", she was voiced by Thelma Boardman. Following this, from 1942 to 1952 Ruth Clifford provided the character's voice. Janet Waldo voiced Minnie in the 1974 Disneyland record album, "An Adaptation of Dickens' Christmas Carol, Performed by The Walt Disney Players". Minnie Mouse would go without any spoken dialogue until 1986, when Russi Taylor inherited the role, which she continues to perform to this day (her late husband, Wayne Allwine, voiced Mickey from 1977 until his death in 2009).
"Something There" is a song written by lyricist Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken for Walt Disney Pictures 30th animated feature film "Beauty and the Beast" (1991). Sung by the majority of the film's main cast, the song was recorded by American actors Paige O'Hara as Belle and Robby Benson as the Beast via voice over, featuring actors Jerry Orbach, Angela Lansbury and David Ogden Stiers as Lumiere, Mrs. Potts and Cogsworth, respectively. The only song performed by the Beast, "Something There" is heard midway through "Beauty and the Beast "during a scene in which Belle and the Beast finally begin to acknowledge their feelings for each other.
A long-standing rumor claimed that the bassline for the Spider-Man theme was performed by jazz musician Charles Mingus, however, Ralph Bakshi confirmed the rumor as being erroneous, stating that Mingus did not perform on the theme song.
"Spider-Man" is the theme song of the 1967 cartoon show "Spider-Man", composed by Paul Francis Webster and Robert "Bob" Harris. The original song was recorded at RCA Studios in Toronto (where the cartoon was also produced) featuring 12 CBC vocalists (members of the Billy Van Singers, and Laurie Bower Singers groups) who added to the musical backing track supplied by RCA Studios, New York. The singers were paid only for the session and have had no residuals from its use since then.
Since its founding, Dicapo has been particularly dedicated to the music of Giacomo Puccini. It gave the first performances anywhere of all three versions of Puccini’s "Madama Butterfly" (Milan, Brescia, and Paris) successively in one weekend. With choreography by Dicapo’s Director of Dance Nilas Martins, Dicapo was the first to present music and dance presentations of Puccini’s "Le Villi" and The Mass, and has also presented settings of a number of Puccini songs and incidental music to dance. By the end of 2008, the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth, Dicapo Opera Theatre will have presented all of his major works, from "Le Villi", the composer’s first opera, and orchestral works through his final opera, "Turandot".
Mary Tudor is a 1935 history play by the British writer Wilfrid Grantham. It portrays the reign of the Tudor Queen Mary I of England during the sixteenth century. It's West End run at the Playhouse Theatre lasted for 143 performances from 12 December 1935 to 18 April 1936. Flora Robson as Mary and Marius Goring as her husband Philip of Spain were particularly praised for their performances. The cast also included Torin Thatcher, Annie Esmond and Joyce Bland.
Snow White's Scary Adventures is a popular theme park ride at Disneyland (an opening day attraction dating from 1955), Tokyo Disneyland, and Disneyland Paris. Fantasyland at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom underwent an expansion from 2012 to 2014. The Snow White's Scary Adventures ride was replaced with Princess Fairytale Hall, where Snow White and other princesses are located for a meet and greet. Included in the 2013 expansion of Fantasyland is the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train roller coaster. Snow White, her Prince, the Queen, and the Seven Dwarfs are also featured in parades and character appearances throughout the parks. Disneyland's Fantasyland Theater hosted "Snow White: An Enchanting Musical" from 2004 to 2006.Unknown Mary Jo Salerno played Snow White in the Disney-produced "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (also known as "Snow White Live!") at the Radio City Music Hall. Music and lyrics for four new songs were created by Jay Blackton and Joe Cook, respectively; titles included "Welcome to the Kingdom of Once Upon a Time" and "Will I Ever See Her Again?". It ran from October 18 to November 18, 1979, and January 11 to March 9, 1980, a total of 106 performances.
Audiences at the time of "Steamboat Willie"'s release were reportedly impressed by the use of sound for comedic purposes. Sound films or "talkies" were still considered innovative. The first feature-length movie with dialogue sequences, "The Jazz Singer" starring Al Jolson, was released on October 6, 1927. Within a year of its success, most United States movie theaters had installed sound film equipment. Walt Disney apparently intended to take advantage of this new trend and, arguably, managed to succeed. Most other cartoon studios were still producing silent products and so were unable to effectively act as competition to Disney. As a result, Mickey would soon become the most prominent animated character of the time. Walt Disney soon worked on adding sound to both "Plane Crazy" and "The Gallopin' Gaucho" (which had originally been silent releases) and their new release added to Mickey's success and popularity. A fourth Mickey short, "The Barn Dance", was also put into production; however, Mickey does not actually speak until "The Karnival Kid" in 1929 when his first spoken words were "Hot dogs, Hot dogs!" After "Steamboat Willie" was released, Mickey became a close competitor to Felix the Cat, and his popularity would grow as he was continuously featured in sound cartoons. By 1929, Felix would lose popularity among theater audiences, and Pat Sullivan decided to produce all future Felix cartoons in sound as a result. Unfortunately, audiences did not respond well to Felix's transition to sound and by 1930, Felix had faded from the screen.
There was a minor controversy when Snow White (Disney character) was presenting an award for Best Animated Short Subject. She was voiced by Mary Kay Bergman, Adriana Caselotti, the original voice of Snow White was not aware of this. She was reportedly offended that Disney didn't ask her to voice Snow White during the ceremony.
In 2004, Disney Theatrical in collaboration with Sir Cameron Mackintosh (who had previously acquired the stage rights from Travers) produced a stage musical also called "Mary Poppins" in London's West End theatre. The stage musical was transferred to Broadway, in New York, in 2006, where it ran until its closing on 3 March 2013.
Travers was an adviser to the production. However, she disapproved of the dilution of the harsher aspects of Mary Poppins' character, felt ambivalent about the music, and so hated the use of animation that she ruled out any further adaptations of the later "Mary Poppins" novels. She objected to a number of elements that actually made it into the film. Rather than original songs, she wanted the soundtrack to feature known standards of the Edwardian period in which the story is set. Disney overruled her, citing contract stipulations that he had final say on the finished print. Much of the Travers–Disney correspondence is part of the Travers collection of papers in the Mitchell Library of New South Wales, Australia. The relationship between Travers and Disney is detailed in "Mary Poppins She Wrote", a biography of Travers, by Valerie Lawson. The biography is the basis for two documentaries on Travers, "The Real Mary Poppins", and Lisa Matthews' "The Shadow of Mary Poppins". Their relationship during the development of the film was also dramatized in the 2013 Disney film "Saving Mr. Banks".
In 1993, theatrical producer Cameron Mackintosh met P. L. Travers and acquired the rights to develop a stage play adaptation of her "Mary Poppins" books. She only agreed to a stage production as long as the creators were all English, and no one who had worked on the Disney film adaptation. She died in 1996. In 2001, Mackintosh and Thomas Schumacher, head of Disney Theatrical, opened talks on a possible collaboration, so that the stage play would be able to use the songs from the Disney film. With both sides committed, a preliminary outline of the show was written in 2002.
Cameron Mackintosh's stage adaptation of "Mary Poppins" had its world premiere at the Bristol Hippodrome starting with previews from September 15, 2004, before officially opening on September 18 for a limited engagement until November 6. The production then moved to the Prince Edward Theatre on December 15, 2004, making it the only Disney musical to have premiered in the UK. The role of Mary was played by Laura Michelle Kelly, who subsequently won the 2005 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for the role, and the role of Bert was played by Gavin Lee. Notable replacements have included Scarlett Strallen, Lisa O'Hare and Caroline Sheen as Mary Poppins and Gavin Creel as Bert (in July 2006).