The Musical World of Walt Disney [Paperback]

Dave Tietyen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1990

The Musical World of Walt Disney presents the stories behind the music of Disney films, television productions, and other entertainment projects - how songs were composed, why certain songs were created, the role that music played within the films, and a look at the people responsible for the classic words and music. The colorful illustrations and photographs of Disney characters included in the book will take on new meaning as the evolution of the music is traced throughout the years of Disney film production.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

YA-- Numerous illustrations accompany an easily read text that gives the interesting story behind the creation of the music for each of Disney's main works. Although not as detailed as Thomas and Johnson's Disney Animation (Abbeville Pr, 1981), it's an acceptable book that will be popular for browsers and Disney fans of all ages.

Copyright 1991 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 158 pages
• Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation; illustrated edition edition (June 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0881884766
• ISBN-13: 978-0881884760
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,029,838 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Almost all I needed to know, October 25, 2000

By 

Malene Hald (Denmark) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Musical World of Walt Disney (Paperback)

David Tietyens book is just what I wanted - a book about one of the most improtant things in Disney's movies - the music. The book contains pictures of the composers, background anecdotes about how the music were created, the role the songs played and much more. The only bad thing is, that it ends with Pete's Dragon, short after Walt's death. It would be nice with an updated version which covered the new movies (The Little Mermaid, Aladdin etc.)

5.0 out of 5 stars The story behind the music they crafted, August 19, 2005

By 

microjoe - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Musical World of Walt Disney (Paperback)

This is a wonderful book was much better than I expected. It is a fun and simple to read narrative on the who, how, and why of Disney music for film and television. So many interesting questions are addressed here: Why did they choose the song April Showers for Bambi? Who were the staff composers, and who were the composers on contract. What did each of them contribute? What awards did they and the studio receive? Do you want to know how and why the word "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" was used?

Music was so critical to Disney that entire short films and animation were written around them such as Fantasia and Silly Symphonies. There is plenty of insight on the genius of Walt here. The book has many incidents of his direct involvement in guiding the composers to write, adapt, and change their music to the vision he had for a project. This is where a lot of the "why" come in. Great personal stories and anecdotes. Covering the period from the very beginning up to the time the late 1980's when the book was written. Nice material and on the Sherman Brothers, they even wrote the introduction. Pictures on every page, many for the first time. While this book is more about the story behind the music, it is also a good reference guide as well. A nice 11 inch tall book, hardcover with a dust jacket, 158 pages, great searchable index, published in 1991, and has not been updated since to my knowledge. If you are looking for a reference guide to Disney on vinyl records, try "The Golden Age of Walt Disney Records", also at Amazon.

This is a wonderful book, great reading and reference, I highly recommend.