How Music Drove Creation of New Disney Ride Tiana’s Bayou Adventure – Billboard

It ended with a song.

On May 30, animatronic creatures aboard the Zip-A-Dee Lady Riverboat embarked on the final performance of “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah.” Disneyland-goers wanted a final ‘zip-a-dee-doo-dah ride’ before cruising down to the infamous 50-foot waterway drop. About 35 years later, Splash Mountain closed.

A week ago, a group of executives from Walt Disney Imagineering (Disney Parks, Experiences and Products) met in New Orleans. But they weren’t lamenting the end of a chapter in Disney Parks history. “Let’s talk about Tiana,” Imagineering executive creative producer Charita Carter said with a broad smile. “She’s an entrepreneur at heart. She loves her family. She loves her community.”

Carter was talking about a woman best known as an animated character, but to imaginers, and to millions of people around the world, that woman is very real. Tiana is Disney’s first African-American princess (and first obviously American princess), debuting in 2009. princess and frog. Set in New Orleans, this animated musical told the story of a waitress who dreams of opening her own restaurant, is turned into a frog by an evil voodoo doctor and must find a way back to being human. Of course, Tiana’s journey is aided by her comical animal friends, including an alligator that dreams of playing a jazz trumpet and a Cajun firefly that dreams of zydeco.

The film will be reintroduced in a big way next year when Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, an all-new attraction that replaces Splash Mountain, takes place. princess and frog Story Interrupted — Opening at Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort. Like Splash Mountain, it’s a watercourse with stomach-twirling drops. “People love the twists and turns and the big dips,” says Ted Robredo, executive creative director at Imagineering. “But that’s like moving into an old house, isn’t it? There’s so much good about this house that it doesn’t need to be completely demolished. But it has old plumbing, old electricity, and old furniture.” So you bring it up to date and start infusing it with your own character, your own personal story, and that’s exactly what we’re doing with Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. I want to breathe life into it [to it] and make it even better. ”

That old house may have looked okay on the surface, but it didn’t take much digging to find out it wasn’t built on very solid ground. The Oscar-winning theme of Splash Mountain, his song and the earworm of its main characters (Br’er Fox, Br’er Bear, and their nemesis Br’er Rabbit), is taken from the 1946 Disney film . song of the south Disney CEO Bob Iger announced in 2020 that it would not be available on Disney+ because it “doesn’t fit in today’s world.”

When the announcement was made, the NAACP was vocal in its criticism song of the south for help[ing] “To perpetuate the dangerously glorified image of slavery,” diverse groups across the country took to the theaters to protest against the use of outdated and offensive stereotypes and dialects. In particular, he protested the role of James Baskett’s Uncle Remus, who later won the Medal of Honor. (He won an Oscar for this role.) It was never released as a home video in the United States. Nevertheless, Disney re-released the film in theaters in the 1980s, and when Splash Mountain opened in the park’s Frontierland in 1989, some of its characters and music became the basis for Splash Mountain. I was.

Carmen Smith, senior vice president of creative development and inclusive strategy at Imagineering, says the Imagineering team has done so often in recent years, roaming parks and picking up rides that might benefit from an update. said he was looking for “Our parks are always evolving and telling new stories,” says Smith, noting that attractions like Cruises and It’s a Small World have been deliberately altered. “Whenever we look at an experience like Splash Mountain or the history that surrounds it, it’s always important to make sure the stories we’re telling are relevant and don’t perpetuate misconceptions or stereotypes. , it’s time to think about what story we can tell next in this space.” (Splash Mountain closed at Disney World in January.)

Around 2018, the idea that Tiana’s story could be a sequel became “a top priority for me and many of us,” Smith says. “We were going through different ideas and concepts, and it took time.” It didn’t take. Tiana’s Bayou Her adventure should be a ride that’s true to its core, the exact opposite. Thus, to create it, Smith and her Imagineering colleagues were to be “armed with knowledge.”

“Reliability” is a word that Smith, Robredo, and their colleagues use repeatedly when talking about Tiana’s Bayou adventures. The WDI team spent over two years in New Orleans conducting intensive research and consulting with experts on every detail involved in creating this vehicle. Bayou foliage and wildlife, real life creatures that make up an animatronic band of new characters. Authentic salt mines that once divided the flat landscape of Louisiana become the new “mountain” where guests log into. Tiana’s hairstyle in the 1920s showcased the “variety of African American women’s hair.” And above all, a new song that makes you want to ride it over and over again and chase it home.

“Some places are oil towns. Some places are movie towns,” says Robredo. “New Orleans is the city of music.”

“If you know someone who grew up with me,, they’ll say, ‘PJ always wanted to write songs for Disney,'” says PJ Morton. The singer, songwriter, producer and Maroon 5 keyboardist sits in the back room of New Orleans jazz landmark Preservation Hall. “It’s a very specific skill set,” he explains. “I don’t think any songwriter can do that. But it’s a part I’ve been unconsciously preparing for all my life.”

Morton, 42, is from New Orleans, the son of a gospel singer and a preacher, and attended the prestigious St. Augustine High School (alumni include John Batiste and Jay Electronica).he remembers that time princess and frog The first to come out was, “For many of us as New Orleans, and as Louisians in general, it was really nice to be in the conversation.” The late Dr. John, the beloved Zadeco accordionist Terrence Simian, and composer and trumpeter Terrence Blanchard (the true horn player of Alligator Louis) are featured. “Music and stories [from Disney] Always top notch, I was overjoyed to see that perspective. ”

“Early on, music became the hub of the experience,” said John Dennis, executive creative director of music at Walt Disney Imagineering, when it came to making Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. “I’m an Imagineering music expert. I’m not a New Orleans music expert. So I had to reach out and find a partner and get an education about New Orleans music. This could take a lifetime,” he adds with a laugh. To receive that intensive education, the Imagineering team has spent much of the past few years working as a cultural consultant for the National Jazz Museum in Harlem and the New Orleans Jazz Museum, as well as in the city, including Blanchard and, eventually, Morton. has worked with individual artists. , Vehicle Calling Card: Its Original Song.

“One of my wishes for this project was to honor and capitalize on the musical qualities I got from Randy Newman, but also create something original for the ride,” says Robredo. says. “We knew we needed something symbolic in the form of a song. A level of music that people could take home and remember the next day or the week after.”

As usual, the team used the story as a starting point. The underlying story of Tiana’s Bayou adventure takes place solidly afterward.princess and frog: After successfully opening her own restaurant, Tiana converted an old salt mine into a cooperative, Tiana’s Foods, where she now makes her own products, including a line of hot sauces. The night before her community Mardi Gras party, she was looking for the missing ingredients.

“When I spoke with PJ, the first thing we talked about was the story,” says Denise. “We said, ‘Don’t worry about the charm yet, we’re just starting with the song.’ Explain what the story is and what part of the story you need help telling.” ’ Once we have our storytelling piece done in song form, we can take a step back with him and say: “Now, we need to adjust this so that we can have repeated rides every 15 hours for 18 hours a day.” A few seconds later a new vehicle and a group of guests passed by. ”

Morton realized early on that he wanted to write songs in a style that complemented Newman’s existing music, but “that’s also how I do it”. He quickly realized that writing for a car ride, especially for Princess Tiana’s voice, sung by Anika Noni Rose (as in the film), was a new kind of challenge. “Writing songs in general can be a selfish thing to say what you want to say,” he explains. “It’s a very different process. You speak for and speak through this very different thing. And Disney is a huge company! I had to.”

This kind of collaboration was necessary because the music for Disney park attractions has a very different purpose than the music for Disney movies. Robledo points out that it emanates from the speakers and lures guests wandering the park into the ride, as if they were going to a particularly hot club. “You can hear the music when you queue, but you may not be able to finish listening to all the music in the queue. , we expect this to be a highly repeatable experience,” added Dennis. During the ride, Dennis’ team had to spend more than 10 minutes figuring out “how to distill a very diverse and profound musical culture and present it in a digestible way” and then perform it in front of the guests. there was. It can be so distracting that it doesn’t sound the same until your next ride.

Overall, Morton estimates he spent a year working on his song, which features a selection of other as-yet-unannounced New Orleans musicians he has selected and is currently recording. (Details unknown at this time). The song itself is completely secret). It might sound like a lot of time spent on one song, but it’s the drop in the bucket at the heart of the attraction, and the team has made songs like “It’s a Small World” and “Pirates” an enduring canon. want to join. Part of Life for Me. “It’s a very different mindset from the music industry where people want hits. Disney wants timeless music,” says Morton. “I want to create something that is beautiful and lasts forever.”

And he’s keenly aware of the important and profound role he plays in creating the songs, especially for this ride. “We use the word historical all the time now, and that may be overused, but this is, on many levels, the true meaning of the word,” says Morton. “I’m a black man from New Orleans and I understand how our culture has been used and abused. This is a big olive branch for all things. This is still Disney.” We don’t have to make sure we’re doing it right or taking care of the people doing it, and I greatly admire them for doing it on purpose. We know for a fact that we are part of the history of doing this.”