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Music has always been a big part of the Walt Disney Company.
One of the first places you’re greeted with music is on Main Street USA; the canvas that
sets up the opening scene of these Disney theme parks.
This turn of the century American town has always been an area filled with music, live
music as a matter of fact especially in the early days of Disneyland, wether it’s the
Dapper Dans, marching bands or ragtime pianists.
Maybe it’s even Casey’s Corner cast members at Magic Kingdom singing to open up the restaurant.
Music on main street is vital to the story and one of the best pieces of music is the
background music of the land.
But the role background music plays today in the theme parks is largely thanks to one
specific Disney legend.
Theres a rich history between Disney and musicals but since the late 50’s Main Street has
had some major ties to Broadway.
So today we’re gonna explore some Disney history and count down 5 Musical Secrets of
Disney’s Main Street USA.
Number 5 At the Disney theme parks, background music
plays a big role in setting the scene of each land.
Disneyland is always seen a as film happening in realtime and one of the last steps in the
filmmaking process is music.
It completes the story you’re trying to tell which is a big reason why even here on
this channel, each segment features thematically appropriate music.
It sets the tone, just like the Ragtime band music that plays on Main Street USA; but this
isn’t how it always was.
In the beginning, the lands at Disneyland relied solely on live music.
They didn’t really have any background audio loops like we have today until the early 60s.
And the kicker, is that a lot of it wasn’t even thematic.
As you walked down Main Street USA current 60’s pop hits would play on the speakers,
so pretty much it was the equivalent of walking into your local Six Flags or Cedar Fair parks
today.
So when did Disneyland finally add historically appropriate background music to Main Street?
Well it really wasn’t until Walt Disney World opened in 1971 and it’s all thanks
to Disney Legend Jack Wagner.
He’s the original voice of Disneyland.
The one responsible for the famous Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls and today you
can still hear him say please stand clear of the doors.
Jack had been lending his voice to Disneyland for years as freelancer then in the early
70s he was hired full time as the official voice of Disneyland.
It was also at this time that Disney hired Mr Wagner as a production consultant.
In an article from Disney Magazine in 1998, he recalled hearing the modern pop hits down
main street and said the music felt out of place.
So his first task was designing a playlist of ragtime songs that fit this turn of the
century town.
Around this same time Walt Disney World in Florida was about to open so Jack also went
on to design background music for Magic Kingdom.
In total he created background music for 40 different themed areas for both Disney World
and Disneyland.
The original Main Street audio loop was said to be on the shorter side and was used at
both parks from around 1970 for Disneyland and 1971 for Magic Kingdom until 1976.
So if it wasn’t for Jack Wagner, who knows, maybe we’d still have contemporary pop music
playing down Main Street today.
Number 4 The upbeat ragtime music on Main Street matches
the excitement you feel when as you first enter a Disney park.
No matter where you are you can always hear the music and its because the area is filled
with sound through dozens of hidden speakers.
Some are more obvious than others like the speakers on these light posts at Magic Kingdom.
Along the buildings, these decorative grates are really just speakers cleverly designed
into the architecture of the buildings.
Even these white decorative areas on Town Square theatre are also speakers.
Over at Disneyland a lot of the windows are hidden speakers.
Sometimes they're hidden behind an open window with some lace hanging in front or some are
more obvious like this dark section here.
All these speakers create this surround sound feeding that feel good music onto main street.
The music loop you hear today at Disneyland and Magic Kingdom is the fourth audio loop
that’s been used in this area.
The first loop was curated by Jack Wagner and used from 1970 to 1976.
He then updated the loop, creating two separate playlists, one for the AM and another for
the PM.
These were used from 1976 until 1991.
After a 15 year run Disney felt like this music needed to be updated so in the early
90s in conjunction with opening Disneyland Paris, work began on a brand new music loop.
They wanted to include more contemporary pieces that still fit with the turn of the century
style but resonated with the newer generation of guests.
This meant bringing in songs from TV shows and films which also just happened to be Broadway
musicals.
That’s right, before Disney made their way to broadway in 1994, you could hear broadway
show tunes right on Main Street beginning in 1992.
Three broadway shows had prominent medleys in the 1992 hour long loop.
They were Rogers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma, Meredith Wilson’s The Music Man and Jerry
Herman’s Hello Dolly.
Although these three musicals were written between 1943 to 1964 their stories all take
place around the turn of the century.
So the ideas and themes fit with the time period, and the songs were re-orchestrated
in the ragtime band style.
In 2012 Disney released a newly recorded and updated music loop for Main Street USA.
This included a new selection of songs but they kept many of the originals including
some of those Broadway show tunes!
Number 3 When you walk down Main Street USA today,
one of the most recognizable songs for a modern Disney fan is probably married life from Disney
Pixar’s Up.
Although the film doesn’t take place during the turn of the century, this part of the
film happens between the 40s and 50s and they arranged the song to fit perfectly on main
Street.
Another song Disney fans probably recognize on Main Street is from Disney Pixar’s Wall-E.
{Singing} Put on your Sunday clothes we’re gonna ride though town
This tune you hear throughout the film is Put on Your Sunday Clothes from the 1964 broadway
musical Hello Dolly, specifically the 1969 film adaptation with Barbara Streisand.
It’s definitely one of those feel songs and this is what it sounds like in the park.
It’s been used on Main Street since 1992 so the song has had an association with Disney
well before Wall-E. Put on Your Sunday Clothes is also used in the Trolley Show at Magic
Kingdom
{Singing} Beneath your bowler brim the world's a simple song, for there’s no blue monday
in your sunday.
no blue monday in your sunday.
No monday in your Sunday clothes.
Another Hello Dolly song that’s been heard since 1992 is Before the Parade Passes by.
This is a little snippet of Carol Channing performing the number at the 1964 Tony Awards.
{Dolly} Look at that crowd up ahead you can hear that brass harmony blowing.
Before the Parade Passes by And here it is on Main Street USA.
Again, if you’ve spent enough time on Main Street you definitely recognize the song.
So a lot of you might be curious now as to what other Broadway show tunes can be heard
on Main Street today.
Well in addition to Hello Dolly there are currently two well known songs from the 1943
Broadway Musical Oklahoma!
The first is Surrey with the fringe on Top and here is a small clip from the 1955 film
adaption of this American Musical.
{Singing} When I take you out in the surrey with a fringe on top.
On main street it sounds a little something like this.
Now back when Disneyland first opened in 1955, they offered Surrey rides (with fringes and
all) down main street.
These ran until 1971 and this further shows how the story and themes of these quote on
quote newer songs fit the turn of the century story.
Another Oklahoma song that talks all about how the world was changing so rapidly at the
time is Kanas City.
It’s also been a Main Street tune since 1992, so enjoy the visuals of the 1999 west
end revival, with the instrumental heard on main street and vocals by yours truly.
{Music} Everything up too dat ein Kansas City, they’ve gone about as far as they can go.
They went and built a skyscraper 7 stories high, about as high as a building out grow.
Kanas City is one of my favorite Oklahoma songs and hearing it in the park makes you
wanna march right down the middle of main street, doesn’t it?
The last Broadway showtune that’s also been heard since 1992 is Wells Fargo Wagon from
Meredith Wilson’s 1957 musical The Music Man
{Singing} Oh Oh the Wells Fargo Wagon is a coming down the street is it a prepaid surprise
or COD
You probably already recognize the tune but this is what you’d hear on Main Street.
Walt Disney was actually a big fan of Meredith Wilson and this iconic musical theatre figure
was part of some very special historical moments down main street USA.
Number 2 The song 76 Trombones from Meredith Wilson’s
the Music Man has become an American Standard.
{Singing} Seventy-six trombones caught the morning sun with a hundred and ten cornets
right behind The musical made it’s broadway debut in
1957 and like what was mentioned earlier Walt Disney was a big fan.
When they held the grand opening of the 1959 Tomororowland expansion at Disneyland, one
of the special guests Walt invited was Meredith Wilson.
Walt always had surprises up his sleeve and he actually surprised Meredith Wilson with
a marching band down Main Street.
It included 76 trombones playing the iconic song from the musical.
A really special moment happens when Meredith gets up on the podium to conduct the band,
you can just the see the joy in his face.
Now this exact moment was essentially repeated, just on a much larger scale, 12 years later
at Magic Kingdom.
During the grand opening celebration of the resort on October 25, 1971, a marching band
led by Meredith Wilson made its way down Main Street while playing the iconic 76 Trombones
once again.
So when you think about it, songs from the Music Man have really been a familiar sound
of Main Street as early as 1959; well before its debut in the background music
Number With all this broadway talk, we need to dive
a bit into Disney on Broadway.
They began their broadway endeavours in 1994 with Beauty and the Beast and to date, have
produced 9 shows on Broadway.
A couple of which had memorable moments on Main Street that are too ironic to not mention.
Two musicals in Disney’s broadway repertoire include Newsies and Mary Poppins.
Both of these musical take place around the turn of the century; Newsies follows the newsboy
strike of 1899 in New York, and Mary Poppins takes place in 1910, London.
During the Disney Parks Christmas special on ABC these are the only two Disney Broadway
Musicals that have performed in the special; Mary Poppins in 2008 and Newsies in 2013.
And where exactly did they perform?
Oh you know just right down main street USA, which fits the time period of both these musicals.
I don’t think it was an accident that Disney made the decision to have these two specific
shows perform on Main Street and they’re fantastic performances as well.
From the train station to the confectionary store, they explore it all and both performances
end with a big dance break.
So have you ever recognized any of the songs played on Main Street??
What are some of your favourites?I’d love to know!
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