I found it nearly impossible to find
a little girl who doesn't have some amount of love for Disney movies, especially the wonderful princess classics. What makes these fairy tales so heartwarming and uplifting? Mary
Costa, the voice of Aurora in the 1959 Disney classic Sleeping Beauty, felt as though music was
what was special about this film. She was quoted saying that "The Tchaikovsky music is so
romantic and I feel an affinity for the melody. It's quite different from any
of the other Disney animated films. It was ahead of its time" (Sahn). Costa herself
knew how influential the music of this time less classic would be for
generations to come. Most children don’t realize how important the music
and lyrics are in their favorite movies. This music can influence the overall theme that the child learns. After all what
would Princess Aurora be without her signature song of “Once Upon A Dream"?
The song, “Once Upon a Dream”, is
how the audience is introduced to Prince Phillip for the first time. This is an
enchanting duet between the two strangers. It begins with Aurora singing a
simple melody, she then sings the chorus without accompaniment form the prince. This would be considered
a solo aria, since the lyric are being sung by one person with some kind of
musical accompaniment (Bonds).
The music of Sleeping Beauty not only captivated audiences
on the silver screen, it is also a very eloquent ballet. The dancers in, The Sleeping Beauty Ballet, danced with such soft clean lines. These lines were paired perfectly with the soft
romantic rhythm of the music. The movements of the dancers flowed very gently
with the overall light and peaceful theme of the music. Even though the film
and ballet are made for two completely different types of audiences, both performances
show how much the music actually tells the story. Since in the ballet the
dancers don't have any lines, the music is even more important. It is more important because they are
not able to express their emotions with words. They are forced to allow the
music to convey the overall mood to the audience as they dance to the peaceful
melodies.
Most little girls love to listen to Disney music and sing along joyfully with their favorite princess. In a study done to see what demographics were most effected by the movies. Disney found that "There were 334 distinct characters portrayed in the 19 Disney films. Males comprised 63% (212) and females 28% (93) of the total, while the gender of 9% (29) of the characters could not be determined visually", this shows how much more little girls are effected than little boys ( Faherty). Little girls love the stories that goes along with each princess and prince charming. When they get older they begin to realize what made them fall in love with them in the first place, the music. The music is what gives each princess her individual voice and style. Princess Aurora gets her sweet delightful persona from her smooth enchanting voice.
Bonds, Mark E.
"Listen to This / Edition 2 by Mark Evan Bonds PhD.
Faherty, Vincent
E. "Is The Mouse Sensitive? A Study Of Race, Gender, And Social
Vulnerability In Disney Animated Films." Simile 1.3 (2001): N.PAG.
Academic Search Complete. Web. 18 Nov. 2012.
Sahn, Geri.
"Talking With...Sleeping Beauty." Good Housekeeping 225.6 (1997):
BIH8. Academic Search Complete. Web. 16 Nov. 2012.
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