Michel den Dulk, Vice President and Portfolio Executive Creative Director at Walt Disney Imagineering, recently shared insights into the crucial role music plays in creating immersive experiences at Disney theme parks, including Disneyland Paris.
According to Michel, music serves a fundamentally different purpose in Disney parks compared to traditional theme parks. He attributes this distinction to the company’s film studio origins, explaining that the first Imagineers brought cinematic storytelling techniques to attraction design.
“The music at Disney attractions has an essential role to play in conveying emotions such as joy or fear of danger, just as it would in a film,” Michel stated. He approaches attraction design similarly to film direction, where music reinforces visual elements, though the medium differs from a flat screen to three-dimensional spaces.
Michel outlined distinct strategies for incorporating vocal versus instrumental music in different park environments. For attractions, vocal songs like “Let It Go” in Anna and Elsa’s Frozen Journey at Hong Kong Disneyland serve to capture visitors’ attention during focused experiences.
However, for background ambiance in themed lands, Disney typically employs instrumental arrangements. Michel cited the World of Frozen at Hong Kong Disneyland as an example, where music from both Frozen films was rearranged into an hour-long instrumental piece to avoid distracting visitors from conversations while subtly transporting them to the fictional kingdom of Arendelle.
“When visitors are wandering or chatting in a Land, you can’t tell them when to pay attention. The music is there almost subliminally,” he explained.
Music integration begins early in the creative process, with Walt Disney Imagineering’s dedicated music department collaborating on concepts from initial development stages. The department includes producers, sound engineers, and specialists who help create immersive audio environments, working with composers and arrangers to adapt existing film music or create original compositions suited to the theme park medium.
Michel praised several musical scores from Disneyland Paris attractions, particularly highlighting John Debney’s composition for Phantom Manor, Steve Bramson’s work on Space Mountain – De la Terre à la Lune, and Bruce Broughton’s score for Visionarium. He noted that Phantom Manor’s music has such lasting impact that it comes to mind even when visiting the Haunted Mansion attractions in the United States.
The creative director expressed enthusiasm for upcoming projects: “But they’re not the only ones, and I hope that the music at Disney Adventure World will have the same impact on our visitors!” he explained. Subscribe to AirMagique for more news and updates.
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