But, for the people behind the magic like musical director Vasile Sirli, the excitement of a new event like Mickey’s Magical Party is about more than just dusting off the classics; It’s about giving a new spin, a new soul, a new personality to the old favourites — not to mention creating some brand new music in the process.

For this entirely new year-long celebration, Vasile Sirli and his team joined the challenge to launch a record five new entertainment productions on the same day, four of which Vasile would work closely on. Jérémie Noyer joined the maestro of the magic to discover the unique European flair behind the party and much more…

To yourself, as the musical director of Disneyland Paris, what is the spirit of Mickey’s Magical Party?

Vasile Sirli: When I started working on the project, I wondered about the way to convey a “party” spirit to guests coming from all over Europe with a different conception of that. Some people associate party with Latino music, others to pop music and others to rock.

Moreover, it’s not only about cultural differences, but also about differences of generation. Which made that project really challenging and exciting: how to touch all these different audiences? How to give all of them the feeling to experience an event and an environment really devoted to party? From then on, I had to take into account the way Mickey’s Magical Party is celebrated all over the resort, from It’s Party Time… with Mickey and Friends in front of Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant, to It’s Dance Time… in Discoveryland, along with our orchestras and other shows introduced during previous seasons.

That’s the reason why we chose to give each event its own voice, but at the same time, to create common features between them. Musically speaking, this can heard through the different versions of the same Disney themes in different shows. For example, we hear Scott Erickson’s song, Mickey’s Magical Party Time in It’s Party Time… with Mickey and Friends, but also in Discoveryland and on Main Street, using different arrangements. And it’s the same for the classic Disney themes.

How did you arrange the classic Disney themes through the spirit of Mickey’s Magical Party?

Generally speaking, all the arrangements sound more contemporary than the original ones. For example, we wanted to introduce a disco colour since, after 30 years, that festive style is still very vivid. Think about the success of Mamma Mia!, the musical, but also the movie, both of them based on songs by Abba.

Thus, for Peter Pan’s Following the Leader, we associated an ethnic, South African approach with the very disco. On the other hand, the music associated with Tigger became Celtic, whereas the one associated to Donald took Central European colours. One party – hundreds of references and colours, from ethnic to disco, jazz, jazz-rock and pop, with all kinds of mixes between them. The result is an incredible musical diversity to bring a joy and an energy to the celebration!

Each arrangement was created with great attention to authenticity, regarding each musical reference.

Above all, I’d want to stress the quality of the original material we work with –Disney music. It’s a pleasure to do all sorts of variations on those themes. Everybody can hum or whistle them. You can do anything with them, provided you love them! And I do love them!

From the start, we tried to enhance each Disney Character musically through different colours and rhythms. Take Tigger. He’s the vivid expression of the idea of “jumping for joy” and the songs the Sherman Brothers wrote for him are really full of that kind of energy. How to go further without repeating oneself? It appeared to me that the Celtic style was the solution because of its rhythmic specificity, incredibly lively, and because of its vibrant instrumental colours.

By the way, we recorded that music with Celtic musicians, true specialists, at Real World studios, nearby London. We used the fiddle, that folk violin, but also different Celtic flutes that brought their unique qualities to the music.

In the same way, for the South African tone of Following the Leader, we looked for musicians who were specialists in that kind of repertoire, playing authentic instruments. The flute they used is a very plain one, made of wood, with a very unusual pitch, which makes all its charm and authenticity. I remember the success that Paul Simon’s album, Graceland, had during the 80s, when he appealed to South African musicians, and I wanted to rekindle that spirit, with that very positive rhythm, and at the same time very serene. I thought it would be interesting to associate Mickey to that spirit, that serenity.

As for disco music, we went back to the archetypes of that style, not only from the rhythmical point of view, but also from the point of view of the strings, of the reverb and of the type of mix which immediately evokes that period.

As you can see, the music of Mickey’s Magical Party is filled with all kinds of references, sometimes very fugitive, but that stand as surprises, nods and homages.

Take Donald. I thought of using a theme that is devoted to him, Macho Duck, but less known, played by a wonderful Hungarian musician on a Cymbalum. Since he’s very good at improvising and he was pleased to play a Disney theme, he made several versions of it among which I had to choose. That was a wonderful meeting with him and all the musicians on that production, and each time, they brought their own style and their personality to the music.

And above that Cymbalum, I added a traditional violin from Central Europe playing a very famous Romanian folk song called The Lark. It’s a moment of virtuosity since the musician has to imitate the birds singing with his instrument, like in 18th century imitative music, in the vein of Leopold Mozart — Wolfgang Amadeus’ father—’s pieces. With Donald, it became not only in reference, but also a gag since he can’t fly. It is music itself that allows him to do it, in a way! In fact, it is when I thought of that piece that I got the idea of arranging the whole moment in the spirit of Central Europe.

That said, considering all these styles, there was a risk at dispersing oneself. But we kept our production focused on its main aims — humour and joy. And at the same time, we all feel the greatest respect toward the material we use and toward our guests. With all this, our path was clear. I just needed the sparkle for each piece, the idea that was going to make it unique.

The production of this music is also an opportunity to meet new people and I imagine that was the case here again.

I worked in Budapest with a wonderful orchestrator/arranger named Peter Pejtsik. Like me, he studied classical music first, then came to jazz and rock. Besides, he plays in a progressive rock band in Hungary. He’s very enthusiastic and energetic, always ready to have fun with music — that’s the reason why we got along so well!

He was very much involved in that production, notably playing the bass (he’s a cello player) and traditional Romanian fiddle in the Donald piece we’ve just talked about. And, to get as close as possible to the spirit of folk music, I sang and whistled the theme of The Lark to him so that he could play by ear. I didn’t want to use sheet music because that implies a different relation to music, more rigid. Traditional, folk music is one of oral tradition and transmission, which implies a more fluid, more improvised and more lively approach.

You don’t have to play a score, you have to charm your audience by any means: vibrato, bow technique, timbres, etc. That’s I was looking for in that piece.

On the other hand, for It’s Dance Time… in Discoveryland, you turned to techno music, with a brand new mix of Pirates of the Caribbean, following the version produced by Hans Zimmer and DJ Tiesto. How did you create your own version?

The same way we wanted to pay homage to Celtic, South African, jazz-rock and disco music, we imagined an homage to techno music. The only difference is that we thought it would be more accurate to do it in Discoveryland, a land devoted to technology.

Immediately, I turned to Show Director Emmanuel Lenormand. As you know, before starting to work on a project, I always ask the creators about their favourite songs to help me choose the right themes. So, he told me about Pirates of the Caribbean. Then, I started working on it with the idea of keeping with the same musical family as what had been done before in that matter, the archetypes of that kind of mix. In order to do that, I produced a first demo based on the rhythm of Pirates of the Caribbean and some elements from inside the main theme. Klaus Badelt’s theme is so well conceived that you can always use it as a whole or in parts and always recognize it. Just a few notes and you’re in.

So, I proposed that demo to Emmanuel to see if that was okay with him from the point of view of the dance. Then, we talked about instrumentation and sounds that we could add to it, and I contacted Doru Apreotesei, from Stockholm, to propose the project to him. He got very thrilled about it and, together, we created no less than eight versions, with different mixes. This way, we were able to bring a new personality to that theme, while keeping within the same musical family as the other remixes.

In a way, it was like composing a symphony in the style of Beethoven in respecting the idioms of his writing. There are people who think techno is formulaic, simplistic. On the contrary, I think techno offers a whole array of possibilities, and it was so much fun to work on that!

How did you musically transform the Disney Stars and Motorcars Parade of Disney’s Hollywood Studios into Disney’s Stars ‘n’ Cars, a unique mix of cavalcade and production number.

It really was a team effort since it’s about a kind of a “collage”, in the spirit of the Beaux-Arts in the 30s, a rendering of pre-existing material to which we added new elements. Show Director Emmanuel Lenormand also created that concept. He has a perfect knowledge of the Disney repertoire and he chose the music he wanted for his show.

You know, the Walt Disney Studios Park is like a guided tour through a contemporary fairytale. We work with recent myths, stories that date back to less than 100 years. So, the music of Disney’s Stars ‘n’ Cars is in that sense an homage to the greatest moments of cinema history, a presentation of Disney Characters beautifully dressed and driven in magnificent automobiles, celebrating popular culture. But there is also some wisdom in that culture, in each subject. Even a great wisdom.

Then, for the production number and the meet and greet, we chose cues taken from different shows, like a summary of the history of show business and cinema. I find that this association brings some freshness to that music, which makes our show particularly nice and a highlight in a day at the park. To me, it was a different kind of work, but fun all the same!

You’re also a record producer for Disneyland Paris. You’ve just produced two new albums, Disneyland Resort Paris en Musique and Les Parades en Musique, featuring the complete score of the Disney’s Once Upon A Dream Parade. Can you tell me about that aspect of your work as Director of Music?

To me, it’s a way to balance the different aspects of my work. I love to alternate writing and producing. Record production is a passion that comes from far away in time and space. That was my job in Romania almost 30 years ago when I was the artistic director of the only recording label of the country. That was really intense since I produced about 250 albums a year. We were publishing all kinds of music, but also literature, audiobook recordings.

Thanks to Disneyland Paris, I can do that again. I can produce only for the park, which means that our records are to be sold on site only, and focus on our music for shows, old or new, and even never heard before versions, to allow our fans to appreciate all the work done for each and every production.

For the music of the Disney’s Once Upon A Dream Parade, we didn’t present it the way you would hear it in the park, because, on site, the soundtrack is always changing, adapting according to the progression of the parade and to the position of the floats. So, we preferred to release a medley presenting the entirety of the music of each float, the way it was performed in concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra two years ago.

It was a very complicated project since each cue is produced a particular way for the park, sometimes mono, sometimes with a different reverb according to the acoustics of the place. For the album, we have a stereo mix that offers nearly perfect listening conditions.

That’s the way I think of my job as a producer: to give the audience attractive tracklistings, but also to set a light on the talent of the artists. At the time I was in Romania, for four years I didn’t publish any of my music, to be free to be fair. That’s the reason why I conceive my records as an homage to the great artists that have worked with us.

Let me also pay tribute to my team, sound engineers Michael Obst, Sylvain Chesneau and Xavier Bongrand, without forgetting Estelle Champeau and Robert Fienga’s always smart and professional contribution. I also closely collaborate with our colleagues from the Merchandise department who help us to create designs in coherence with the one of the season or of a show.

Besides, I can tell you we’re working on another album for Mickey’s year, which will go out this summer, with material from Mickey’s Magical Party and other surprises…

It seems that the records produced at Disneyland Paris lean rather to shows than to attraction music. What are your thoughts on that?

As a record producer, Disneyland Paris’ aim is to produce records for the visitors of the park, so as producer of the park’s music, that’s why I do it with the idea that our guests will enjoy listening to it on a record at home, like a souvenir. And I consider it important to give priority to our own productions, in order to respect the artists that kindly accept to work with us.

Now, I’d like to pay tribute to Wayne Allwine, voice of Mickey Mouse, who passed away on 18th May 2009, and who had lent his voice to numerous shows and events for Disneyland Paris.

For my team and myself, he’s Mickey. Forever will he be our Mickey. I can’t think of him but in the present. I haven’t fully come to terms with his passing away yet.

I had the pleasure of working with him in Los Angeles, along with his wife, Russi Taylor —Minnie’s voice, and I have always looked forward to meeting him again. He came here [to Disneyland Paris] several times, notably for the 5th and the 10th anniversaries of the park.

When I think of Wayne Allwine, I think of an extraordinary human relationship, a generosity, a kind of desire to share and be with other people which you only see in exceptional people. Each time we met, we laughed, and at the same time, we had really deep moments talking about life, about being human, about friendship, about the world. Artists like him can’t pretend. You can pretend once or twice, but that’s all. That’s why he will always be our Mickey.

He was an immense actor and immense human being, someone critical for the Disney organization. People loved him and still love him for a reason. He was and is respected by his fellow actors and by fans. It’s the great loss of this Spring, and for us, a friend has gone. Our thoughts go to Russi…

Because of that, the new album you’re producing sounds like an homage.

Indeed, it’s an homage because, beyond the fact that Mickey is the icon of our company, we always thought about him when doing our records and our shows. We always tried to find a way to have him say a few words just to have the pleasure of meeting him again, through the phone or for real, here or in Los Angeles. And we always felt that warmth from him.

Then, when night falls, it all comes together with Enchanted Candleabration — the famous tree, castle and lamppost-illuminating spectacular that first begin in Paris and has now sparked a whole series of similar shows at every other Disney resort.

In Paris, it would have been easy to re-play the park’s hugely successful hit song “Chante, c’est noël…” itself, but, as Jérémie Noyer learns, that wasn’t enough for Vasile Sirli when he came to score this unforgettable Christmas spectacle…

Can you tell me about the musical concept of Enchanted Candleabration, with its unexpected mix of symphonic, orchestral music with a Broadway-like ballet, the One Man’s Dream number featuring Disney’s Princes & Princesses?

I have to say that I’ve never had the slightest doubt about that association. From the very beginning, Show Director Christophe Leclercq had the idea to treat the Disney Princes & Princesses in both a classical and a contemporary way. And today, a Broadway number is considered as being classic. We had many different options, yet I believe that this one works best. And that’s also the opinion of all the creators of the show.

In addition, I do respect and admire the music created by my colleagues in California, Florida and Tokyo. That’s the reason why I decided to adapt One Man’s Dream by Bruce Healey, Music Director at Disneyland, California, in collaboration with Christophe Leclercq, the director and choreographer of the show. This particular number is dedicated to the dreams of every child, big or small, dreams of an imaginary world of fairytales, with Princes and Princesses, and that song perfectly fits that concept.

How did you manage to integrate One Man’s Dream into the harmony of Enchanted Candleabration?

We took very good care of the choice and relations between the different styles. We didn’t want to draw the attention to the music, but rather to the overall show. We wanted that contrast to express the fact that something new is happening. And at the same time, it had to fit the Princes & Princesses concept, which was already part of the original Disneyland, California concept.

In editing, we were driven to make the result as poetic and artistic possible, in respect of Bruce’s original intentions. You go from one style to another as if you would turn the pages of a magical storybook.

The most magical moment is certainly the illumination.

Absolutely. That’s the moment for us to invite Tinkerbell to launch the illumination of the Castle, Main Street and the giant Christmas Tree. The whole park is vibrating, chiming…

She illuminates the Castle and plays with the lamposts along Main Street. Musically speaking, that moment is based on two original pieces introduced by the Peter Pan theme. The first one, Lumina, is an intrumental piece accompanying the illumination of the Castle, and the second one, Ring the Bells, is a choral piece played in sync with the illumination of the lamposts. Jay Smith wrote the lyrics and, to interpret them, we got in touch with the same artists who used to sing carols in the park, the Disney Carollers.

The style of Ring the Bells is very interesting, a very unusual blending of different influences.

You know how I love to mix influences! So, there’s a touch of English traditional music, with very calm harmonies, and a touch of American, jazz swing, along with ethnic elements coming from Eastern Europe, where I come from myself.

Ring the Bells is all the more successful when we hear it as the snow is falling every day on Main Street…

We are very grateful that people love it so much, and we feel it through the fact that the CD is very successful, too. We’re very proud of that!

Step in Vasile Sirli, the resident musical director of Disneyland Resort Paris and the man behind some of the most memorable, magical Disney theme park soundtracks in history. When work began on transferring Disney’s 1999 blockbuster animation Tarzan to a live-action show, how did the sound of jungle transfer from the pictures to the park?

Jérémie Noyer talks to the legend himself…

How did you begin production of the music for The Tarzan Encounter?

When the film was released, about 10 years ago, the idea came up to produce shows based on that material in different Disney theme parks. Disney’s Animal Kingdom imagined one with an energetic rock band playing live. As far as I was concerned, I thought that, since our show at Disneyland Resort Paris should last for several years, it would be tricky to maintain the same level of musical quality all the way through with a live band playing several times a day during a long period of time.

In fact, I was really pleased that Phil Collins recorded his own songs in five different languages, French, English, German, Spanish and Italian. What could be more European than that for our show? That was unique. He had never done that before. So, I proposed to Jay Smith, then Vice President in charge of Entertainment, to try to get the original recordings of the film so that we could have Phil Collins’ voice in several languages. That would allow us to produce a great showtape for our production essentially based on choreography. So, I did a demo from the cd, to see if it was possible to adapt the songs to our show, to its specific needs.

The cue I worked on more particularly was Trashin’ the Camp since it was short and needed to be developed in order to make this number more interactive. I did that on my laptop in order to present it to the American crew of the film, composer Mark Mancina and his partners. Because my idea was not only to get the rights to use the original tapes, with Phil Collins’ voice in different languages, but at the same time to be in the same vein as the production of the film in making use of the very same talents — orchestrators, arrangers, orchestra, conductor, engineer — as for the original movie, in order to get the same colour and have our new material seamlessly weaved into the original score.

How was your meeting with the music crew?

First, I had an appointment with Chris Montan, the head of Disney music and producer of the Tarzan movie soundtrack. He listened to my demo and was seduced by the idea. He immediately set up a meeting with Mark Mancina in Los Angeles. So, I went to his studio there. I showed him my demo, too, and just a few minutes later (really!), we had the rights to use the original tapes in our show.

I have wonderful memories of this collaboration because everything came out naturally, with great energy and enthusiasm. That was unexpected since it was the first time in Disney theme parks history that we collaborated that way with the Studios, using that kind of original recordings, directly taken from the film. So, we recorded our showtape in Los Angeles with exactly the same team as in the film: conductor Don Harper, engineer Frank Wolf, who works on all Hollywood greatest productions, etc. Even the copyists were the same! All that to keep the colour of the original.

Then, we brought the tapes to Paris and did our own mixing, thanks to Michael Obst, here at Le Studio, adapted to our material and to the place. The result was warmly welcomed, by the public and by composer Phil Collins. It was the beginning of a strong professional friendship. We’ve been keeping in touch since then. For example, we reunited with Don Harper on The Legend of the Lion King at Videopolis.

Mark Mancina is well-known for the impressive collection of musical instruments he has at his studio. Did you happen to see it?

When you enter his studio in Los Angeles, you’re surrounded by so many instruments, percussion and string instruments! It’s a kind of a Cave of Wonders where state-of-the-art technology meets all sorts of traditional instruments come from all over the world. You just feel like, if you’re inspired by something, you just have to take an instrument and play.

Microphones and recording machines are there. All is set for creation! It’s a wonderful working environment! Now, you can understand all the unusual and fine associations of instruments that you find in his score and in our showtape.

How was the overall show conceived?

Our show is true to the film without being the film. Some people in the audience might think it’s just a stage version of it, but it’s not. It’s a scenic rendering of the music of the movie. So much that I can tell you that Phil Collins attended The Tarzan Encounter several times and that he was so excited about it that it became a source of inspiration for him when he was working on the Tarzan Broadway show.

In fact, our show was written by director and choreographer — now artistic director at Walt Disney World — Reed Jones, who had worked before on Tarzan Rocks! at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and who brought some of the same energy to The Chaparral Theater. We worked together in starting from the basic structure of the movie.

That said, Reed knew exactly what he wanted on stage in terms of transitions and developments. In order to work specifically on that aspect, I collaborated with Don Harper to make sure that all the dramatic articulations proposed by Reed Jones are totally integrated into the showtape from the musical point of view. We really worked on each note, each bar, in the same spirit as Phil Collins and Mark Mancina, in order to adapt ourselves to the reality of the stage and of the acting of the performers.

It was a tough job, a lot of work, yet so exciting!

With great thanks and appreciation to Vasile Sirli.