Creating the soundtracks to new shows and events at Disneyland Paris might seem like an easy task — after all, you’ve already got a mountain of timeless, eternally popular music to work with.

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.