WDW Daily News

Singer/songwriter/musician KT Tunstall heads to Pixie Hollow to help bring animal fairy Fawn’s story to life in “Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast.” Tunstall performs three new songs in the film, including “Float,” “Strange Sight” and “1000 Years.”

“KT is a celebrated songwriter and musician,” says director Steve Loter. “She reminds me of Fawn in a way with her big heart and this amazing voice that has a little bit of edge and a tremendous amount of appeal.”

The all-new Tinker Bell film is about the relationship that develops between Fawn, a compassionate animal fairy who thinks with her heart, and Gruff, a massive beast with glowing green eyes who seems to be on a mission. “It’s a real action-adventure movie,” says Tunstall. “The characters are so cool. I was over the moon to take part. Disney Animation has such an incredible heritage of work, spanning decades, and it’s really special to be part of that.”

Tunstall had fun channeling the film’s heroine. “‘Float’ is Fawn’s opening theme,” she says. “It’s fantastic how she spends her days looking after all the animals around Pixie Hollow. The song says, ‘I’ll just float.’ She doesn’t have to have a reason, she just really loves having a pair of wings, so she’s going out for a fly, getting into trouble and mischief.”

The artist also helped introduce the NeverBeast. “‘Strange Sight’ is heard when Fawn discovers this beast living in the woods near Pixie Hollow,” says Tunstall. “He’s a huge, scary-looking guy, but she isn’t afraid. She wants to help him and make friends with him, but can’t work out what he is or what he’s doing with the rocks he’s collecting.”

The third song in Tunstall’s lineup, which she sings with singer/songwriter Bleu, is an emotional song that can be heard during the film’s end credits.

Walt Disney Records is set to release the Into the Woods original motion picture soundtrack and the Into the Woods Deluxe Edition on December 16, 2014. Into the Woods features 20 songs from the film and the 2-disc Into the Woods Deluxe Edition also includes score. Both versions are available for pre-order beginning today. The film will be released in theaters December 25, 2014.

“Into the Woods” premiered on Broadway on November 5, 1987, at the Martin Beck Theatre. The production, which ran for 764 performances, won Tony® Awards for Best Score, Best Book of a Musical and Best Actress in a Musical. Among other awards, the musical received five Drama Desk Awards, including Best Musical. “Into the Woods” has been produced around the world, including a 1988 U.S. tour, a 1990 West End production and Broadway and London revivals, in addition to a PBS television production and a 10-year-anniversary concert.

The big-screen adaptation welcomes songs from the stage musical, including “Finale/Children Will Listen,” “Giants in the Sky,” “On the Steps of the Palace,” “No One Is Alone” and “Agony,” among others.

Starring Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, James Corden, Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine and Johnny Depp, “Into the Woods” is a modern twist on several beloved fairy tales, intertwining the plots of a few choice stories and exploring the consequences of the characters’ wishes and quests. This humorous and heartfelt musical follows the classic tales of Cinderella (Anna Kendrick), Little Red Riding Hood (Lilla Crawford), Jack and the Beanstalk (Daniel Huttlestone), and Rapunzel (MacKenzie Mauzy), all tied together by an original story involving a Baker and his Wife (James Corden and Emily Blunt), their wish to begin a family and their interaction with the Witch (Meryl Streep), who has put a curse on them. Rob Marshall, the acclaimed filmmaker behind the Academy Award®-winning musical “Chicago” and Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” directs the film, which is based on the musical stage production by legendary eight-time Tony®, Grammy® and Oscar-winning composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim and Tony® winner James Lapine, who also wrote the screenplay. The film was produced by John DeLuca, Marshall, “Wicked” producer Marc Platt and Callum McDougall.

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NOW That’s What I Call Music! and Walt Disney Records have once again teamed up for a special NOW album collection showcasing beloved Disney music classics. NOW That’s What I Call Disney 3 will be released on CD and digitally on Monday, October 27.

Building on the success of the first two NOW Disney volumes, NOW That’s What I Call Disney 3 features 20 favorite musical moments that have been enchanting and entertaining audiences for generations, including “Love Is an Open Door” from Frozen, “Let’s Go Fly a Kite” from Mary Poppins, “Something There” from Beauty and the Beast, “Life’s a Happy Song” from The Muppets, “That’s What Friends Are For (The Vulture Song)” from The Jungle Book, “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo (The Magic Song)” from Cinderella, “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” from The Lion King, “Friend Like Me” from Aladdin, and many more.

“Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” hits theaters Oct. 10, 2014, with a soundtrack that includes an original end-credit song from The Vamps, plus original songs from two of the film’s stars and score by Christophe Beck (“Frozen,” “The Hangover”). The six-song EP will be released in the U.S. by Walt Disney Records on Oct. 7, 2014; pre-order begins today.

British pop rock band The Vamps was called on to write and perform the end-credit song “Hurricane.” The group filmed a music video for the song that features a cameo by Bella Thorne, who stars as big brother Anthony’s uptight girlfriend Celia in the film. A sneak peek of the video will debut on Disney Channel Sept. 12, 2014, followed by the full video premiere on VEVO. Director Miguel Arteta (“The Good Girl,” “Cedar Rapids,” “Youth in Revolt”) says it was The Vamps’ optimism that drew him to the group. “We wanted people to know that it’s okay to have bad days—you can be stronger and better for it,” says Arteta. “The Vamps’ energy gets that across wonderfully!”

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Hollywood Records and Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Awesome Mix Vol. 1 soundtrack debuted at No. 3 on The Billboard 200 album chart, scanning 60,000 units, according to Nielsen SoundScan.   Released on July 29, 2014, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Awesome Mix Vol. 1 soundtrack features classic 1970s songs from the film including Blue Swede’s “Hooked on a Feeling,” “I’m Not in Love” by 10cc, Redbone’s “Come and Get Your Love,” and The Runaways’ “Cherry Bomb.”

Released domestically August 1 with $94.3 million in its first weekend, Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” set a new all-time opening record for the month of August and earned the third biggest opening of 2014.

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Awesome Mix Vol. 1 peaked at #1 on iTunes’ Top Albums and Top Soundtrack charts and was #1 (overall) in 22 countries.   At Amazon.com the album peaked at #2 in overall Digital Music, #5 in Music, #1 in Soundtrack and #4 in Pop.

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Walt Disney Records’ newly created line of collectible CDs, Walt Disney Records The Legacy Collection, celebrates the anniversaries of Disney’s most cherished and classic films that have been enchanting audiences for generations.

The label honors one of the most celebrated and beloved soundtracks of all time with the 50^th anniversary release of the Walt Disney Records The Legacy Collection Mary Poppins on August 26, 2014.  The Mary Poppins collection features over 2½ hours of content, including the original soundtrack, The Lost Chords – previously released demos and newly recorded versions, plus cast and filmmaker interviews and a collectible 20-page booklet.  Also included are excerpts from the historic “Mary Poppins” story meetings in 1961 with author P.L. Travers, as heard over closing credits of the critically acclaimed film “Saving Mr. Banks.” Grammy^® winning producer, Randy Thornton contributed extensive liner notes.

First released in 1964, the Mary Poppins original motion picture soundtrack featured 14 original songs by legendary Disney songwriters Richard and Robert Sherman. The soundtrack was the #1 album for 14 consecutive weeks in 1965, maintaining the #1 position that year longer than the Beatles (Beatles’ 65, Beatles VI, and the Help! soundtrack), Elvis Presley (Roustabout soundtrack), The Rolling Stones (Out of Our Heads) and The Sound of Music soundtrack. “Mary Poppins” won five Oscars^®, two of which the Sherman brothers received for “Chim Chim Cher-ee” and the film’s original musical score.

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Here’s a hint. The title wouldn’t fit in the headline.  Mary Poppins’ Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious was picked as the best Disney song ever by listeners in July’s iHeartRadio Heartbeat survey.

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Award-winning composer Mark Mancina, who won a Grammy® for Best Soundtrack Album (with Phil Collins) for his work on Disney’s 1999 feature “Tarzan,” produced and composed the score for “Planes: Fire & Rescue.”  The Planes: Fire & Rescue original motion picture soundtrack takes off July 15.

Composer Mark Mancina returned to the runway to create the score for “Planes: Fire & Rescue.” As composer for “Disney’s Planes,” Mancina was able to take themes established in the first film and update them to reflect the unique and heroic nature of “Planes: Fire & Rescue.” “Dusty’s more grown-up so the music wanted to be a little more grown-up—a little bit richer. There’s an arc to his life and the music needed to follow that arc.”

Mancina opted for a more orchestral sound in the new score. “It comes from an earthy direction, so there’s a lot of orchestral percussion, French horn, strings and woodwinds,” he says. “There is added texture from other types of instruments, but the heart of the score is an orchestra.”

The melodic score was recorded with a 90-piece orchestra. For Dusty’s training montage, filmmakers agreed it called for a bold acoustic piano that would stand out from the orchestra. Says Mancina, “We were lucky enough to have Bruce Hornsby play piano on the score, which brought a completely different color and a much more mature feel to the score.”

Hornsby, a multiple Grammy®-winning artist, also played a special cue that can be heard near the end of the film, supporting the serious and emotional tone filmmakers sought.

Brad Paisley performs two new songs for the film, including “Runway Romance,” which was written by director Bobs Gannaway and Danny Jacob, and “All In,” a song Paisley signed on to write and perform after hearing of the film’s firefighting themes. “My father’s a firefighter,” says Paisley. “He was my whole life. And my brother-in-law and several family members are firefighters. I was really honored to pay tribute to them. I sat down after seeing a rough cut of the movie and it came to me very quickly.

“My dad was president of the volunteer fire department, which was walking distance from our house,” continues Paisley. “I spent several days of each week there with him—any time the whistle blew, he went. It was truly inspiring to watch him lead that way. It’s a strange and wonderful mentality that these people have. They get so excited about that opportunity to help. My favorite line in the song is, ‘Where there’s smoke and flames, and everybody needs out, I’m all in.'”

Paisley also lends his voice in a cameo appearance as a pickup truck in Honkers Sports Bar.

Newcomer/singer/songwriter Spencer Lee performs “Still I Fly,” a song he co-composed with his writing partners Windy Wagner and Michael “Smidi” Smith. “Still I Fly” can be heard when Dusty, after discovering that he may never race again, leaves Propwash Junction en route to Piston Peak to train as an aerial firefighter.

Planes: Fire & Rescue track list follows:

1.  Still I Fly* Performed by Spencer Lee
2.  Runway Romance** Performed by Brad Paisley
3.  All In** Performed by Brad Paisley
4.  Planes: Fire & Rescue – Main Title Score
5.  Propwash Score
6.  Out of Production Score
7.  Dusty Crash Lands Score
8.  Fire! Score
9.  An All New Mayday Score
10. Sad Mayday Score
11. Pontoons Score
12. A Special Kind of Plane Score
13. Training Dusty Score
14. We Got the Gear Box Score
15. Cad Score
16. Blazin’ Blade Mystery Score
17. Mystery of Blaze-Lightning Score
18. Lightning Storm Fire Score
19. (It’s) Hip to Be Cad Score
20.  Harvey & Winnie Score
21.  Cheers Score
22.  Nobody Has Your Gear Box Score
23.  Fire by the Lodge Score
24.  Behind Enemy Lines Score
25.  Evacuation Score
26.  Blade Is Down Score
27.  Loopin’ Lopez Score
28.  Tourist Trapped Score
29.  Fire Heroes Score
30.  Rescue Harvey & Winnie Score
31. Dusty Saves the Day Score
32. Saving Dusty Score
33. You Had Us Worried Score                    

The Planes: Fire & Rescue soundtrack is available for pre-order at both iTunes and Amazon.com and will be available nationwide July 15. For more information on Walt Disney Records’ releases, please visit Disney.com/music, become a fan at Facebook.com/disneymusic or follow us at Twitter.com/disneymusic.

Walt Disney Records’ newly created line of collectible CDs, Walt Disney Records The Legacy Collection, will celebrate the anniversaries of Disney’s most cherished and classic films that have been enchanting audiences for generations.  Launching the line on June 24^th is The Lion King 2-disc set, coinciding with the film and soundtrack’s 20^th anniversary.

Walt Disney Records The Legacy Collection The Lion King features the beloved original soundtrack, plus 30 minutes of previously unreleased score and 7 score demos by Oscar®-winning composer, Hans Zimmer. Zimmer also provides detailed notes for each score demo.

Don Hahn, the film’s producer, contributed liner notes and provides an overview of how the coming of age story set in Africa evolved to become a phenomenon. The film’s music went on to win 2 Academy Awards in 1994 (Original Song and Original Score), 4 Grammy® Awards and 2 Golden Globes.  The soundtrack was No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart for 10 nonconsecutive weeks and was certified Diamond by the R.I.A.A., for 10 million units sold.

The CD cover and 20-page booklet feature newly created artwork inspired by “The Lion King” from Lorelay Bove, a visual development artist at Walt Disney Animation Studios (“Tangled,” “Winnie the Pooh,” “Wreck-It Ralph”).   Later this year, Bove’s art can be seen in the hardcover book, Lovely: Ladies of Animation: The Art of Lorelay Bove, Brittney Lee, Claire Keane, Lisa Keene, Victoria Ying and Helen Chen.

The CD booklet also includes a 6-page sampling of visual development art from the film, with notes by Dave Bossert, Producer/Creative Director at Walt Disney Animation Studios.

Track list follows:

Disc One
1. “Circle of Life/Nants’ Ingonyama” Performed by Carmen Twillie, African Vocals Performed by Lebo M
2. “Didn’t Your Mother Tell You Not to Play With Your Food” Score
3. “We Are All Connected” Score
4. “Hyenas in the Pride Land” Score
5. “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” Performed by Jason Weaver with Rowan Atkinson and Laura Williams
6. “Elephant Graveyard” Score
7. “I Was Just Trying to Be Brave” Score
8. “Be Prepared” Performed by Jeremy Irons with Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin and Jim Cummings
9. “Simba, It’s to Die For” Score
10. “Stampede” Score
11. “Mufasa Dies” Score
12.” If You Ever Come Back We’ll Kill You” Score
13. “Bowling for Buzzards” Score
14. “Hakuna Matata“ Performed by Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella with Jason Weaver and Joseph Williams
15. “We Gotta Bone to Pick With You” Score
16. “Kings of the Past” Score
17. “Nala, Is It Really You?” Score
18. “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” Performed by Joseph Williams and Sally Dworsky with Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella and Kristle Edwards
19. “Remember Who You Are” Score
20. “This Is My Home“ Score
21. “The Rightful King” Score

Disc Two
1. “The Morning Report” Performed by James Earl Jones, Jeff Bennett and Evan Saucedo
2. “Warthog Rhapsody” Performed by Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella
3. “We Are All Connected “Score Demo
4. “I Was Just Trying to Be Brave” Score Demo
5. “Stampede” Score Demo
6. “Mufasa Dies” Score Demo
7. “This Is My Home” Score Demo
8. “The Rightful King” Score Demo
9. “Circle of Life” Instrumental Demo
10. “Circle of Life” Performed by Elton John
11. “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” Performed by Elton John
12. “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” (End Title) Performed by Elton John

The second release from The Legacy Collection will celebrate the 50^th Anniversary of Mary Poppins and will be available on August 26, 2014.  The 3-disc set will include the songs and score from the film, rare-behind-the scenes recordings, new recordings of The Lost Chords, excerpts from the P.L. Travers story meetings with Don DaGradi and the Sherman brothers, plus the Hollywood Spotlight Microphone 1965 post-premiere interviews and a 1989 interview with the Sherman brothers.

Walt Disney Records The Legacy Collection The Lion King 2-disc set will be available on June 24^th at disneymusicemporium.com.  View The Lion King product here: http://youtu.be/8PU8xfHJUhA.    For more information on the Disney Music Emporium, please visit DisneyMusicEmporium.com, become a fan at Facebook.com/disneymusicemporium or follow us at Twitter.com/DisneyMusicEmp.

Currently available digitally and in-theater, the Aladdin Original Broadway Cast Recording is set for physical release by Walt Disney Records on June 17.  The cast recording was produced by Alan Menken, Michael Kosarin, Frank Filipetti and Chris Montan and executive produced by Kurt Deutsch.

Aladdin stars Adam Jacobs (Aladdin), Courtney Reed (Jasmine), Jonathan Freeman (Jafar) and recent Tony Award® winner James Monroe Iglehart (Genie) will be signing CDs at the Barnes & Noble Citigroup Center location (160 East 54^th at Third) on Friday, June 20^th from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Produced by Disney Theatrical Productions, Aladdin features music by Tony Award and eight-time Oscar® winner Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast, Newsies, Sister Act), lyrics by two-time Oscar winner Howard Ashman (Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid), three-time Tony Award and three-time Oscar winner Tim Rice (Evita, Aida) and three-time Tony Award nominee Chad Beguelin (The Wedding Singer), with a book by Beguelin, and is directed and choreographed by Tony Award winner Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon).  This new production features a full score, including the Oscar and Grammy®-winning hit “A Whole New World,” and four other cherished songs from the film and multi Grammy-winning original motion picture soundtrack.  The cast album also includes four Menken/Beguelin songs written especially for the stage and three Menken/Ashman songs that were cut from the original film, plus exclusive bonus content created especially for the album.

Disney’s Aladdin, the Tony Award-winning new musical comedy based on the Academy Award®-winning animated film, opened to critical acclaim on March 20^th, 2014 at Broadway’s New Amsterdam Theatre and went on to receive 24 major theatrical award nominations. USA Today raves, “Pure GENIE-US! Aladdin delivers a rush that will surprise you.” New York Magazine calls it “Musical comedy wish-fulfillment!” while The New York Times hails the show as “Fabulous… Extravagant!” Huffington Post says Aladdin is “the surprise hit of the season!” and the Daily News declares, “Seriously, it’s amazing!”

Aladdin stars Adam Jacobs (Les Miserables, The Lion King) in the title role, Courtney Reed (In the Heights, Mamma Mia) as Jasmine, James Monroe Iglehart (Memphis, The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) in his Tony Award-winning role as Genie, and, as Jafar, Tony Award nominee Jonathan Freeman (Mary Poppins, The Producers, She Loves Me) brings to the stage the role he indelibly created in the animated film.  The show also stars Brian Gonzales, Brandon O’Neill and Jonathan Schwartz as Aladdin’s sidekicks Babkak, Kassim and Omar, Clifton Davis as Sultan and Don Darryl Rivera as Iago.

The Aladdin Original Broadway Cast Recording will be available in physical format on June 17 wherever music is sold and in-theater at http://www.aladdinthemusicalstore.com.