Disney is celebrating its 100th birthday this month. It’s hard to imagine the studio enjoying such longevity without its strong musical legacy. Songs from recent Disney films, such as We Don’t Talk About Bruno from Encanto (2021) or Let It Go from Frozen (2013), have met with great success. But this has been a strength of the studio for much of the past 100 years.
Every decade since the 1930s, Disney has released landmark films featuring musical numbers that remain household favourites today. And the Disney “renaissance” in the 1990s was underpinned by musical stories and huge Broadway talent. Many of these films were subsequently adapted into long-running West End and Broadway musicals.
This musical legacy extends right back to the studio’s first sound film, Steamboat Willie (1928). Before this, Disney was just one of many competing animation studios. Utilising the new technology of synchronised sound to make Mickey Mouse talk and sing made a huge star of the character – and established Disney as the leading animation studio.
