Copyright The Disney Corporation
There’s no surprise Walt Disney Studios selected zydeco musician Terrance Simien to perform on the soundtrack for its new animated film, The Princess and the Frog, which is set in New Orleans and the swamps of Louisiana. The Lafayette resident has spent three decades taking zydeco to the world. By bringing his accordion, rubboard and triangle to the song “Gonna Take You There,” Simien hopes to expose an even broader audience to the sounds of zydeco and the culture of southeast Louisiana. “I hope they like it,” he says. “I want kids to watch this movie, hear this song and say I want to go there. I want to see this place and listen to this music.”
Recording in the Disney studios had its benefits, including the care producers took to authentically create the characters that bring the music to life onscreen. “We had animators in the studio who were drawing while we played to get a feel for body movements and facial expressions,” Simien says.
The soundtrack is the seventh Disney film which songs and score are composed by fabled songwriter and pianist Randy Newman, who has his own ties to New Orleans. Newman campaigned heavily to write the score, bringing along the Dirty Dozen Brass Band in an effort to impress the shareholders at Disney in 2007.
“Randy Newman is a class act,” says Simien, “and he did an incredible job on the music. He really brings a realism to the movie, shows this for the unique and wonderful place it is.”
The Princess and the Frog is set in the 1920s at the height of the Jazz Age, and the score is deeply rooted in the music of New Orleans, with tunes featuring Dr. John and trumpeter Terence Blanchard.
The soundtrack is set for release November 24 and the film opens nationwide December 11.
