Walt Disney Art Classics Convention 2004 - Part 2,

Walt Disney Art Classics Convention 2004 - Part 2
Page 18 of 33

Burton’s talents at homage were recalled by Randy Thornton. He related that while recording a David and Goliath read-a-long, Burton delivered a line as Gregory Peck: “That was one mean dude.�? Thornton said the delivery was hysterical.


Randy Thornton describes his work on the Wonderland Music series.

Craig Hodgkins then turned to Randy Thornton, and asked for an update on the Wonderland Music series. Thornton began with a brief background on the Archive Series. He explained that half the battle was convincing his superiors of the value of creating newly restored soundtracks of classic Disney films. The other half of the battle was getting them shelf space in the stores.


Two of the titles in the Disney Archive series.

The market is changing now, with new ways of delivering music to consumers. Consequently, Thornton explained, it was tough to get a piece of real estate for Mary Martin when it was all occupied by Britney Spears. The 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea soundtrack, on the other hand, is held up by legal disputes concerning the musicians. Since CDs are considered a new format, not covered by their original contract, all would have to be tracked down, renegotiated, and paid. Meanwhile, the meticulously restored soundtrack waits in storage. Finally, even territorial issues with Walt Disney Records causes delays in getting product to consumers.

Thornton turned to a more pleasant subject, the Disneyland Forever recordings that were in the Parks for a few years. He referred to them as an opportunity to reach the hard core fans of Disney soundtracks.


The Disneyland Forever tracks were available as CDs on demand in the Disney theme parks for several years.

Unfortunately, because of the wealth of material available, the general public would get dazed over the selection, and not know what to look for, he said. As a producer, Thornton went on, he wanted to provide as much material as possible. But he also understood that the public needed a simple way of finding the material.