JULY 2008 - CHALLENGES & CRITICISM

SCOTT WOLF: You and I have talked about what happens AFTER an album is released. So many people love what you do and you also get letters criticizing.

RANDY THORNTON: Yeah, after I did “The Jungle Book” people had written in complaining that I had taken out the dialogue scenes that were part of the original record. That’s because they grew up with that album and I had changed their memory.

All they realized is that certain things were missing, like all the dialogue banter before “We Are Friends” and the inspection scene but they didn’t notice that I had put all the underscore in for the first time and that I’d found a second trumpet lead in “I Wanna Be Like You” that was cut from the movie and that’s in there. They didn’t notice any of that, they only noticed what was missing because that’s the album they had all this time, but this is a different era, and a soundtrack is supposed to carry the movie.

I understood where they were coming from so I’d write back and say “I’m sorry you’re disappointed,” and it just so happened that the Sherman brothers (the songwriters of "The Jungle Book") did an interview in the L.A. Times about how great the soundtrack sounded so I included a copy of that as well.

SW: An interesting thing about Disney is there is always criticism. Even the most popular movies and attractions always have people who are not pleased for whatever reason, even if millions love it.

RT: People are very passionate about it and I understand where the passion’s coming from, although I do believe there’s no need to be rude, or harsh, or call people names. I’ve been called a hack so many times. The Disneyland box set, honestly, I was anticipating somebody to storm the castle because I can’t do things the way they do in attractions.

Most of the stuff that I do, the soundtrack recordings, the theme park albums, the Disneyland box set ("A Musical History of Disneyland"), all these recordings were never meant to be on a record. I’m making something into something it wasn’t designed to do and when you’re in an attraction it’s a completely different experience.

SW: I know we’ve talked about the park attraction tracks. Your average fan might want just the music but the hardcore Disney fans want the whole attraction exactly like when they’re on it.

RT: Yeah, when you’re in the Haunted Mansion you walk in the parlor and you hear the organ going and then you go in the stretching room and there’s no more music. When you’re in the room you’re there with people and you see the room stretching and the narration’s going and you’re in a sense of place. But, when you’re just listening to the audio (alone) it sounds like (attraction narrator) Paul Frees in a recording studio. It doesn’t sound like you’re in the Haunted Mansion anymore, so I put the parlor music very lightly in the background.

Fans also said that the portrait corridor walk-thru was too quick. Well, I’m not moving herds of people. They want it exactly as when you are in the attraction, but I edited it musically. I let the entire loop play once and then moved on… but standing in line in the attraction you may hear the music play over and over.

I know that it’s because people are very passionate about it. I have to take into consideration the hardcore fan because I happen to be one of them as well, but I also have to take into consideration the casual visitor as well.

If I were doing this for the Smithsonian I would have done things differently. But you have to think of it as the average person and you don’t want to turn it into where people don’t want to hear it anymore.

But, I know where the fans are coming from and it’s one of the reasons why I’ve participated in (online) discussion boards.

SW: Is it hurtful to you when people really complain?

RT: Yes, it does hurt. I think I’m actually a good hybrid. I’m part hardcore fan, part average consumer. I want to appeal to the hardcore fan but I also don’t want to bore the average consumer.

SW: Do you think there’s more average consumers than hardcore fan?

RT: Oh, absolutely. It’s just that the hardcore fans are more passionate and I mean that in a good way, and they’re more vocal because it really means something to them. And I understand that, but there are certain rules that we have to abide by. You know, just because they want certain things out there doesn’t mean that we have the rights to do it. People automatically assume that because we’re the Walt Disney Record Company that I can put anything out from Imagineering that I want to. We don’t own those recordings.

SW: What kinds of issues do you deal with that fans may not be aware of?

RT: I have to deal with rights and legal issues.

In fact, I want to talk about piracy. People sit there and say things I release are already available (because they get unauthorized pirated copies), so why can’t Disney release that? Well, we don’t own the rights to it. Sometimes it wasn’t written under a phono agreement which means that we have to pay the orchestra over again.

It’s one of the things that happened with the Heather Headley track from California Adventure and “Golden Dreams.” It wasn’t recorded under a phono agreement… it cost us a substantial sum for the record rights. And when I went to put it on the 50th (Anniversary album after putting it on the Official album) I found out that that it could only be cleared for that one original release.

So these are the kinds of things that we’re trying to deal with. and there’s certain clearances and certain things.

SW: It’s really fascinating to what goes on behind the scenes before these soundtracks are ever released, and I truly appreciate your candidness and honesty.