Walt Disney Records

Walt Disney Records
Parent company	Disney Music Group
Founded	1956 (as Disneyland Records) 1989 (as Walt Disney Records)
Founder	Roy O. Disney Jimmy Johnson
Distributor(s)	Universal Music Distribution(Worldwide) EMI Music(Europe) Disney Music Group(U.S.)
Country of origin	United States
Official Website	disney.go.com/music/

Walt Disney Records is a family music record label owned by the Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Records was formed in 1956 as Disneyland Records. Before that time, Disney recordings were licensed out to a variety of other labels such as (RCA, Decca, Capitol, and ABC-Paramount Records). It was Walt Disney’s brother Roy O. Disney who suggested that Walt Disney Productions (now the modern-day Walt Disney Company) form their own record label. Roy enlisted long time staffer Jimmy Johnson to head this new division – Disneyland Records. It adopted its present name in 1989. The label currently releases soundtracks for films and other divisions as well as traditional albums.

History

Jimmy Johnson brought in Tutti Camarata (renowned musician and founder of the legendary Sunset Sound Recorders in Hollywood) to head up the creative end of this new enterprise. Tutti’s expertise and skill established the label’s initial forays into long-form musical albums, which included jazz interpretations of Disney Standards (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Bambi, and Cinderella) and original musical concept albums and expanded the format of soundtracks by including selections from the score as well as the famous songs. Tutti’s connections within the music industry also brought to the label the likes of Mary Martin, Louis Armstrong, Louis Prima, Jerry Colonna, and Phil Harris. It was also Tutti’s idea that the popular Mouseketeer, Annette Funicello, become the label’s first artist in residence. For her albums, and more ‘contemporary’ selections, the Buena Vista Records label was established under the Disneyland Records banner.

While looking for the right material for Annette, Tutti and his team discovered the songwriting duo of Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman after hearing one of their songs on the radio. The two were brought to the Disney studio in Burbank where they eventually became the first staff songwriters for the Disney company. They not only penned a good deal of Annette’s songs, but were also responsible for most of the iconic Disney songs of the 1960s and beyond – “It's a Small World” and “The Tiki Tiki Tiki Room” for the theme parks, as well as the songs from Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and Bedknobs and Broomsticks. In 1989, Disneyland Records was renamed Walt Disney Records. In addition to the Buena Vista label, the Disney Audio Entertainment (1990–1991), and Disney Sound (2004–present) labels were established to delineate the many varied styles of recordings the company released.

Today, Walt Disney Records' selection of products ranges from traditional albums and soundtracks to audiobooks and karaoke albums. It releases music from movies under Walt Disney Pictures and its film labels, Disney Channel Original Movies, and other feature-length productions. It also releases the Disneymania and Radio Disney Jams albums while still keeping to its family-oriented representation by endorsing read-along albums for pre-schoolers and classic Disney music.

Albums/artists

Debby Ryan China Anne McClain Stefanie Scott Carlton Jeffery Brandon Mychal Smith The McClain Sisters Lemonade Mouth Bella Thorne Zendaya Adam Hicks Anna Margaret Ralph's World They Might Be Giants Imagination Movers NOTE: Any Un-signed Artist who performs on a soundtrack released by Walt Disney Records(and works within Disney Enterprises inc.) is automatically signed to Walt Disney Records

Former artists Hilary Duff Raven-Symone The Cheetah Girls KSM Johnny and the Sprites The Doodlebops Mitchel Musso Jonas Brothers Hannah Montana Album series Disneymania Radio Disney Jams Disney Karaoke Series

See also

• List of record labels

References

• Disney: The Company that changed the World published by Hyperion Books
• [1]

External links

• Disney Music
• Mouse Tracks: The Story of Walt Disney Records
• Walt Disney Records Database