Disney Music In the Style of Famous Composers

Disney music has been re-composed in the style of famous classical composers.

This is not a drill.

I discovered these two CDs in a second hand bookshop the other day. While browsing for something completely different, I saw a spine with the words “Bibbidi Bobbidi Bach.” A few minutes later I found its companion, “Heigh-Ho! Mozart.”

Basically, tunes like Colors of the Wind and Winnie the Pooh have been reworked by composer Donald Fraser to sound like different classical composers wrote them. And the composers that I am more deeply familiar with really do come across in these pieces. (I smell a music history teaching supplement!)

So far, here are some of my favorites:

I Wanna Be Like You (Jungle Book) in the style of Villa-Lobos
Gotta love that Latin American vibe in the guitars!

With a Smile and a Song (Snow White) in the style of Chopin
(The middle part in particular really sounds like Chopin!)

Beauty and the Beast in the style of Rachmaninoff
Perfect for getting in the mood for the live remake.

So This Is Love (Cinderella) in the style of Debussy
Dreamy piano sounds? Perfect fit for this song!

Circle of Life (Lion King) in the style of Gregorian chant
…just listen.

So if you’re semi-interested in classical music but don’t know where to start, you might find a style you like in this collection and explore music by that composer! I’d also love to know which styles you like the most so please feel free to write in the comments below. Happy listening!

For more Disney goodness, check out Disney Doppelgängers, where Disney characters are compared to classic literary characters.

Complete list of songs in Heigh-Ho! Mozart:

Colors of the Wind (Dvořák)
Heigh Ho! (Mozart)
Beauty and the Beast (Rachmaninoff)
The Second Star to the Right (Tallis)
Under the Sea (Joplin)
I Wanna Be Like You (Villa-Lobos)
Can You Feel the Love Tonight (Tchaikovsky)
With a Smile and a Song (Chopin)
Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf (J. Strauss)
A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes (Grieg)
Main Street Electrical Parade (Vivaldi)
Feed the Birds (Brahms)
Little April Shower (Handel)
Winnie the Pooh (Prokofiev)
Prince Ali (Bartók)
When You Wish Upon a Star (R. Strauss)

Complete list of songs in Bibbidi Bobbidi Bach:

Whistle While You Work (Beethoven)
Give a Little Whistle (Haydn)
A Whole New World (Chopin)
Lavender Blue – Dilly Dilly (Fauré)
Just Around the Riverbend (Vaughan Williams)
Chim Chim Cher-ee (Pachelbel)
The Siamese Cat Song (Falla)
Some Day My Prince Will Come (Berlioz)
Circle of Life (Gregorian Chant)
So This Is Love (Debussy)
Kiss the Girl (Sibelius)
Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo (Bach)
You’ve Got a Friend in Me (Bernstein)
Bella Notte (Satie)
The Ballad of Davy Crockett (Copland)