L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JULY 13, 2023 www.italoamericano.org 30 L'Italo-Americano Y e a r s o f s e e i n g W a l t D i s n e y ' s name on movies a n d s o u v e n i r cards from Dis- n e y l a n d m a d e F a b r i z i o Mancinelli want to work for Walt Disney someday. At the age of 18, he sent a demo C D o f h i s w o r k t o R o y E . Disney and received a rejec- tion letter, which he kept. "Years later, I got hired to work on Growing Up with Nine Old Men, a documen- tary directed by Theodore Thomas, that gives a glimpse into the personal lives of a group of Walt Disney's ani- mators known as the Nine Old Men. I put those two let- t e r s t o g e t h e r : o n e s h o w s how it began and the other how it ended. It's like com- i n g b a c k h o m e t o p e o p l e w h o r a i s e d m e w i t h o u t knowing me because I grew up watching the movies of t h e N i n e O l d M e n , " Mancinelli tells us. Born in Cles, Trento, and r a i s e d i n L ' A q u i l a , I t a l y , Fabrizio Mancinelli is now an accomplished composer, songwriter, and conductor, best known for his musical contributions to the world of cinema. As a songwriter, he c r e a t e d o r i g i n a l s c o r e s f o r T h e L a n d o f Dreams, The Snow Queen 3, and The Boat. In 2017, he led the orchestral recording for the Academy Award-win- n i n g G r e e n B o o k , a n d h e recently scored the docu- mentary Food 2050, which premiered at the UN Cli - mate Change Conference in 2 0 2 2 . H e a l s o c o n d u c t e d Kris Bowers' score for the u p c o m i n g D i s n e y feature The Haunted Man- sion (July 2023). D u r i n g h i s c a r e e r , Mancinelli never stopped loving Disney, so he jumped with joy at the opportunity to work on the upcoming film Mushka, an original story by Andreas Deja, a G e r m a n a n i m a t o r , w h o joined the animation depart- ment of Walt Disney Pro- ductions in the 1980s. Not o n l y d i d D e j a a n i m a t e dozens of beloved charac- ters, from Hercules to Lilo, b u t h e a l s o o f t e n w o r k e d with another Disney legend, songwriter Richard Sher- man, known for the songs f r o m M a r y P o p p i n s , T h e Jungle Book, the Winnie the Pooh franchise, Chitty Chit- ty Bang Bang, and the Dis- ney theme park songs It's a Small World and There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomor- row. Mushka tells the story of a Ukrainian girl, Sarah, who raises a Siberian tiger during t h e 1 9 7 0 s . S h e c a l l s h i m Mushka, when she discovers an "M" shaped birthmark on the tiger cub's forehead. The word Mushka is a Russian t e r m o f e n d e a r m e n t , l i k e " s w e e t h e a r t . " T h e h a n d - drawn animated film was inspired by Disney's clas- sic 101 Dalmatians. D i s n e y l e g e n d a n d Academy Award winner Richard Sherman wrote a music theme as well as a s o n g f o r A n d r e a s Deja's film. How was the experience for you? I'm speechless every time I see the style of the movie. It's obvious it has the great- ness of Disney classics of the past, without having copied them. Andreas Deja has cre- ated his own style for the film, it's like a moving pic- ture book. I provided the a r r a n g e m e n t f o r R i c h a r d S h e r m a n ' s s o n g , w h o s e vocals (sung by the amazing Holly Sedillos) were record- ed in August 2022 at 5Cat Studio in Los Angeles. W h a t w a s t h e b e s t m o m e n t , f o r y o u , o f working on Mushka? I b e l i e v e m y f a v o r i t e m o m e n t w a s w h e n , a f t e r years of hard work, we got to record the score with the Synchron Stage Orchestra in V i e n n a , l e d b y B e r n h a r d Melbye-Voss. We were con- nected remotely, attending the session from my studio in California. And I even had a surprise connection with Richard Sherman on Zoom! It was magic. H o w d i d y o u m e e t Andreas Deja? Once I moved to the US, I was able to attend USC and venture to various Disney- related places like the Walt Disney Family Museum. It was at these events that I met several influential peo- ple, such as Alice Davis, who w a s a D i s n e y c o s t u m e designer and widow of leg- e n d a r y a n i m a t o r M a r c Davis, and director Andreas D e j a . D a v i s b e c a m e m y " a d o p t i v e g r a n d m o t h e r . " S h e w a s s o m e o n e w h o always knew what she want- ed and always worked with determination to obtain it. T h r o u g h v a r i o u s c o n n e c - tions like these, I also met W a l t D i s n e y ' s d a u g h t e r , Diane Disney Miller. What memory do you have of Diane Disney? She was very interested in preserving the good name of Walt Disney, her father, not only as an entrepreneur or a brand name but also as a genius producer of the 20th century. I remember the day we met: it was December 5th, 2009, I was visiting the Walt Disney Family Muse- um and first noticed Ron Miller for his unmistakable h e i g h t , f o l l o w e d b y W a l t Disney's daughter and the m u s e u m ' s f o u n d e r . I approached her to thank her for her contributions to the arts in LA with the Walt Dis- ney Concert Hall and gave her a CD of my music. She was so graceful. A year later, I returned to the museum for a presentation by Alice Davis and Marge Champion and saw Diane again, who r e c o g n i z e d m e a n d approached me to explain that she was unable to listen to the CD because it skipped in her player. She remem- bered me! And I learned that CDs are not so reliable! How did you discover your passion for music? I fell in love with Disney after first watching Mary P o p p i n s a s a k i d . A t t h e same time, I collected post- cards that showcased attrac- tions from the classic park in California. From that point on, I desired to work for Dis- ney, but I didn't have a tal- e n t f o r d r a w i n g . T h e n , I realized that movies also tell their story through music and I was inspired to go to music school. There was also an Italian movie called Alle- gro Non Troppo (by the leg- endary Bruno Bozzetto), a parody of Fantasia, that was an inspiration to me. W h a t D i s n e y m o v i e was your biggest inspi- ration? D e f i n i t e l y F a n t a s i a . When it comes to integrat- ing animation and music, it's the greatest movie. It helped me understand how music can tell a story without dia- logue. Alan Menken is an inspiration from more mod- ern animated films, and so are the Sherman Brothers: their scores do a great job at telling an animated story, so much so my two-year-old daughter was able to under- stand the plot of The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh just through the music. Who are your favorite Disney composers? I t h i n k m y f a v o r i t e o f m o d e r n t i m e s i s A l a n M e n k e n b e c a u s e , c o m i n g from theater, he knew exact- ly what was needed, from the point of view of story- t e l l i n g . M y f a v o r i t e c o m - posers from the past are the Sherman Brothers. I also g i v e W a l t D i s n e y a l o t o f c r e d i t f o r t h e m u s i c p r o - duced at the studio during his lifetime. He was not a m u s i c i a n , b u t h e h a d a tremendous ear. SILVIA NITTOLI Italian composer Fabrizio Mancinelli on working with Disney legends Fabrizio Mancinelli with Diana Disney Miller, the daughter of Walt Disney (Photo courtesy of Fabrizio Mancinelli) LOS ANGELES ITALIAN COMMUNITY

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