Musicologist Gregory Camp. Photo: Supplied / University of Auckland
When you think about it, every generation has its Disney picture. For some it might be Fantasia, for others it might be One Hundred and One Dalmatians, still others might associate it with Frozen.
For Gregory Camp it was, without a doubt, The Little Mermaid.
Seeing it as a seven-year-old was the beginning of a life-long love affair with the output of the Disney Corporation, which comes with a special appreciation for the way Disney has used music, not just in the movies, but in its theme parks.
That appreciation has lead to Camp's latest book, "Music in the Disney Parks".
It's the result of years of travel, and countless rides by the Auckland University musicologist and Senior Lecturer in all twelve of the Disney theme parks around the globe.
Camp sat down with RNZ Concert host Bryan Crump to talk about his research into the way Disney uses music (both live and recorded) to give visitors to its theme parks even more of a bang for their buck.
He discusses how Disney sometimes commissions composers to write music specifically for rides, such as Jerry Goldsmith for a visual spectacular called "Soaring" and even John Williams, for the Star Wars-themed "Star Wars Land" in the original Disneyland in Los Angeles.
"Music in the Disney Parks" is published by Routledge.
