Disney Continues to Turn to Millennial Rock Stars For Its Children’s Programming Theme Songs
Earlier this month, we brought you the exciting news that blink-182 bassist Mark Hoppus had recorded the new theme song for Iron Man and His Awesome Friends.
Titled “Totally Awesome,” the theme blends the classic Blink-182 pop-punk sound with a traditional children’s television.
Interestingly, Hoppus is not the only millennial pop-punk royal that Disney has enlisted to record for their preschool lineup. Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump has long performed the theme for Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends.
Disney’s Strategy
According to a new report from The Wrap, the Spidey theme has not only been a hit with young viewers, but also parents, who find that the song sounds suspiciously similar to the music that they grew up listening to.
“I’m very passionate about creating music that serves the entire family and does become a shared experience between a child and their caregivers,” Jay Stutler, SVP of Music for Disney Television Animation, told TheWrap.
“[Patrick’s] musical aesthetic is known around the world, so when you as a parent hear a song from ‘Spidey’ it’s like, ‘Oh wait, that connects with me. That’s what I grew up with. I can’t wait to share this with my own kid.’”
A Natural Fit
While the idea that Mark Hoppus would be recording a children’s television theme song may sound novel, according to the singer, it was a natural fit.
Photo: Disney+
“I like writing theme songs, and I think in theme songs — I write commercial jingles in my head all day long and just dumb stuff,” Hoppus told TheWrap. “The cool thing about it was they said they wanted it to be me and my sound. It wasn’t like, ‘We want you to write a song that sounds like this.’ It’s like, ‘Go do your thing for this idea.’”
Disney Has Done This For Years
Although TheWrap report frames the new theme songs by Stump and Hoppus as indicative of a recent outreach by Disney to grab the attention of millennial parents, the duo actually fit nicely into a long-term pattern set by Disney animated shows.
Popular millennial artists have always had a place within the Disney animated universe, particularly when it comes to children’s television. For example, They Might Be Giants, whose heyday only slightly preceded that of blink-182 and Fall Out Boy, has previously performed the theme songs for Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Higglytown Heroes.
New Found Glory, on the other hand, has performed multiple songs for Phineas and Ferb, including its iconic theme. They recently re-recorded the song for the show’s Season 5.
In the end, Disney has found a recipe that works. By combining popular millennial artists with their children’s programming, the studio has not only found a way to pique the interest of parents but also create some awfully catchy songs in the process.
