MJ x Hakuna Matata x Let it Go!

Michael Jackson as Captain EO

Disneyland's Tomorrowland is the first spot my brother and I run to inside the park. Its the home of Space Mountain and Captain EO! Some of the children I work with told me they checked out Captain EO with their parents. Many of their parents, also Michael Jackson fans, said they were glad their child got to see "Beat it Michael." 

When I look through multiple music videos and interviews from actors and music artists, I see and hear influences MJ has left on the lives of us all - whether music video, blogging and even online reviews of music and games can be traced to what MJ brought to artistic visual - creative expression through music.

There is also a change going on with Disney music in animated films. More children are singing along to their favorite songs at school. Home culture is appearing in the classroom through their favorite cartoons, movies and musical artists. When I was a child, Hakuna Matata, Under the Sea and A World New World were the melodies my classmates and I hummed in my classroom. I do not recall teachers or children singing or humming Disney songs quietly to themselves or with us. But teachers always sang Michael Jackson, Aerosmith, Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Prince and Queen songs in the classroom. Notice the rock and soul trend the teachers were interested in back then?

  

In today's classroom, some of the children sing their version of songs they hear on their parents' radio in the car, Pandora and iheartRadio apps from Imagine Dragons,  Katy Perry,  Adele, Beyonce and Rihanna. One boy in one of my Pre - K classes, wants to become a singer. He always says Adele is his idol and can sing all of her songs verbatim. He prefers to use the classroom CD or iPod for melody but will sing "Rolling in the Deep" in acapella if you make a respect during outside time. He prefers a large audience of teachers and children watching rather than singing for only one person.

Since January, this boy has recently gotten into singing Frozen's Let it Go and Do you wanna build a Snowman? He and his classmates sing the song together repeatedly throughout the day. One change I have noticed over the past two months are children adding in Elsa's exact movements to Let it Go - They ask me to tie their jackets or sweaters around their body like a shawl and they rip it off and smile while singing the line, "Let the storm rage on, the cold never bothered me anyway." 

While singing Anna's, Do you wanna to build a snowman? The children jump around the room and then lay on the floor watching the clock like Anna, while singing, "I think some company is overdue I've started talking to the pictures on the walls- (Hang in there, Joan!) It gets a little lonely All these empty rooms, Just watching the hours tick by- (Tic-Tock, Tic-Tock, Tic-Tock, Tic-Tock, Tic-Tock)"

Sometimes the children leading the songs will stop the children and make them start from the beginning if the song is inaudible or the words are out of order. Even if the child mixes up or omits lyrics, the children stay in sync with the rhythm of the characters voices and their verbal and non verbal language throughout the song.

From The Little Mermaid, I do hear children singing Ariel's "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh" to give their voice to Ursula or the child who deems herself as a powerful witch.

When the children in my Pre K class are happy they sing:
Hatuna Makata - What a wonderful day!!

They are quickly corrected by the Adele singing child," No no start again that's wrong!"

The children giggle and sing even louder

It means no worries for rest of your daaaaays its our problem beees papeepeee!

He interjects, "NOOOOO nonono! Like this!" He puts his hands up to conduct and sings:

Hakuna Matata, what a wonderful phrase, Hakuna Matata Aint no passing craze, It means no worries for the rest of your daaaaays. Its our problem free philosophy Hakuna Matata! He leads the other children and prances around the room just as Timon, Pumbaa and Simba do in the sequence when Simba is growing up. 

While many teachers whose classrooms I work in tell me, "We have too much Disney in our lives so no more singing!" As I reflect on all the Disney moments mentioned in this post that children have chosen to emulate and experience sorrow, joy, pain and growing up. These Disney songs provided children with opportunities to role play and embody the qualities of their beloved characters they admire. It is more than a child just having too much Disney or too much of anything they love, it is about children understanding how their lives intersect with what they are interested in and knowledge they need to learn as they grow older. Through media, their popular culture artifacts and their imagination, children can extend the adventures of their favorite characters and create new adventures for themselves continuing the journey with that character.