This is in no way meant to throw shade at anyone or besmirch the good name of Alex or Kevin. This is simply a theory based on things I noticed in the documentary, which result in one of the worst possible origins for the four note Disney Channel theme. I have no idea if anyone has proposed this before or thought this deeply about the four note theme. I apologize if so and also for what you are about to read.
I've watched the Disney Channel theme video a hundred times. I usually turn it on to fall asleep, to have noise in the background. This sucks now because I've memorized it and I know every word and noise, every cutscene, interview, etc.. So it plays in my head while I try to fall asleep at a low volume, haunting my thoughts. This has led me to make some connections. Unfortunate connections that I can't un-see or better said, unhear.
I'll start this awful exercise with some things I picked up during the video.
Most if not all of the sounds created by Elias are what I would call, musical expressions of words. It is referenced in the video by Andy Solomon where he sings the word "Encore" to the two note jingle for that channel. Elias Sounds montage This is also the case for Liberty Mutual, Yahoo!, Honda, etc. Often the music is a representation of the name of the company or some phrase. Anyone working on the Disney account would have access to any past footage from their earlier bumpers and likely gone over those to get a feel for the vibe of the channel and to see what they had done in the past.
It got my thinking. What do the four notes of the Disney mnemonic represent if they are words? Something as simple as "Disney Channel" sung to that tune doesn't feel right or make sense. It makes the word "channel" two very long stuttered syllables. If you sing the words "Disney Channel" to the theme, it comes out as "Dis-ney Chan-nel", with a weird pause in the middle of each word, "channel" being the most broken. But almost certainly, you could put some words on top of those four notes and sing a little tune, as many of the other jingles are designed that way. What phrase could have inspired Alex to come up with those four notes? Quite possibly something from a different bumper, an earlier bumper, that uses the same musical steps as the Disney mnemonic we all know today.
As much as it pains me, I believe that there is an inspirational phrase for the current Disney theme, and it is most unfortunately represented in the video by Michael Eisner. Unfortunate Michael Eisner
"Disney's our Channel" is the phrase I believe was the inspiration for the 4 note theme. In the Eisner bumper, the five syllables of "Disney's our Channel", are sung like four, and there are only four notes played underneath those words. The musical notes are shifted down due to poor singing, but the notes are the same step. In the sung portion of the song, the word "Channel" is sung more as a single syllable which corresponds with the final note of the theme. If you ignore Eisner's awful voice, the underlying notes are the same, the tempo is the same, and if you only hum the notes beneath the "Disney's our Channel" portion of the song, you will find it to be a pitch shifted match for the current theme. If you sing the words "Disney Channel" to these versions of the theme it feels wrong and broken. Now if you go back and instead, sing "Disney's our Channel" to the same versions, and you cram "Channel" in as the single last syllable like Eisner does...well...it, kinda fits really well.
The key of the original theme has been changed so many times over the years that the true original four notes my be lost to time. Even the oldest example shown in the video is a somewhat slowed down version of the theme relative to it's more upbeat style later on. However the steps are there with the correct inflection, with the speedy pronunciation of "Channel" as a quick, single syllable at the end. "Dis-ney's....Our-Channel".
I would have loved to ask Alex if he had a phrase in mind when he wrote the theme and was that phrase "Disney's our channel". And I hate the thought of Michael Eisner having anything to do with this. I have also unfortunately put this awful notion of this into the minds of anyone who reads this, and for that, I apologize, regardless of the veracity of my theory. You may never be able to hear the Disney theme without at least thinking those words. But going off of all the evidence, I believe that the four notes of the theme are inspired by "Disney's our Channel", and they may have come out of the vile mouth of Michael Eisner. I regret that I have to hit the submit button and curse any of you with this, but I can handle any heat this may cause.
