When You Wish Upon a Star, Beauty and the Beast, Under the Sea…when you think Disney, you think iconic music.
The studio has well and truly cracked the formula for musical movie hits. And now, it’s working to translate that success to the small screen with a more modern approach to making music for new animated series headed to Disney Channel and Disney+ in February.
Jay Stutler, Disney TV Animation’s SVP of music, is leaning on some tried-and-true tricks and also some fresh new strategies to help Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (16 x 30 minutes, pictured below) and the second season of The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder (10 x 30 minutes, pictured above) stand out from other new shows—as well as Disney’s own library of movies and series.
He believes the secret to successful music lies in co-listening earworms, embracing modern trends, and seeking out talent with an existing passion for toons.
Grammy-winning and Oscar-nominated recording artist Raphael Saadiq (Insecure) is the mastermind behind the music for Moon Girl, including theme song “Moon Girl Magic,” which dropped in November to give fans a taste of the main character’s personality with its carefree lyrics and pop-disco groove.
While Saadiq is new to composing for kids animation, Stutler says it helped that he was already a fan of the genre. Genuine interest in an IP or medium is something the Disney team prioritizes when it’s considering talent. For example, Patrick Stump—who was similarly new to scoring a kids series—was a Marvel fan long before his gig as the composer for preschool show Spidey and His Amazing Friends (2021).
At the advent of any series, an early meeting is set between the music team, network executives and show creators, and this helps composers and lyricists understand the story and the personalities of the characters. The music then comes first. Stutler’s team preps tunes well ahead of the animation, so the storyboard artists have songs and scores to build sequences on, he explains.
They are also focused on making sure new soundtracks feel connected to the modern music landscape. This means the team pays close attention to the production styles of today’s chart-topping artists, says Stutler.
Music charts have traditionally been skewed to reflect the taste of adult consumers who were usually the ones buying tracks and albums. But today’s Billboard Hot 100 chart provides a wider reflection of what all age groups in the US are listening to. This is due to the increasing impact of music streaming (such as what’s hot on YouTube) on chart rankings.
“Young kids are listening to modern artists like Bruno Mars, Lizzo, Post Malone, Imagine Dragons [and] Taylor Swift,” Stutler observes. “They’re growing up so much faster in terms of the artists and the music they’re exposed to. Even on some of our youngest content for Disney Junior, we’re still taking a modern musical approach because the kids have elevated their game.”

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur
Even with all of these pieces in place, Disney’s music team still has a unique challenge to contend with. When you’re creating up to 500 songs a year, it gets very difficult to make every song unique, says Stutler.
And when it comes to established IPs, minimal change is often preferred. As is the case with season two of reboot The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder.
Produced by Kurt Farquhar, the original theme song (sung by Destiny’s Child and Solange) became an integral part of the show’s identity—blending early-2000s R&B with heartfelt and humorous lyrics reflecting the narrative tone. “That original song was very impactful for the series,” Stutler recalls. “Everyone who loved it loved that theme song.”
So when Disney+ greenlit a reboot in 2021, his team elected to stick with the original song, but modernize it with a new style of production and new vocals from R&B singer Joyce Wrice. “The challenge with any historic IP is that you don’t want to necessarily reinvent the wheel, because there’s so much sweat equity and so much connection to the original [songs],” Stutler says.
But with franchise-building opportunities expanding across social media, consumer products and live shows, it’s important to ensure that the music can also work outside the context of the series. “What we always do is create the song in such a way that it not only services the purpose of a scene, but can also be easily lifted out,” Stutler adds.
He points to Phineas and Ferb (which scored a two-season revival order this month) as a great example of a show that reached a wider audience with its soundtrack.
Though the Disney Channel/Disney XD series came off air in 2015 after an eight-year run, its quirky music library remains popular with kids and families alike. For instance, “Squirrels In My Pants” resurfaced in a popular TikTok dance video near the end of 2022. With 14 million views, it’s currently among the top-10 most watched videos on the official Disney Music YouTube channel (1.2 million subscribers).
Though there’s no formula for Disney longevity, Stutler theorizes that a key factor is building appeal across age groups. “We’re trying to create songs that our core demographic connects with, but we also want parents and caregivers to enjoy them [just as much.]”