Released 2004 Genre Pop Label Walt Disney Records | Recorded 2004 Length 4:01 | |
Format Digital download, CD Single | ||
"If You Can Dream" is the first song that was originally written and recorded specifically for the Disney Princess media franchise. It was written, produced, and arranged by Robbie Buchanan and Jay Landers. It was first released on the album Disney Princess: The Ultimate Song Collection.
Contents
The song is sung from the point of view of the first eight official Disney Princesses (though only seven of them actually sing, excluding Snow White, who is just featured in the video). It has been featured on several Disney music CDs, and its music video is present on nearly every Disney Princess DVD, as either an extra or a Sing-Along, and has been shown numerous times on the Disney Channel, It Is Also One Of The Songs For Magenta 2004. To this day the song still plays on the official Disney Princess website.
The song has been covered by teen country singer Ashley Gearing, and a shorter altered version performed by a different set of singers is featured in the ongoing Disney on Ice show Princess Wishes as the show finale.
Singers
Song details
One of the most notable aspects of the song is that all but three of the princesses's original voice actresses reprise their singing roles. Unsurprisingly, due to the age of the films, Adriana Caselotti, Ilene Woods and Mary Costa do not reprise their roles as Snow White, Cinderella and Princess Aurora. Notably, Lea Salonga, who provided the singing voice of both Princess Jasmine in Aladdin and Mulan in Mulan reprises both roles in this song.
Each princess sings lyrics that reference their own story. For example, one of Snow White's lines is "Someday my prince will come, it's certain as the sunrise," one of Cinderella's lines is "One day the slipper fits, then you see the love in his eyes," one of Belle's lines is "So the story goes, never die the rose...," Pocahontas' primary line being "The colors of the wind will lead my heart right back to you..." Jasmine's line being "There's a whole new world waiting there for us," and Mulan's primary line being "Reflections in a diamond sky come shining on through" even though the rest of the princesses sing with her, and finally Ariel and Aurora have the same primary line ("Romance Will Always Be So New And Love Will Save The Day")
In the Princess Wishes Disney on Ice show, the line "The colors of the wind will lead my heart right back to you," is changed to "The music of the wind will lead my heart right back to you," since Pocahontas is absent from the show. The show also changes the lines from "So the story goes/Never die the rose" to "Once upon a dream/Wish and it will seem". While these lines were originally sung by Belle, they altered ones were given to Aurora in order for her to have a solo part.
Music video
The music video for the song consist of footage arranged in a montage from the films the featured Princesses are originally from (until 2004); including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas and Mulan.
The footage is edited by Industrial Light & Magic in an attempt to make the princesses mouth movements lipsync with their respective song vocals.