|
"Mother Knows Best" is a song written by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Glenn Slater for Walt Disney Pictures' 50th animated feature film ''Tangled'' (2010). Appearing on the film's soundtrack ''Tangled: Original Soundtrack'' (2010), "Mother Knows Best" is a Broadway and musical theatre-inspired pop and jazz ballad recorded by American Broadway actress and singer Donna Murphy in her role as the film's villain, Mother Gothel. Lyrically incorporating a series of passive-aggressive insults, the song serves as Gothel's attempt to frighten Rapunzel into remaining in the tower in spite of her constant requests to see the floating lanterns so that she may continue to exploit her hair's regenerating abilities in order to remain youthful. The song is later reprised in a more sinister, vengeful tone by Gothel after Rapunzel openly defies her for the first time. Menken and Slater deliberately wrote "Mother Knows Best" in the style of an old-fashioned musical theatre song after the directors specifically requested one. Musically, the song is in direct contrast to the more pop-oriented singer-songwriter motif of Rapunzel's music, which are performed by pop singer Mandy Moore. Meanwhile, Murphy recorded "Mother Knows Best" by imagining Gothel as someone who enjoys being in the spotlight. Often cited as the film's best song, "Mother Knows Best" has garnered widespread acclaim from both film and music critics alike, who identified it as a notable standout amid an otherwise unimpressive tracklist by complimenting its melody, humor and darkness. Murphy's vocal performance has also been lauded, with critics voicing their preference towards it over Moore's, while comparing it to the likes of actresses Patti LuPone and Julie Andrews. Additionally, the song has drawn comparisons to the work of Broadway composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim, as well as songs from the musical ''Les Misérables'' and Disney's own ''The Hunchback of Notre Dame'' (1996), the latter of which Menken himself had also worked on as a composer. ==Background== "Mother Knows Best" was written by veteran Disney composer Alan Menken and lyricist Glenn Slater. Menken and Slater wrote "Mother Knows Best" as a "very musical theater oriented" song〔 at the behest of the directors, who asked them specifically for "a musical theatre moment." Initially, Menken worried that this would be taking it "a step too far."〔 While Menken conceived ''Tangleds music as more so in the style of a singer-songwriter, citing Canadian singer Joni Mitchell as a musical influence, the composer envisioned Gothel's songs as "classic" Broadway. On the songwriting process, Menken revealed that he and Slater "look() for what is going to be an appropriate song moment for the main characters;" "Mother Knows Best" "flows directly out of the conflict between" Mother Gothel and Rapunzel. In an interview with ''Entertainment Weekly'', Menken revealed that he had observed similarities between Gothel and Claude Frollo, another Disney villain for whom he had written songs while working as a composer on ''The Hunchback of Notre Dame'' (1996); they share a thematic link of keeping their adopted children from leaving towers. Menken described Gothel as "a scary piece of work" while "Frollo is a much more sophisticated villain, but easier to understand ... than Mother Gothel," whose relationship with Rapunzel is more manipulative than the Frollo-Quasimodo dynamic. While writing "Mother Knows Best", Menken was briefly concerned that "there () be a rash of children trying to kill their parents after they’ve seen the movie." According to directors Byron Howard and Nathan Greno, one of the song's lines, "getting kind of chubby," was lifted from an interview the directors had held with several female Disney employees, in which they asked them to describe their relationships with their mothers. Menken revealed that "Mother Knows Best" is a song with which he had ultimately become "very pleased." Primarily a Broadway actress, Donna Murphy had never voiced an animated character prior to ''Tangled'', and decided to audition for the role spontaneously. Because the film is a musical, all potential voice actors were required to audition a song of their choice; Murphy auditioned the song "Children Will Listen" from the musical ''Into the Woods''.〔 Menken said that Murphy, with whom the composer himself had previously worked on his musical ''Little Shop of Horrors'', "brought musical theater expertise" to the song.〔 Because of the actress' extensive Broadway and musical theatre background, Menken and the directors were open to her ideas and suggestions about Gothel's music, on one occasion suggesting an alternate arrangement of "Mother Knows Best". Murphy envisioned her character as an entertainer, describing her as "somebody who envisions herself periodically being hit with a spotlight," which ultimately influenced her performance on "Mother Knows Best". The ''New York Post'' writer Lou Lumenick felt that, as songwriters, Menken and Slater had given the film's "real showstopper" to Murphy. ''The Korea Times'' reported that it was only after animator Jin Kim heard "Mother Knows Best" for the first time that he conceived a "1940s Hollywood screen siren motif" for Gothel's appearance and personality. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mother Knows Best (song)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|