Q: How did you start writing these parodies?
A: When I was a freshman in college I began lurking in the
rec.arts.disney (R.A.D.) newsgroup, which at the time still had
quite a bit of creative writing going on. It wasn't until after
Pocahontas came out that I began considering writing something
myself. Someone posted a whole bunch of very funny Pocahontas parodies
to R.A.D., and I noticed he did not parody the ballad
"Colors of the Wind" and the cut number "If I Never Knew You" (IINKY). So
I thought I would. There was some discussion on R.A.D. about why IINKY
had been cut, and one day, while I was waiting for my organic
chem class to start, the lines "If I never knew you/That's the title
of this song..." crept into my head. To make a long story short, I
wrote the parody, posted it, and got three nice e-mails about it.
And it just kept on going from there.
Q: Why do you write them?
A: It's a lot of fun and I like the challenge. I've always been in interested in
the work of Broadway lyricists, and when I work on a parody I usually
find myself marveling at stuff like clever inner rhymes and puns
that the original writer used. And with the Disney stuff,
I get to work with songs and characters a lot of people are
familiar with. It's also great to have a wide range of songs and
characters to work from for variety.
Ultimately, though, I like to share my stuff with other people. In real life (i.e. away from the computer) I guess I'm on the quiet and reserved side, and this is a chance to let my goofy sense of humor come out. And it always cheers me up whenever someone tells me something I wrote made him or her laugh.
Q: Where do you get your ideas?
A: The vast majority of them are inspired by newsgroup activity
and discussions and the latest news from Disney. I usually stick
with current events, which explains why most of my parodies
involve the recent set of films (from The Little Mermaid on).
Others were born when I came up with one funny line. "Just Vote for
Me," about the 1996 presidential election, came from the line
"That Newt is a brute..." And "I Just Can't Break Until Spring"
was written when I threw that line in an e-mail to a Lion King
fan, who insisted I finish the song. In general, most
of my parodies start when I think of a funny phrase or line, although
some, such as "Don't Cry for Me, Cinderella" and "The Post-Oscars
Party (Hunchback edition)," I simply decided I wanted to use that
song and tried to work from there.
Q: How long does it take you to write a parody?
A: It varies. The fastest one was "Come and See the Show
Tonight" about The Lion King on Broadway. From what I recall,
I read the news, came up with the song idea, wrote it and posted it.
It probably took about five hours total. At the other extreme, I
know I had the idea for "Just Vote for Me" back in May 1996, but
it had to wait until October to be finished for obvious reasons.
The complexity of the original song is usually a factor in how long it takes me to write the parody, but not always. It took me two weeks to get beyond "Hello, Djali,/ Well, hello Djali" for that song. On the other hand, I wrote almost all of "The Post-Oscars Party (Hunchback edition)" in one night.
Q: So which parody is your favorite?
A: Oh, gee. I like them all, though I think
some are better than others. "Come and See the Show Tonight,"
"Trend Like Me," "Just Vote for Me," "Yuu" (posted to rec.arts.anime.misc), and "The Disney Empire Strikes Back" are some of my best ones, I think.
Q: What about your fellow netters?
A: I've gotten at least one e-mail response for each of
my parodies/spoofy things. Based on the number of e-mail, I'd
say the most popular ones I've written are:
1. The Post-Oscars Party (Hunchback edition)
2. The Lion King on Broadway ("Come and See the Show Tonight")
3. Hello, Djali!
4. I Just Can't Break Until Spring
Q: What does Disney think of all this?
A: I have never received any e-mail from any Disney people specifically
mentioning my parodies or the R.A.D.* Creative Archives. My hope is
that they enjoy them or at least tolerate them. (Imitation is the
sincerest form of flattery.)
Q: Have you ever written a bad parody?
A: Sure. I think I've avoided posting them, though.
I used to write my parodies on pieces of scrap paper, but now I write in a notebook. This allows me to see all the ideas I had and didn't pursue. At this writing (July 1997) I have started three Hercules parodies and gotten nowhere with them. The one I did write ["They Won't Play (My Big Song)"] was actually a second parody based on Meg's song. Originally I was writing one called "They All Say (I Look Odd)" which I ditched because I had gotten used to Meg's stylized appearance and because people on the newsgroup were raving about how awesome her song was.
But back to the question--let me put it this way. The original idea I had for "A Dino World" was not based on "A Whole New World" but on "Be Our Guest," with the dinos singing about the various people they were devouring. Scary, huh?
Q: Is there anyone you admire as far as parody-writing goes?
A: Besides the other folks who have stuff in the R.A.D.*
Creative Archives? Well, I'd have to name Gerard Alessandrini
(creator of Forbidden Broadway and Forbidden Hollywood)
and Bill Strauss and Elaina Newport (The Capitol Steps)
as particular favorites. I guess the Muppets and Disney itself also
have influenced me. As far as all-time parodists go, though, I'd
name Lewis Carroll (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Through
the Looking Glass). His parodies are so good they've lasted
longer than the original songs and poems they were based on.
Q: So when's your next parody coming out?
A: Who knows?