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"But none of the songs have pervaded into pop culture or repetition the way the other shows have."
I'd disagree (pretty strongly), but I may be of a different generation.
When I was growing up, the Lesly Ann Warren version of
Cinderella was shown on TV every year, similarly to how
The Sound of Music shows up every Christmas. (The b/w TV version of Mary Martin in
Peter Pan was the other "biggie".) Songs like "
In My Own Little Corner", "
Impossible", "
The Stepsisters' Lament" and "
Do I Love You.." are songs that people my age know like the backs of our hands.
If Jay Leno were to do one of his ambush street interviews, asking the question, "Where did the song
In My Own Little Corner come from?" people my age would probably say,
Cinderella immediately. (If the question were reversed to ask, "Name a song from
Cinderella", people would either respond with "
In My Own Little Corner" or "
Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo" (but that's the question's fault!).
Another factor for people of my generation (I think) has to do with music education in public schools.
Incorporating "popular" music into a grade school music program usually didn't include a lot of music heard on the radio. On the whole, the lyrics were not acceptable for an elementary public school setting, but even more importantly, nearly ALL music heard on the radio at that time used electric guitars and drums accompaniments that could not be duplicated effectively in a classroom using just a spinet piano.
"Folk music" (i.e. "
Puff the Magic Dragon", "
If I Had a Hammer", etc.) was a popular style of music considered "safe" enough to supplement the American folk songs ("
Clementine", "
I Been Workin' On The Railroad", etc.) that were printed in our music books.
The other "safe" source for popular music was Broadway - especially when selecting songs to include in an elementary school concert. R + H's catalog of songs was SO vast (and they were still alive!), that their music appeared in every school concert during my elementary school years. Another song that seemed to appear in every concert was, "
They Call the Wind Mariah"... but I digress! "
In My Own Little Corner" and "
Impossible" were the most popular songs from
Cinderella Additionally, my family had the LP of the Julie Andrews version in our home, which got a LOT of play. Between the yearly TV broadcasts, the LP, and my elementary school music program, the entire score of
Cinderella is burned into memory and a pretty important part of my childhood.
...but I'm old.
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As an aside, Lesley Ann Warren was so popular as
Cinderella on TV that it was pretty much her signature role for quite a while. I know that I was not alone in being (just slightly!) taken aback when she appeared in the movie version of
Victor/Victoria. It just seemed a little "off" to see Cinderella being so bawdy...
Updated On: 5/1/13 at 12:15 PM
