Disney Legend Andrea Deja on Richard Sherman and the Music of “Mushka”

Before that story, here’s what you should also know this week

• “Music by John Williams,” the official authorized documentary on the life and work of the famed movie-music composer produced by his frequent director/collaborator/friend Steven Spielberg, will debut on Disney+ on November 1 after its world premiere to open AFI Fest on October 23. See the trailer here.

• FX has debuted its new docuseries “Social Studies” that peers into the life of teenagers who have been affected by the use of social media. Read a review from our friends at Laughing Place here.

• Ken Page, the voice of Oogie Boogie in Tim Burton’s “Nightmare Before Christmas” has died at the age of 70. Read his New York Times obituary here.

Melancholy and Mushka, Sherman and Deja.

Andreas Deja is a certified Disney Legend. One look at his Disney Animation credits and you’ll see why he was given the designation back in 2015: Triton from “The Little Mermaid,” Gaston from “Beauty and the Beast,” Herc from “Hercules,” and even Lilo from “Lilo & Stitch.”

So what does a person with height of achievement like that do next? He leaves Disney.

“It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do,” said Deja to us during a video interview. “But I’ve always resonated with that part of life where you have to give something up to see something new.”

That “new” thing that Deja wanted to do next post-Disney was still under familiar terms. It would end up being an animated film—one that featured animals and children, and have memorable music.

In 2023, Deja debuted that project which, after 10 years, ended up becoming the animated short “Mushka,” which told the story of a Ukrainian girl Sarah who raises a Siberian tiger during the 1970s. By doing so, Sarah (and us by way of her) learn that having to let go of someone you love is the hardest thing, but life has a way to provide hope and happiness again.

Deja has known that feeling of saying goodbye to people and opportunities. He admits that while his exit from Disney was by his choice, it was difficult to do. “It was everything, and then it became nothing. However, I saw the silver lining in so many ways, including being able to work on something so personal with Richard,” he said.

Fellow Disney Legend and the late Richard Sherman, part of the famed Sherman Brothers who wrote songs for Walt Disney’s projects, found his way to “Mushka” by way of the one-of-a-kind ‘work relationship’ they had through Disney. “He heard about this project I was working on, and just plainly offered to write something for it. Can you imagine the immediate yes I gave him?!,” Deja said.

Deja said that Sherman really resonated with the melancholy part of the film’s theme, which allowed him to create an equally melancholic musical piece called “Mushka’s Lullaby” that plays during a more tender part of the short. “He really created something that only he could do, both lyrically and melodically. It’s a Sherman Brothers’ song through-and-through,” Deja said.

The song was performed by the 60-piece Synchron Stage Vienna Orchestra that also included the vocalist Holly Sedillos- all recorded live with Deja and Sherman watching remotely as it was being recorded.

The collaboration is something that Deja would never forget, especially now with Sherman’s passing. Deja said that he was delighted that Sherman was able to see the finished film with his song in it before he died, and “getting his smile of approval was everything” to him.

When asked about whether “Mushka” and Sherman’s music has helped Deja process life’s losses better, Deja agreed and pointed back to why his work and the work of other animators and creative people matter. “That’s the work we, the people with imagination, get to do every day. We get to help others imagine a better ending; a better beginning.”

You can watch the full music video of “Mushka’s Lullaby” below.

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