queenie82
Queen of the 5 Castles
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2008
Australian tourism's 'Mickey Mouse' campaign
You don't need Mickey Mouse ears to hear the similarities.
Tourism Australia's latest ad jingle is close enough to Disney's Mickey Mouse Club theme tune that it could struggle to defend a legal challenge, a music expert says.
In the wake of the Federal Court's ruling in February that Men At Work pay for ripping off parts of their pub classic Down Under from Kookaburra Sits In The Old Gum Tree, Queensland Conservatorium of Music popular music program convenor Donna Weston said the chord progression in Tourism Australia's jingle was about "80 per cent the same" as the Mickey Mouse theme song.
"The 'dada dada' is almost exact - same chords and very similar melody," Ms Weston said.
"The rest starts off each phrase with the same chord progressions as Mickey, but then moves to something else for the rest of the phrase.
"If it were a different beat, people wouldn't even pick it up, but it is that happy, marching feel that tunes people's ears in."
Ms Weston said the recent case surrounding Down Under was "a lot less obvious" than any Mickey Mouse/Tourism Australia mash-up.
She said chord progression matches were very common between songs, but other similarities meant Tourism Australia could potentially face a legal challenge should Disney wish to pursue it.
"There are thousands of songs written on the same chord progression," she said.
"What is interesting about this one, is that there are snippets of melody that are similar, and the tempo and rhythm is the same - just enough for you to have that 'tip of the tongue' feeling.
"If someone at Disney wanted to be pedantic, they would have a strong case."
A spokeswoman from Tourism Australia laughed off the similarities and said "we didn't write the song".
She said she had also heard the jingle compared with other songs.
"I've heard [it compared to] Vegemite, Aeroplane Jelly, Discovery Channel, all the usual things," the spokeswoman said.
"The very nature of jingles is that you listen to it and it sticks in your head, and that's why [the creators] are in advertising."
The spokeswoman was unable to say whether copyright checks had been completed.
The ad was directed by Michael Gracey, behind YouTube's most-watched commercial, the Evian Roller Babies.
The music is by the producer, Josh Abrahams.
Comment has been sought from Disney.
Full Story with video showing similarities
__________________
Note to the producers....DISNEY ARE THE DEFINITION OF PEDANTIC!!!
They defend their trademarks and copyrights to the nth degree
You don't need Mickey Mouse ears to hear the similarities.
Tourism Australia's latest ad jingle is close enough to Disney's Mickey Mouse Club theme tune that it could struggle to defend a legal challenge, a music expert says.
In the wake of the Federal Court's ruling in February that Men At Work pay for ripping off parts of their pub classic Down Under from Kookaburra Sits In The Old Gum Tree, Queensland Conservatorium of Music popular music program convenor Donna Weston said the chord progression in Tourism Australia's jingle was about "80 per cent the same" as the Mickey Mouse theme song.
"The 'dada dada' is almost exact - same chords and very similar melody," Ms Weston said.
"The rest starts off each phrase with the same chord progressions as Mickey, but then moves to something else for the rest of the phrase.
"If it were a different beat, people wouldn't even pick it up, but it is that happy, marching feel that tunes people's ears in."
Ms Weston said the recent case surrounding Down Under was "a lot less obvious" than any Mickey Mouse/Tourism Australia mash-up.
She said chord progression matches were very common between songs, but other similarities meant Tourism Australia could potentially face a legal challenge should Disney wish to pursue it.
"There are thousands of songs written on the same chord progression," she said.
"What is interesting about this one, is that there are snippets of melody that are similar, and the tempo and rhythm is the same - just enough for you to have that 'tip of the tongue' feeling.
"If someone at Disney wanted to be pedantic, they would have a strong case."
A spokeswoman from Tourism Australia laughed off the similarities and said "we didn't write the song".
She said she had also heard the jingle compared with other songs.
"I've heard [it compared to] Vegemite, Aeroplane Jelly, Discovery Channel, all the usual things," the spokeswoman said.
"The very nature of jingles is that you listen to it and it sticks in your head, and that's why [the creators] are in advertising."
The spokeswoman was unable to say whether copyright checks had been completed.
The ad was directed by Michael Gracey, behind YouTube's most-watched commercial, the Evian Roller Babies.
The music is by the producer, Josh Abrahams.
Comment has been sought from Disney.
Full Story with video showing similarities
__________________
Note to the producers....DISNEY ARE THE DEFINITION OF PEDANTIC!!!
They defend their trademarks and copyrights to the nth degree
I don't hear the mickey mouse march at all...
