Charting Disney Jazz Music with Author Matthew Hodge (”Cool Cats and a Hot Mouse: A History of Jazz and Disney”)

From the Silly Symphonies and Alice in Wonderland to Hercules and The Princess and the Frog, jazz can be found within a plethora of Disney projects. The history of this style of music follows, in many ways, the course of Disney’s own development, often meeting at peculiar intersections. On this episode of Notably Disney, host Brett Nachman speaks with author Matthew Hodge, an associate professor at William Peace University. Matt recently published Cool Cats and a Hot Mouse: A History of Jazz and Disney. It’s an expertly-written piece of text that uncovers the artists responsible for jazz’s emergence and popularity, and how this form of music would ultimately inform a slew of Disney projects. Matt discusses the book's development and framing, fun stories found within, lessons learned, and his connection to both music and Disney.

Learn more about Matt by visiting his website. And be sure to purchase a copy of Cool Cats and a Hot Mouse: A History of Jazz and Disney by visiting Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

Feel free to reach out to Brett via Twitter @bnachmanreports, subscribe to the podcast, and send your feedback at notablydisney@gmail.com

New episodes of the podcast debut on the first and third Tuesday of every month.