Disney has released a music video from the Arcade Fire version of Disney’s iconic lullaby “Baby Mine.” The song has special meaning for members of Arcade Fire and this version plays over the film’s end credits. There’s a touching ukulele version of the song in the movie that’s played when Baby Dumbo reaches out to snuggle with his mom, Mrs. Jumbo, who is locked up after a circus accident.
According to Mitchell Leib, from Walt Disney Studios music & soundtracks, they wanted to create a version of the song that was as artistic and interesting as the film itself. “Not an easy ambition to accomplish,” said Leib. “Arcade Fire is an artist I’d pursued over the years — but this time I had Tim Burton! I pitched the idea to Tim and his producer Derek Frey, and it turned out Arcade Fire is one of Tim’s all-time favorite artists. The rest is history.”
The heartfelt and memorable song was nominated for an Oscar. Bringing back these iconic moments into the new film was important says producer Derek Frey.
Arcade Fire’s Win Butler has a very personal connection with the animated film. “There is a scene with a locomotive in the original ‘Dumbo’ that uses an instrument called the Sonovox that my grandpa Alvino Rey made famous in the 1930s,” said Butler. “Every time I saw the film I thought it was him. When we were asked to do the [end credit version of ‘Baby Mine’], I immediately got all my grandfather’s old guitars and wanted to play them in the song. My mom plays the harp on the track, my brother the theremin, my wife [ Regine Chassagne] sings and plays drums, and our son even plays the triangle, as well as the rest of our ‘family’ in Arcade Fire. I will forever relate to the song thinking about how the people I hold so dear that are ‘so precious to me.'”
Butler says you should listen for the cameo of his grandpa Alvino’s famous Sonovox at the end of the song.