Where the Dream Takes You

Unlike most of Disney's animated films released to that point, Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) forgoes the use of songs and musical numbers to aid its storytelling. After having directed two Disney musicals consecutively, Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale agreed that Atlantis: The Lost Empire, their third animated film for Disney, would not be a musical or feature power ballads. thus Disney's marketing department insisted that Atlantis: The Lost Empire feature at least one song during its closing credits as a compromise. co-wrote "Where the Dream Takes You" with composer James Newton Howard.Music journalist Chuck Taylor theorized that Disney recruited singer Mya because of the film studio's relationship with the artist's record label, A&M/Interscope Records. At that time, Mya had recently released a cover of "Lady Marmalade" with singers Pink, Lil' Kim, and Christina Aguilera for the Moulin Rouge! soundtrack earlier that year, the lattermost of whom had made her musical debut recording "Reflection" for Disney's Mulan (1998). Rob Burch of The Hollywood News believes "Where the Dream Takes You" was initially intended to benefit Mya's career similar to how "Reflection" had launched Aguilera's. Atlantis: The Los Empire was Mya's second soundtrack contribution during the year 2001. While doing press for "Where The Dream Takes You", Mya announced she was preparing to record her then-upcoming third studio album, Moodring (2003). "Where the Dream Takes You" was written by songwriter Diane Warren and the film's composer, James Newton Howard. While Howard composed the song's melody, Warren contributed to its music while writing its lyrics herself. Howard explained that Warren wrote lyrics to a musical theme he had composed for the film, in addition to making some melodic contributions of her own. Therefore, while both Warren and Howard are credited as composers, only Warren obtained a lyricist credit. "Where the Dream Takes You" was recorded at Royaltone Studios in North Hollywood, California. The track was produced by Ron Fair, Sol Survivor, and Robbie Buchanan, mixed by Dave Pensado, and engineered by Michael C. Ross. Both Fair and Buchanan played keyboards on the track, John Gux played guitar, and Alex Dunbar played bass guitar. == Release ==

Distinguished from most film soundtracks, Atlantis: The Lost Empire features "Where the Dream Takes You" as its first track instead of its last. A&M/Interscope Records, Mya's record company at the time, and Walt Disney Records released "Where the Dream Takes You" as the only promotional single from the Atlantis: The Lost Empire soundtrack. It was sent to Top 40 and adult contemporary radio stations on June 5, 2001 to support the film ten days ahead of its June 15 theatrical release date. "Where the Dream Takes You" appears as the first track on the soundtrack before it is succeeded by Howard's orchestral score, which accounts for the remainder of the album. Puerto Rican singer Chayanne covered the song in Spanish, entitled "Donde Va Tu Sueño", to promote the film's Latin American and Castilian releases. Recorded in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Chayanne co-wrote his rendition's Spanish lyrics with Renato Lopez, Walterio Pesqueira and Manny Benito. The two-disc Taiwanese release of the soundtrack includes three additional versions of "Where the Dream Takes You" performed in three different languages by three different artists: Jolin Tsai in Mandarin, Joey Yong in Cantonese, and Kangta in Korean. == Composition ==

"Where the Dream Takes You" is a "tender" pop power ballad, with "average pop fare". and its diverse cast of supporting characters, all of whom long to follow various dreams of their own as they search for Atlantis. James Barry of Soundtrack.Net describe it as an "obligatory follow your dreams tune". Lasting a duration of four minutes, AllMusic cites the song's mood as both "earnest" and "mellow"; Its production has been described as "polished". ==Reception==

Hits magazine recognized the track as one of their "Hot New Releases" in their June 2001 issue, with contributor Billy Bored writing about Interscope's intensions to secure "big airplay". Ultimately, "Where the Dream Takes You" was both a commercial and critical disappointment despite Disney's efforts; James Barry of Soundtrack.Net wrote, "If I had to pick something to dislike, it'd be the song 'Where the Dream Takes You'" because "it suffers from sounding like so much other disposable end-credits music". Telenet's Thomas Glorieux opined that the track "fails to even stir up the attention because I find it a very ordinary song". Critics were also unimpressed with Mya's performance. In a similar listicle, Josh Spiegel of /Film called it bland and ranked it 324th. Veronica Superguide ranked "Where the Dream Takes You" among the 14 worst Disney songs, with the editors calling it generic and trivial as its film. Where the Dream Takes You" was nominated for Best Original Song Written Directly for a Film at the World Soundtrack Awards in 2001. ==Live performances==

To promote "Where the Dream Takes You," Mya performed the song at several media outlets. On the film's release day, June 15, 2001, Mya performed the song at Live with Regis & Kelly. Next, Mya performed the song at the event gala, ''An American Celebration at Ford's Theatre''. Hosted by ABC journalist Sam Donaldson, the show originally tapped June 10, 2001 and featured a line-up of entertainers which included country singer Billy Gilman, country group SHeDAISY, comedian Jeff Foxworthy and opera singer Russell Watson. It aired August 21, 2001. ==References==