"When Can I See You Again?" is a song by American
electronica
Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...
project
Owl City
Owl City is an American electronic music project created in 2007 in Owatonna, Minnesota. It is one of several projects by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Adam Young (American musician), Adam Young, who created the project while exp ...
from the 2012
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that produces animated feature films and short films for the Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a s ...
film ''
Wreck-It Ralph
''Wreck-It Ralph'' is a 2012 American animated comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. It was directed by Rich Moore and produced by Clark Spencer, from a screenplay by Phil Johnston (filmmaker), Phil Johnston and Jennifer Lee ( ...
''. It was written and produced by Adam Young, with additional writing from
Matt Thiessen
Matthew Arnold Thiessen (born August 12, 1980) is a Canadian-born American musician known for being co-founder, lead singer, guitarist, pianist, and primary songwriter for the rock band Relient K. With Relient K, he has released eight full-lengt ...
and
Brian Lee. The song was made available for streaming on October 6, 2012 via
AOL Music
AOL (formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City, and a brand marketed by Yahoo! Inc.
The service traces its history to an online ...
.
Background
Following the success of his 2012 hit, "
Good Time", with
Carly Rae Jepsen
Carly Rae Jepsen (born November 21, 1985) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. After studying musical theatre for most of her school life and while in university, Jepsen garnered mainstream attention after placing third on the fifth season of ...
,
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
reached out to
Adam Young to contribute a song to ''
Wreck-It Ralph
''Wreck-It Ralph'' is a 2012 American animated comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. It was directed by Rich Moore and produced by Clark Spencer, from a screenplay by Phil Johnston (filmmaker), Phil Johnston and Jennifer Lee ( ...
''. Tom MacDougall stated that he chose Owl City because his music, "felt very much in sync with videogames."
Composition and lyrics
"When Can I See You Again?" is an uptempo
dance-pop
Dance-pop is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit ra ...
and
synth-pop
Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...
single.
It features Young's "light vocals over a bed of pounding drums and twinkly synths".
Young told
AOL Music
AOL (formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City, and a brand marketed by Yahoo! Inc.
The service traces its history to an online ...
, "As a huge fan of Disney animation films growing up, it was a real honor to write 'When Can I See You Again' for ''
Wreck-It Ralph
''Wreck-It Ralph'' is a 2012 American animated comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. It was directed by Rich Moore and produced by Clark Spencer, from a screenplay by Phil Johnston (filmmaker), Phil Johnston and Jennifer Lee ( ...
''. I felt like it was really challenging to try to live up to the Disney legacy. I had a blast." Since October 1, 2014, a Cantonese-language arrangement has been used as one of the two theme songs for
Hong Kong Disneyland
Hong Kong Disneyland () (abbreviated HKDL; also known as HK Disneyland or Disneyland Hong Kong) is a theme park located on reclaimed land in Penny's Bay, Lantau Island, Hong Kong. It opened to visitors on Monday, September 12, 2005, at 13:00 H ...
's
Paint the Night Parade, alongside "
Baroque Hoedown".
An expanded version of the parade premiered at
Disneyland
Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It was the first theme park opened by the Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney, ...
in Anaheim, California, on May 22, 2015, and features new lyrics and vocals recorded by Young.
Music video
The music video for "When Can I See You Again?" was released on October 26, 2012, and directed by Matt Stawski. It features "fun video game themes" and clips from ''Wreck-It Ralph''. Young told AOL Music, "The funniest thing has been actually standing in front of the arcade game with controls, putting the quarter in. It's great to be back and feel like I'm 12 years old again in the arcade."
Awards and nominations
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
References
{{Owl City
Songs about parting
2012 songs
Dance-pop songs
Disney songs
Owl City songs
Songs written for animated films
Songs written by Adam Young
Songs written by Brian Lee (songwriter)
Songs written by Matt Thiessen
Synth-pop songs
Film theme songs
Walt Disney Records singles
Wreck-It Ralph (franchise)