Elmira Siblings give voice to singing K-9s
Hansons may get big movie break
By SAMANTHA BATES
![Heidi 4 Paws Cast](images/H4P-Cast.jpg)
ELMIRA – The Hanson Family Singers are yodeling their way to Hollywood.
The family may be featured in a new film that takes the classic children’s novel “Heidi,” and gives it a twist.
“Heidi 4 Paws,” recreates the story using a cast of all dogs.
“I took my two obsessions, one with dogs, the other with Heidi, and put them together,” said Holly Goldberg-Sloan, director of the film.
Since childhood, she said, she’s enjoyed the story of Heidi. “It was one of my favorite books. It was the first piece of children’s literature told from the point of view of a child character.”
Goldberg-Sloan, who also wrote Disney’s “Angels in the Outfield” and directed “The Big Green,” grew up in the Willamette Valley and graduated from South Eugene High School in 1976.
To keep in touch with her Eugene roots, she often reads the online version of The Register-Guard several times a week. It was there that she discovered the Hanson Family Singers and their yodeling talents.
“I noticed this really cute picture of a kid in a cowboy hat,” she said, referring to the newspaper’s Web site, which included an audio link. After she heard 12-year-old Daniel Hanson yodel, she contacted the family.
“It’s just a serendipitous thing,” she said. “I never would have found them if I didn’t have such strong feelings for Oregon.”
Daniel, the youngest of seven children in the Hanson family, won the international yodeling championship last November in Albuquerque, N.M.
“They contacted us to see if they could use some of our yodels,” said Wayne Hanson, the patriarch of the family singing group.
To give Goldberg-Sloan a real taste of what the Hanson Family Singers had to offer, he had Daniel and his sister, Theresa, 14, sing a two-part harmonized yodel.
“They loved it,” Hanson said. “They said that’s exactly what they were looking for.”
The Hansons have traditionally done western yodeling, but they were willing to modify their style to fit the Swiss style of Heidi.
“We’ve done some Swiss yodeling before,” Daniel said.
The family went to a local studio and recorded 15 yodels, even though Goldberg-Sloan only asked for two.
Daniel, Theresa and Lisa, 16, sang three-part harmonizing yodels. Daniel and Theresa recorded singular yodels. And even their father joined in for an echoing yodel to be used in the background.
The Hansons are veterans of the recording studio. “In the studio we’ve learned that we have to relax,” said Wayne Hanson. “We take charge of the situation to produce our best, and that’s what we always want is our best.”
Hanson videotaped the recording process for special featured for the film.
After the family sent the recording to Goldberg-Sloan, the studio had to match the mouths of the dogs with the yodeling sounds by using computer animated mouths.
Goldberg-Sloan said the animation process is similar to the process used in classical animation. They shoot the dogs in live action and high definition, record the voices, then animate the mouths of the dogs to match the video and audio recordings.
After working on “Heidi 4 Paws” for over two years, Goldberg-Sloan said she is two months away from finishing the movie.
She plans to pitch the film to studios like MGM, Paramount and Disney. She is unsure, however, if it will be produced for television or theatre release before going to DVD.
She hopes it will be the first in a series of eight movies adapted for man’s best friend. Robin Hood is next on her list.
But future movies depend on the success of “Heidi 4 Paws.”
“I’ve been working on the movie for two years,” said Goldberg-Sloan.
“It’s bigger than anything we’ve done before,” Lisa said of the local family’s singing efforts.
“It’s a new dimension for us,” Hanson said. “I think that people are going to love it.”
“The singing is truly one of my favorite parts of the movie,” Goldberg-Sloan said. “His singing is one of the sweetest parts of the movie.”
West Lane News Veneta, OR Sept.
12, 2002
Yodelers win fair prize written by Christena Hansen
- edited by Wayne Hanson
EUGENE
-- Captured in the warm light of the setting sun, the performers
walked to stage center. He's wearing a tuxedo. She's wearing a
black dress with red roses stitched to the skirt. The music begins
with the whine of a dobro. She lifts the microphone to her lips,
and begins to sing. After the first verse, he joins in perfect
harmony.
Meet the Hansons -- Theresa, 10, and Daniel, 8, -- part of a talented
Elmira family, winners of the Lane County Fair's talent show and
finalists in the Oregon State Fair's talent competition. Last
month, they won high honors when their young voices danced through
"The Man in the Moon is a Yodeler," a western style
yodeling tune tranformed from a solo into duet by their father.
The Lane County Fair Show was Theresa's and Daniel's first competition,
so they weren't sure how their listeners would rate their performance.
They needn't have worried. The answer came, first, in audience
applause and, second, in high marks from the judges, high enough
to sweep the show's 15 -and-under catagory.
"We screamed a little bit," Daniel says, nodding shyly.
"Oh, Daniel was grinning and grinning," says his 17-year-old
sister, Christa.
After their local showing, the yodelers were off to the State
Fair. Twenty-three performers, each representing his or her county,
strutted their stuff before an audience of 1,200 in Salem. Theresa
and Daniel performed twice, earning a spot as finalists before
the night was over.
"I knew they had the potentiel to do well," says their
father. "They worked really hard, and I was very pleased
with their performances.
Music has always been a family affair in the Hanson household.
For years, parents Wayne and Leslie have been singing together
with their seven children. They've grown used to being compared
to the von Trapp family, the musical Austrians featured in the
movie The Sound of Music.
The Hanson children are Tanya, 27, Gina, 24, Michael, 21, Christa,
17, Lisa, 13, Theresa, 10 and Daniel, 8. Together they can perform
all four parts -- soprano, alto, tenor and bass. The three oldest
no longer live at home, but they still sing with the family during
visits and on special occasions. Tanya, who plans to be married
this month, lives in Portland. Gina, who is married and a mother,
lives in Wisconsin. Michael lives in Eugene and works as a computer
programmer.
"From the time that our children were little kids, I'd sing
to them as I tucked them into bed," Wayne says in a soft
tone that belies his powerful bass singing voice. "they all
learned to harmonize at a young age."
"We'd sing in choir, and the kids would listen," Leslie
adds. "They got all this harmony education by osmosis."
More than 30 years ago, music was the icebreaker that brought
Wayne and Leslie together. Committed Roman Catholics, they met
each other at the Newman Center on the University of Oregon campus.
After standing next to Wayne and listening to him sing, Leslie
couldn't help but comment.
"My first words to Wayne were, ' Do you sing in a barbershop
quartet?" she says.
He didn't, but not long after that, Wayne and Leslie were singing
"The Wedding Prayer" at their own wedding. They kept
singing as they started to have children. In 1983, Wayne helped
form One in Spirit, a men's gospel quartet that included both
Catholic and Protestant singers. Over seven years, they sang at
various churches and made several recordings.
Eighteen years ago, the Hansons began performing as a family.
Tanya and Gina were in elementary school; Michael was a preschooler.
Along with teaching their children to sing, Wayne and Leslie became
their children's academic instructors by joining the fledgling
home school movement.
Instead of sending their children to youth activities, the elder
Hansons made a point of including children in many adult church
activities. They were the youngest members of the church choir,
an example that Theresa and Daniel are following by singing in
the St. Mary Catholic Church choir.
On the side, the family recorded a CD, sang carols at the Campbell
House, a bed-and-breakfast in Eugene, and was hired to stroll
and sing at the Fifth Street Market.
In their hours of home school instruction, the younger Hansons
have learned to do much more than sing. They all play piano, and
many have developed proficiency on other instruments. The family's
country home is filled with more than a dozen instruments, ranging
from guitars to an accordion.
The Hansons added yodeling to their repertoire several years ago
when they heard it live for the first time at a festival in Wisconsin.
Immediately, the children were fascinated. Thirteen-year-old Lisa
was the first to try the difficult singing style. It requires
a huge amount of control, as singers purposefully "break"
their voices and skip through intervals at high speed.
"It's really hard to keep your voice from sticking,"
Lisa says.
"Normally, it's what you don't want to happen when you sing,"
Wayne adds.
Yodeling was a new challenge, something that the kids wanted to
master. The family was given a tape, "How to yodel country
style," by Shirley Field, International yodeling champion,
and Rudy Robins. This was how they began learning tunes to mix
in with their regular play list.
The thought of competition hadn't crossed Wayne's mind until he
was shopping at Bi-Mart and noticed entry forms for the first
annual talent show at the Lane County Fair. He decided to enter
the whole family. Together they sang "Back to God America,"
and "This is my Song." Christa, Lisa and Theresa sang
several barbershop arrangements, and Lisa sang a yodeling piece
that was technically the most difficult song.
In the end, "The Man in the Moon is a Yodeler" won the
judge's hearts and landed Theresa and Daniel a shared $300 cash
prize. The pair's sibblings were quick to congratulate the winners
and accompany them to state.
"I think our whole family was more nervous than they were,
"Christa says.
Songs of the Season
Carolers sound old-fashioned note
~Hanson Family: With demand for their traditional fare soaring,
members have yet to take a breather this holiday season.
By Jack Moran
The Register-Guard -- Dec. 23, 2002
Wayne
Hanson and his family have been so busy spreading holiday cheer
this month that they still haven't found time to pick out a Christmas
tree for their own Elmira home.
Instead of spending most of December decking their own halls,
The Hanson Family
Singers have used the holiday season to perform Christmas carols
at about 30 gigs at churches, parties and fund-raising events.
"We've been doing so much lately that we just haven't been
able to get a tree yet," said Leslie Hanson, the mother of
seven children who have sung alongside her at various venues for
about 15 years now.
The group's present lineup includes Mom, Dad, and five of their
children between the ages of 8 and 21. Two older daughters who
already have left the nest still chime in when they're in town.
"For us, singing is an opportunity to make others' Christmases
that much better," said Wayne Hanson, the family patriarch
and group leader. "It's our way of sharing the gifts that
God gave us."
On Sunday, the family shared those gifts with a full house of
guests who listened to carols while sipping midday tea and snacking
on goodies at the Campbell House Inn, a bed and breakfast in Eugene.
Later in the day they played at a pizzeria and at a hospital,
and they will head to Portland on Tuesday for a series of events
that will conclude with a formal church concert Jan. 5. The family
says they'll be back with plenty of Eugene performances again
next year.
Dressed in "Dickens-style" regalia reminiscent of the
apparel worn in the fictional days of Jacob Marley and Tiny Tim,
the group on Sunday offered up a capella versions of everything
from "Jingle Bells" to "Angels We Have Heard On
High."
"It's almost like they've been taken out of another time
and brought back here to sing," said Campbell House proprietor
Myra Plant. "They bring that traditional Christmas feeling
with them that everyone loves to hear."
Plant, who booked the singers for a total of eight daytime performances
this month, said customers are unfailingly enthusiastic about
The Hanson Family Singers.
The family hears simular compliments, but responds with humility.
"It just does our hearts good to know our music touches their
hearts," said Wayne Hanson, who ended Sunday's performance
by telling the applauding crowd, "Merry Christmas, everyone.
Enjoy your tea."
Although everyone in the family seems to know that little brother
Daniel, 8, is usually the house favorite, the group is much more
about sibling harmony that sibling rivalry.
"I really like the way our voices sound together when we're
singing," said daughter Christa, 17. "We call it relative
harmony, because all of our voices are pretty similar."
On their own, Christa and her two younger sisters, Lisa, 13, and
Theresa, 11, performed a stirring rendition of "White Christmas"
that hushed the crowd Sunday.
The trio has talked about forming their own group, which is just
fine with Dad.
"I'm encouraging them," said Wayne Hanson. "They
remind me of the Lennon Sisters."
Oldest brother Michael, 21, is a student at Lane Community College
and the only current member who lives away from the family home.
He said he was recruited into the singing group when he was about
7 years old. "As soon as they knew that I knew the songs,
they started making me sing with them," he said. "There's
always been music at our house."
While the family performs throughout the year, December is when
it matters most, Leslie Hanson said. "A lot of people tell
us how they see so few families doing this type of thing together,
and that's unfortunate," she said. "The idea of having
family together is the most important thing this time of year."
More important, even, than having a Christmas tree inside the
house on Dec. 23.