Sheet music:Lavender Blue (Dilly Dilly) from Walt Disney's So Dear to My Heart

Beginning with the early musical short features he created, such as "Silly Symphonies," Walt Disney began a tradition of publishing printed music for all the songs his musical films made popular. His firm eventually formed its own publishing house and then even its own record company to continue this practice. Disney's sheet music was typically simple to learn and play, which made it more appealing to his generally young audiences.

In 1948 Disney produced "So Dear to my Heart," another film which involved a mix of animation and live-action, one of several such films he made in this period. The film featured child star Bobby Driscoll as well as folk singer and actor Burl Ives. Ives scored a hit with his recording of "Lavender Blue," which he also sang in the film.