For its latest animated series, “Disney Jr.’s Ariel,” inspired by “The Little Mermaid” story, animated and live-action films, producers enlisted Anthony M. “Tone” Jones, a 2000 graduate of Shaler Area High School, to help create one-to-two songs per episode.
“Disney’s Jr.’s Ariel” (9 a.m. Thursday, Disney Junior; eight episodes available Friday on Disney+) follows young princess Ariel (voice of Mykal-Michelle Harris) on her underwater adventures with family and friends, including King Triton (Taye Diggs), Flounder (Gracen Newton) and a before-she-was-bad Ursula (Amber Riley), interweaving stories with Caribbean-inspired music, food, fashion, culture and folklore.
Jones, a veteran composer, lyricist and producer, collaborated with Sofia Quinn and Olivia Waithe, who Jones said is from the Caribbean.
“When this came up, I had to pick two additional songwriters to work with and it was great that Olivia, having lived in Barbados, she knows that genre inside and out,” Jones, 42, said. “On this I do all the music, the instruments and producing and the girls do the heavy lifting on the writing.”
Jones played saxophone in high school, studied computer science and web design at the University of Pittsburgh and later the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. Around the time he got his bachelor’s degree in multimedia web design from the Art Institute, Jones sent a demo of his music to a producer in Los Angeles and then moved to L.A. where one of his first jobs was on tour with Disney Channel’s “Cheetah Girls.”
“That was my first introduction to Disney,” he said. “Doing this show is a full-circle moment.”
After his first six years in the music industry, Jones quit to get an MBA and sell medical devices.
“Somewhere in there my father died of a heart attack at 57 — he was young,” Jones said, noting it inspired him to think about how “life is short, do what you love. Then I decided to get back into music.”
His nickname, Tone, came about because his father, also named Anthony, was known as Tony.
Jones is a Grammy-nominated rhythmic producer, songwriter and multiple instrumentalist who’s worked on Justin Bieber’s “Holy,” Ariana Grande’s “Boyfriend” and “My Hair” and Juice Wrld’s “Make Believe.”
Prior to “Ariel,” Jones wrote a song for an ESPN documentary about the WNBA and a song for “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series,” which brought him back into the Disney fold. His team composed the song that plays over the end credits of each “Ariel” episode, “Making Waves,” and contributed songs to multiple episodes of the series’ first season.
Jones said when he got the “Ariel” job he first thought of his younger sister, who he describes as “a Disney fanatic.” And Jones has 5-and-6-year-old nieces in Western Pennsylvania who are heavily into Disney.
“It’s going to be fun to watch them watch the show,” he said. “I’m kind of the coolest uncle ever right now.”
‘The Bear’
FX-produced Hulu series “The Bear” launched its third season at 9 p.m. Wednesday , dropping all 10 episodes of the new season that sees Carmy “The Bear” Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) escape the walk-in freezer he was trapped in at the end of season two just as his new restaurant, The Bear, opened for business.
The season premiere is an indulgent, dreamy flashback of all the traumas, stressors and perfectionism that brought Carmy to where he is now. But it’s mostly scenes — or situations similar to — what viewers saw in past seasons. It’s almost a clip show that does little to advance the plot or characters. It’s skippable. Episode two picks up and advances the story.
“Carmy does what he does, he buries himself back into his work,” White said during a Zoom press conference for “The Bear” Monday. “He really tries to challenge himself and in doing so he challenges everybody around him.”
That includes Sydney (Ayo Edebiri), Carmy’s friend and second-in-command. Carmy offers Syd a partnership agreement in episode two.
“Carmy is somebody she looks up to, has looked up to,” Edebiri said, “but now is in the thick of doing business with and it’s a lot more chaotic than she might have idealized before they really started working together.”
White acknowledged Carmy is not the best crew leader but will make grand gestures in an effort to communicate.
“That’s his way of reaching out but oftentimes I feel like people aren’t prepared to receive that,” White said. “He’s got a lot going on in his mind and people aren’t always aware of what’s going on [in his mind] so you’ll see how that affects Carmen and Syd’s relationship. Carmen’s trying to welcome her in a bit was the point of the partnership agreement.”
MeTV Toons launches
MeTV Toons launched this week on over-the-air Channel 61.1, low-power station WOSC-CD. The network carries cartoons featuring Woody Woodpecker, Popeye, Mr. Magoo, Tom Jerry, Casper, Fred Flintstone, Scooby Doo, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, George Jetson, Yogi Bear, Johnny Quest and others.
MeTV Toons does not yet have national carriage on Comcast, Verizon, DirecTV or DISH Network but is available via subscription streaming services Frndly TV and Philo.
Kept/canceled
Apple TV+ renewed “The Reluctant Traveler with Eugene Levy” for a third season.
The upcoming third season of “Power Book IV: Ghost” will be its last.
Channel surfing
Paramount Network’s “Yellowstone” will return for its final batch of episodes at 8 p.m. Nov. 10 but series star Kevin Costner will not film scenes for these final episodes. … The 10-episode final season of “SEAL Team” debuts with two episodes Aug. 11 and then drops one episode weekly on Sundays. … Ad-free Paramount+ With Showtime will increase $1 to $13 per month while Paramount+ Essential (with ads) will increase $2 to $8 per month effective Aug. 20 for new subscribers. Existing Paramount+ Essential subscribers will continue to pay $6 per month while the price increase for Paramount+ With Showtime will go into effect Sept. 20 for existing subscribers. … Jonathan Jackson reprises his role as Lucky Spencer on ABC’s “General Hospital” this summer. … “All American” star Daniel Ezra, who plays lead character Spencer James, won’t return as a series regular for the show’s seventh season but he will make guest appearances.
You can reach TV writer Rob Owen at rowen@triblive.com or 412-380-8559. Follow @RobOwenTV on Threads, X, Bluesky and Facebook. Ask TV questions by email or phone. Please include your first name and location.
