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Phil Collins surprised by film success

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 2 (UPI) -- After 30 years of working as a "drummer that sings a bit," Phil Collins is as surprised as anyone to find himself writing musicals for Disney.

"If you had asked me 10 years ago would I be doing that, I would have said: 'No, no, no, no. Not for me,'" laughed the 52-year-old father of four.

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Collins told reporters in Los Angeles recently that he was shocked and flattered when Disney approached him to write music for the animated adventures "Tarzan" and "Brother Bear."

"All those films that I (saw) with my children and saw with my mom and dad, suddenly you're being part of that club," Collins explained. "Will I write a song as memorable as 'Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work we go' ? Will I do that? Surely not."

The former Genesis front man won an Oscar for his work on the 1999 film "Tarzan" and has completed "seven or eight" new songs for Disney's Broadway musical about the scantily clad tree-swinger, due to hit the Great White Way in 2005. When not working on the show, Collins has been busy promoting "Brother Bear," for which he wrote several songs and helped compose the score with Mark Mancina.

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"The fact that I'm asked to do all these interesting things, it's the best reason to get up," said the singer/songwriter. "I get up and go to work every day and do what I do because I've never done it before."

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