As we grow older, we take different things from all of the movies we watched as kids. But an obvious thing that remains with us from when we're kids until we die is the music. Music is an absolutely vital part to the formula of a majority of Disney Films and has been a part of the company since it's inception. Over time, the songs of changed, but the quality is still a huge cut above the rest.
I never thought I would have to do a countdown like this, but I feel I have to now, especially since the Disney Musical seems to be back in action thanks to the success Aladdin has had on Broadway and the smash release of Frozen. Songs are an integral part of most Disney movies and are some of the best songs we've ever seen.
Please note that not every single Disney Song has been nominated (mostly because there are at least over 300 songs from all forms of media). So I decided to put in as many of the songs as I possibly can. A preliminary list of over 200 songs has been trimmed down to a spry 150. This is a list of opinion gathered over a series of weeks of enlisting opinions of dozens of people, all whom have different tastes in music. Heck, my Dad even helped with this. But here we are:
120. "Sally's Song", The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
The Nightmare Before Christmas belongs in the categories alongside such big time animated musicals as Aladdin, The Lion King, Frozen, and Beauty and the Beast. Danny Elfman did a brilliant job writing the songs for this film. This one in particular is an underrated gem. It's very rare that the leading lady's "I Want" song is as depressing as hers. Sally pretty much accepts that Jack's obsessions with Christmas will forever trump any potential romance she could have with him. Not only is it really refreshing to not here this huge ballad for Sally, it also fits brilliantly in the film as one of the later songs in the film. It's not too over the top and it doesn't detract from the plot in any sense. It's a great song, even if it's pretty damn depressing in it's lyrics. Kudos, once again, to one of the best animated films of all time. 119. "Topsy Turvy", The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
That is the way to make a Top 10 list. Two songs with little to nothing in common at all and completely different in tone. Topsy Turvy is just another one of those really out of tone songs from The Hunchback of Notre Dame, yet it seems to gel well with the rest of the movie. Quasimodo's first exposure to the outside world it not exactly one that is too sane. It's the Festival of Fools in Paris, where dogs walk people, dross is gold and weeds are a bouquet. This song also has the bit of importance that it keeps the plot moving forward quite well, as Quasimodo is exposed to the world below the Bell Tower, he, Frollo, and Phoebus are exposed to Esmeralda the first time, and he's ultimately crowned the King of Fools. Wild and zany, this song is good enough to not warrant my displeasure, something this film is very poor at BTW...
118. "Wherever You Are", Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search For Christopher Robin (1997)
How could Disney make me bawl my eyes out with this song when I was a kid? This song is unnecessarily sad for a film that was also such. This is pretty much the song where Winnie the Pooh practically gives up on ever reuniting with the missing Christopher Robin. I'm almost in tears listening to this song once again while I'm writing this list. Then, of course, this film and I have a very complicated history. As I had finished watching this film a few minutes before my grandmother lost her battle with cancer. I cannot watch this film without tearing up at this point. Why did it have to be Winnie the Pooh? Why, Disney? Why? I FREAKING LOVE WINNIE THE POOH! 117. "Pink Elephants on Parade", Dumbo (1941)
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the mindfuck of your lives. The sweetest most adorable movie Disney could have ever made suddenly transforms into a drug ridden hallucination with giant bubbles transforming into...um...PINK ELEPHANTS! I just need to ask this: Who the F*ck thought this was a good idea? This does not seem like a Walt Disney approved idea. Then again, I don't really want to know what went on in that guy's mind, not after watching "Der Furhers Face". I will never be able to get Donald screaming "Heil Hitler!" a hundred times out of my memory, almost as I'll never be able to get this walking drug hallucination out of my mind. Well, I guess we know Dumbo can only take one trunk full of alcohol...
116. "I'm Wishing/ One Song", Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Outside of "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf" this is the very first major Disney Song ever to reach audiences ear drums back in the day. While Adriana Caselotti's voice isn't exactly on par with someone like Jodi Benson, Paige O' Hara, or Idina Menzel, it does fit the operatic musicals popular at the time. If these two songs had failed to captivate audiences, we'd be looking at a very different world today. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs really normalized the movie musical, along with The Wizard of Oz and Pinocchio. Snow White sings about finding her true love and her true love finds her. There isn't too much to be descriptive about, although the fact that this does help promote the story (the Queen oversees the Prince's love song). This was a lot more important a song than people think, but it's just not the best...115. "Endless Night", The Lion King (1997)
114. "Someday", The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
While I do like Phil Collins rendition of "You'll Be in My Heart" and tolerate Michael Bolton's rendition of "Go the Distance", this was the very last of those soft pop songs that ended a Disney film that I really adore. From 1991-1996, every Disney film's end credits played a soft pop version of a previously heard song ("Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" for example) or in the case of Pocahontas or The Hunchback of Notre Dame, they used replaced songs that had no room in the original film. This anthem sung by All 4 One is one of the best songs to end a film I've ever heard. It fits the film so well, that the upcoming Broadway show is likely to add this song into the plot of the show somehow. This film is already stuffed with great music, and this is no exception to the rule. Kudos to Disney, once again...113. "Son of Man", Tarzan (1999)
I have a love-hate relationship with the music in Tarzan. Some days, I love to listen to rock tempo given to the songs of this new world I'm being introduced to, and on other days I can't stand listening to Phil Collins voice. It really does depend on the day. But "Son of Man" is one of those songs from the film that I cannot ever get mad at. It's the song I listen to first on my iPod when I work out at the gym. It's the main, most recognizable song from the film and it's upbeat tempo and introduction to Tarzan's rapidly rising reputation in the jungle. This song is great in both it's construction and conception. Phil Collins did not strike out with this film, and that warrants a pass.
112. "Zero to Hero", Hercules (1997)
There are instances where the songs in Hercules drive me nuts! The randomness of these songs agitate me so. Yet I could pick three songs in this film more than worth the time in listening to. Just like how "Son of Man" gave us a montage of Tarzan's rise to prominence, "Zero to Hero" gives us an upbeat musical montage of the numerous monsters Hades sent out to wipe out our hero and all of the ways he achieved victory. It gives us a lot of in jokes and pop cultural references (People were getting a little tired of them at this point), yet it keeps to it's Disney roots and makes the song at the very least memorable. And I can't judge Disney for that...111. "The Headless Horseman", The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad is without a doubt the best of the Package Projects (it's kind of hard to review six films in a row that are either good or mediocre, nothing spectacular in any of them), and it shows in the Sleepy Hollow segment. As a desperate and jealous Brom Bones sees an opportunity to scare Ichabod Crane off the land owned by his love Katrina, he takes full advantage of Ichabod's superstitious beliefs and gives us a musical story of the ghost of their small village in New York. It's not only a catchy song, but Bing Crosby is magnificent in this song. This segment gives us no reason to sympathize with either Ichabod or Brom, but we have to concede this last bout between brain and brawn to the burly bully of Sleepy Hollow. His musical number is a lot more interesting than Ichabod's intro song.
Y'know, about that Endless Night bit, although the film doesn't have a song similar to it that can showcase Simba's inner pains, what I find interesting is how there's a reoccurring motif that Endless Night(and its original Rhythm of the Pride Lands rendition, Lala) is based on in the film's score. You can hear it in a number of times in scenes with both young and old Nala, as well as with Timon and Pumbaa. It isn't used much, but it seems to represent familial relations. Even more interesting, additional chanting in the score used for the scene where Simba and Rafiki are conversing with one another are also implemented into the song.
ReplyDeleteIt's really fascinating how its foundation lies within the film, but within the musical score and not a vocal song.