Top Disney Songs of ALL TIME (130-121)

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:

130: "With a Smile and a Song", Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

My sister would always run out of the room after that insanely dark run through the forest Snow White goes through, or would try to turn off our videotape of this film.  Every time, I would have to show her this song.  As Snow White did, my sister would know that even though things can be scary and dark, a smile and a song can overcome our fears.  This song was one of the few songs that would put me to sleep as a baby and was certainly a key song in showing us how rangy in tone this film was.  We could have a psychotic flight through a scary forest, a silly cleaning song with forest animals, back to an intense transformation scene.  The music is what carries Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs throughout the ages and is the foundation on which the entire musical future of animated films owes it's legacy to.  And we're just touching the tip of the iceberg for Snow White's songs.  

129: "The Phony King of England", Robin Hood (1973)

As bad as the first 20 years after Walt's death were, the films released in that era actually had decent songs in their pipeline.  This song is no exception.  As the townsfolk of Nottingham celebrate Robin's heroic escape from Prince John's archery tournament trap, they also have some fun at the expense of their so called monarch.  While this song is also infamous for it's reusing of animation throughout the duration, it still is a fairly jaunty tune that makes up for the film's overall lack of quality.  And while the song ultimately ends up blowing up in the face of the folks of Nottingham, it's still an above weak Disney Song that is revered by children and brings back a few decent memories from our childhoods.

128: "Candle on the Water", Pete's Dragon (1977)

Honest to God truth, this was the song that my parents danced to at their wedding.  This song was so strong that it kept them from getting divorced once, but it ultimately couldn't save the marriage in the long haul.  So, unlike other Disney Movies, we hold little to no affinity to Pete's Dragon in our household.  Truth be told, I don't remember much about this movie, but I do know Helen Reddy is singing for someone she loves.  And this song was actually one of the few songs I would fall asleep to when I was a baby.  So the link in our family to this film and this song is strong enough to have existed once.  Maybe if I do a look back on this list (which is something I apparently like to do), I'll love this song a bit more.  But until then, the song was just thrust out of the Top 100 by a few better songs.

127: "Little April Showers", Bambi (1942)

This is one of those songs that is so simple yet so evocative that one would think that this would have definitely found itself on the Top 100.  Who knew that it was possible to create a song about a rain storm?  I know I couldn't write a song about rain without it being too depressing.  As our titular character is exposed to the rain for the first time in his life, we are able to listen to the choirs Disney assembled and sing a less than understandable line of lyrics.  While we can't understand much outside of "Little April Showers" we are also able to see how all of the animals of the forest cope with the harshness of Mother Nature and her storms.  It not only captures how baby fawns actually act in the rain, but actually how little kids act when they are first exposed to the rain.  Impressive song and one of the few that I was able to play on the piano, but not strong enough to upend some other songs on the countdown...

126: "The Ugly Bug Ball", Summer Magic (1963)

Whether we'd like to admit it or not, we're all exposed to Burl Ives fairly early in our lives.  Be it through Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, any of his holiday songs, or this rare Disney gem.  While the rest of the film isn't much to the eyes, this song is one of the few good things in it.  You can avoid this film and just go out and but the "Bare Necessities" Sing Along Songs VHS, and it actually is a good thing if you do.  The tune is insanely catchy and it's almost impossible to get out of your head if you listen to it.  I actually listened to it when I was at work today.  It's one of those many mediocre Disney movies that has a few decent songs.  The film is avoidable, but the song is good enough for your pleasure.

125: "Trust in Me", The Jungle Book (1967)

The Jungle Book is filled with an assortment of good songs.  While two in particular push this film's music over the top, this sinister tune with Kaa is one of those above average villain songs that we get in Disney Movies (yet oddly enough no recent film 2011-2015).  Kaa takes full advantage of his hypnotically trapped meal, singing a truly despicable tune about how the young man-cub should trust him, even though were it not for the ironic arrival of Shere Khan, the boy would have been well on his way into the snake's digestive systems.  This song is a perfect sendoff to Kaa, as after this song and the following scene, the snake is never seen again in the film.

124. "Mine Mine Mine", Pocahontas (1995)


One of the few things Pocahontas had to prove was that Alan Menken could survive in the world without his partner Howard Ashman, who many believed to be the brains of the operation.  His work with Tim Rice on Aladdin and with Stephen Schwartz here is good enough to warrant praise.  And while Mel Gibson most certainly isn't the best singer on the planet, he does seem to be giving the songs in this film an honest effort.  As Rarcliffe rallies his settlers to begin digging for gold, he promises them an endless amount, one that would dwarf the gold found in El Dorado.  Although they find literally no gold, their ambitions in the song are shown in full force.  You can't argue with ambition if it's sung well enough.

123. "All in a Golden Afternoon", Alice in Wonderland (1951)


This song was not put in necessarily for the lyrics, but mostly for the instrumental score behind it.  While Alice is trying to catch up to the fleeting White Rabbit, she encounters a bed of snooty flowers and the insects that populate the garden.  As with most of the scenes in this film, the characters get their one scene, act obnoxiously or rudely to Alice and are almost never seen again.  In this case, the flowers overly praise themselves and their beauty in a pleasant yet hard to comprehend lyrically musical number.  Even Alice gets to sing a line or two.  But the tune is just impossible to get out of your head.  They played this song on the bus ride from our hotel to the Magic Kingdom at 7 AM and it didn't get out of my head until I rode Splash Mountain 4 hours later.  Damn is this song catchy...

122.  "Someone's Waiting For You", The Rescuers (1977)


As much as I don't like this movie, I do recognize good songs when I hear them.  The music in The Rescuers is, in the long run, just as surprisingly mediocre as the whole movie.  But I was exposed to this song before I saw the movie (in the Disney Sing Along for "Under the Sea"), so I will likely hold this song in fairly higher esteem than I do the movie it originated from.  While not nearly strong enough to win the Oscar in 1977, this song is still worthy of being a Disney Song.  One of two songs from this film sung by an omnipotent singer, this is easily the best, even though it stalls the movie like mad when it plays.  Then again, do I really mind, when it's the only thing memorable from that film?

121. "He's a Tramp", Lady and the Tramp (1955)

Let's be fair, people.  The only thing people remember about Peggy Lee these days is how she tried to sue Disney for money when Lady and the Tramp first came to home video in 1987.  I think she tried to oversell herself.  To take part in a Disney Animated Film is to immortalize yourself.  People will always want to learn more about the people who don't f*** with Disney.  As Peggy sings a dog pretty much written for her, she tells Lady in the dog pound just what she's in store for now that she'd fallen in love with the Tramp.  It's catchy and one of the more memorable parts of that film, but boy does it piss me off when people try to mooch money for doing absolutely nothing.  That's like saying Harrison Ford should sue George Lucas for not consulting him when he sold his rights to Star Wars.  Not good business, but a good song nonetheless.