BEST DISNEY SONGS! Wrap-up part one

Over the past 20 months, I’ve seen a lot of movies, and heard a lot of music in those movies, so to start off these supplemental posts, it seems only fitting to honor that music. So here’s the first of my seven top 13 lists, celebrating my favorite Disney songs. The next two lists will cover the worst songs, and then a special one for the top 13 villain songs, because let’s be honest, the villains always get the best songs, and it wouldn’t be fair to put them on this list. Why top 13? Because narrowing it down to 10 was too hard and 13 is ¼ of 52. But before we look at the top quartile, a word on my process.

Miss me?

The first thing I did was look through every Disney movie soundtrack on Wikipedia to make sure I wasn’t forgetting anything, and writing down every song that I thought might qualify for the list. I wasn’t very discriminating this time around, just pretty much every song that I particularly liked. This left me with about 80 songs. Then, to maintain fairness, I narrowed it down to one song per movie. This was much more difficult, and based on the quality of the music and lyrics, the song’s catchiness and enjoyableness, and the function of the song to the movie’s plot or tone. Then, using the same criteria, I whittled the list down further until I had my top 13. Random trivia: Three movies, The Great Mouse Detective, Beauty and the Beast, and Winnie-the-Pooh, had their entire soundtracks nominated, but none of them got on the Best Songs List proper. Funny, that.

Anyway, without further ado, here it is, the top 13 Disney songs! Click the titles for a link to a YouTube video!

Little Wooden-Head

Music by Leigh Harline, Lyrics by Ned Washington

Performed by Christian Rub as Gepetto

Little Wooden-Head go play your part

Bring a little joy to every heart

Little do you know and yet it’s true

That I’m mighty proud of you

This one, while very short (the snippet I posted there includes over half of the lyrics), represents something major for Disney. Snow White had a few good tunes, but it was all very presentational, very “HERE IS A SONG NOW OKAY”. But Pinocchio opened up with this utterly charming number that set the tone of the story, established the character of Gepetto, and gave us some funny visuals to boot. (Okay, technically Pinocchio opened with “When You Wish Upon a Star”, but I hate that freaking song.)

We’re Three Caballeros

Music by Manuel Esperon, Lyrics by Ray Gilbert

Performed by Clarence Nash, Jose Oliveira, and Joaquin Garay as Donald, Jose, and Panchito

We sing and we samba!

We shout “Ay Caramba!”

What means “Ay Caramba?”

Oh yes - I don’t know.

I can’t get this song out of my head. Seriously, even after more than a year since I’ve seen the movie, I find myself humming it constantly. I’m not surprised the movie was so successful in its goal of enhancing public opinion of the US in Latin America, as the title song is just about what good friends America, Mexico, and Brazil are. Also, contains the phrase “Three happy chappies, with snappy serapes”.

The Work Song

Music and Lyrics by Mack David, Jerry Livingston, and Al Hoffman

Performed by Jimmy MacDonald, Helen Siebert, and June Sullivan as the Mice. Probably some other people, too. They weren’t great at crediting actors back then. Maybe June Foray?

She go around in circles

‘Til she very very dizzy

Still they holler “Keep a-busy, Cinderelly!”

This song is composed of two segments, the first involves the mice singing a song about how poorly Cinderella is treated, and the second is a reprise of Cinderella’s odious song “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes” that is a billion times better than the original, partially because of the mice’s squeaky voices, but mostly for reasons I’ll get into on the Worst Song list.

Bella Notte

Music and Lyrics by Peggy Lee and Sonny Burke

Performed by George Givot as Tony

Oh THIIIIIIIIIIS is the NIIIIIIIIIGHT

It’s a BYOOOOOOTIFUL NIIIIIIIIIGHT

And we CALLLLLL it BELLLLLLLLLA NOTTEEEEE

This song is representative of a kind of song that was quite common in Disney’s heyday, where the first verse is sung by a character, and then an unseen chorus takes over, often just repeating the initial verse.  “Once Upon a Dream” from Sleeping Beauty is the ur-example, and it was used most recently with “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” I have to say, I normally hate these, as the chorus parts are irksome and unneeded. And while that’s still true here, I just love those two goofy Italian stereotypes that get us started. They’re so into it! So dang catchy! And at least you get a little Thurl Ravenscroft in the studio chorus.

I Wanna Be Like You

Music and Lyrics by the Sherman Brothers

Performed by Louis Prima as King Louie with Phil Harris as Baloo

[intense scatting]

As I mentioned in the review, the Jungle Book was the first Disney to fully come together as a musical, with songs, plot, and character fully meshing with one another to create a fully-formed experience. While the soundtrack has a lot of strong contenders, and “The Bare Necessities” allllllmost made it, this one’s got Phil Harris and Louis Prima scatting at each other. And you can’t beat that.

Why Should I Worry?

Written by Dan Hartman and Charlie Midnight

Performed by Billy Joel as Dodger

The rhythm of the city

Once you get it down

You can own this town

You can wear the crown!

First of all, “Charlie Midnight”? How awesome is that? Second of all, this song, as performed by the always likeable William Joel, is unquestionably the highlight of this movie. If I were awarding these movies stars, this song would be a half star on its own. It’s fun, it’s catchy, and it’s so Noo Yawk in da ‘80s it hurts. And that’s why I love it, even if it does contain the word “bebopulation”.

Kiss The Girl

Music by Alan Menken, Lyrics by Howard Ashman

Performed by Samuel Wright as Sebastian

Sha la la la la la

My oh my

Look like the boy too shy

Ain’t gonna kiss the girl

Sha la la la la la

Ain’t it sad?

Ain’t it a shame? Too bad

He gonna miss the girl.

It’s no secret that The Little Mermaid is the movie where the Disney Musical really coalesced, and this song’s smooth blend of romance, comedy, and energy make it the standout among standouts, clicking with the story in a way the love songs usually don’t.

Friend Like Me

Music by Alan Menken, Lyrics by Howard Ashman

Performed by Robin Williams as The Genie

Yes sir, we pride ourselves on service

You’re the boss, the king, the shah!

Say what you wish

It’s yours, true dish

How ‘bout a little more baklava?

While I may have joked about Robin Williams and Disney’s legal conflict in the Aladdin article, Williams really was perfect for this role. He clicked perfectly into a role that almost any other actor would have made obscenely irritating (consider that a plug for my upcoming Quest for Camelot review), and this song couples his performance with Ashman’s finest lyrics for a top-notch musical number.

The Bells of Notre Dame

Music by Alan Menken, Lyrics by Steven Schwartz

Performed by Paul Kandel as Clopin, with David Ogden Stiers and Tony Jay as The Archbishop and Frollo

From the big bells as loud as the thunder

To the little bells soft as a psalm

And some say the soul of

The city’s the toll of

The bells of Notre Dame

Songs that move the plot along don’t always get a lot of love on ‘best song’ lists, because the plot mechanics, dialogue breaks, and occasionally awkward shifts can make for rough listening on the ol’ soundtrack album. For that reason, I had “Topsy Turvy” in this spot for some time. But the excellent lyrics, powerful music, and looming presence over the rest of the movie won this song its spot. The cathedral is as important as any character, and this song keeps it in our mind, even with rushed exposition and overuse of Jim Cummings.

Zero to Hero

Music by Alan Menken, Lyrics by David Zippel

Performed by LaChanze, Lilias White, Roz Ryan, Cheryl Freeman, and Vanéese Y. Thomas as the Muses

From appearance fees and royalties

Our Herc had cash to burn

Now nouveau-riche and famous

He could tell you what’s a Grecian earn

Speaking of songs moving the plot along, there is an easier way for them to do that - MONTAGE! And boy, if there was ever a movie made for montages, this is it. And this one, accompanying Herc’s rise to glory. And not only does a montage allow the rapid movement of plot, it also allows the densest possible concentration of sight gags, puns, and clever rhymes, with some of the best animation Disney's ever done. So it’s a win-win. Win. 

I’ll Make a Man Out of You

Music by Matthew Wilder, Lyrics by David Zippel

Performed by Donny Osmond as Li Shang

LET’S get down to BUIS-NESS

To de-FEAT

The HUNS

HUH!

I’m willing to make the statement that this is the most popular song in any Disney film, because about 80% of the time when I mention Mulan to someone, they start singing this right away. And well they should. This is possibly the greatest training montage song of all time, and Donny Osmond is a surprisingly capable vocal double for BD Wong.

Strangers Like Me

Music, Lyrics, and Performance by Phil Collins

I can see there's so much to learn

It's all so close and yet so far

I see myself as people see me

I just know there's something bigger out there

I loved the unique conceit of the Tarzan soundtrack, with one guy not only writing all the music, but performing it as well. This song, performed in the authorial voice of Tarzan as he starts learning about all the human world can offer him, is a real delight. It captures the wonder and excitement of gaining knowledge and the vine-swinging scene with him and Jane is very sweet.

I’ve Got a Dream

Music by Who Else But Alan Menken, Lyrics by Glenn Slater

Performed by Brad Garrett, Jeffrey Tambor, Zachary Levi, and Mandy Moore as Hood-handed Thug, Ugly Thug, Flynn Rider, and Rapunzel.

I've got scars and lumps and bruises

Plus something here that oozes

And let's not even mention my complexion

But despite my extra toes

And my goiter, and my nose

I really want to make a love connection

While “These tough fellows are secretly creative and sensitive” is a fairly obvious place to go, this song gets that plot point out with such boisterous good fun that it seems new and fresh. The performances are full of character, and very well-sung, considering that with the exception of Moore, you wouldn’t peg any of these folks for a singer. Most of all, with all the dreams these Disney characters have, it's nice to hear some that are clearly laid out.

BONUS

The Backson Song

Music and Lyrics by Robert Lopez and Kristin Anderson-Lopez

Performed by Craig Ferguson as Owl, with Tom Kenny, Jim Cummings, Travis Oates, Kristin Anderson-Lopez, Bud Luckey, and Wyatt Hall as Rabbit, Pooh and Tigger, Piglet, Kanga, Eeyore, and Roo.

They made me catch the cold I caught.

They made me lose my train of thought

They swipe your stripes

They clog your pipes

They dig up your garden

They don’t beg your pardon

I wasn’t sure whether to put this as a villain song or a regular song, since the villain they’re singing about exists only in their imaginations, so here it is as a special Judge’s Award. Whatever. I'm allowed. The rhymes are clever, the actors are PERFECT, and the unique animation style is just plain delightful.

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2011 - Winnie-the-Pooh

For the final entry in the Walt Disney Animation Studios chapter in this blog, we turn to Winnie-the-Pooh. Wait, Brian, you are surely saying, didn’t you already do Winnie-the-Pooh? And, you go on to state, it couldn’t have come out recently, because surely I’d remember it. Yes, you brazenly conclude, you have clearly lost your marbles, and forgotten what movie you are doing.

First of all, shut up, jerk. I don’t know why I imagined you to be so mean. Possibly because I had to engage in some activity to purge my mind of negativity and anger, because this beautiful, wonderful movie will not allow it to exist. Yes, there is a second Winnie-the-Pooh movie, and it did come out in 2011. Why don’t you remember it? Well, for some reason, Disney did everything in their power to sabotage it. They released it in the UK four months before the US, and dumped it stateside with pretty much no advertising in the middle of the summer, rather than the cozy late-fall/early-winter release a movie like this needed. It was, in fact, released the SAME FREAKING DAY as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 2, and just a week before Captain America. It was released to near-universal critical acclaim, but got lost in a sea of blockbusters and made a pathetic 3 million dollars over budget. Which is a real stone cold shame, because I’m about to make a bold statement after 52 movies: This is my favorite one. Feeling the towering expectations? So am I. So choose your favorite food from the last 51 reviews, and let’s talk about Winnie-the-Pooh.

I can’t even tell you how much I love this movie. From the writing to the animation to the voices to the music, every single thing in this film hits exactly right. I have watched this movie more times this year than any other. Any time I finished a disappointing film, Winnie-the-Pooh was my palate cleanser. Part of this is due to its length - coming in just shy of an hour, it beats out Dumbo as the shortest movie in the canon. And even that’s not a problem, as the movie doesn’t feel short. It’s exactly the length it needs to be. It’s a very dialogue-heavy movie, which I have to imagine contributes to that. There’s barely a moment where either the characters or the narrator aren’t speaking, which gives the movie a wonderfully full feeling. It’s as densely-written as an episode of Gilmore Girls. And the moments when they do use quiet work all the better because of this. The writing is all very sharp, and nearly every joke lands. In fact, in lieu of my usual jokes, the photo captions here are just going to be movie quotes. And it is such a quotable movie. Look at this exchange, when everyone but Piglet is stuck in a pit: 

Rabbit: Tie the bits of rope together, Piglet! Can you tie a knot?
Piglet: I cannot.
Rabbit: Ah, so you CAN knot.
Piglet: No. I cannot knot.
Rabbit: Not knot?
Pooh: Who's there?
Rabbit: Pooh!
Pooh: Pooh who?
Rabbit: No! Pooh... eh... Piglet, you'll need more than two knots.
Piglet: Not possible.
Owl: Ah, so it IS possible to knot those pieces.
Piglet: Not these pieces!
Pooh: Yes. Knot those pieces!
Piglet: Why not?
Eeyore: 'Cause it's all for naught.

"You can't possibly think that's long enough to get us out of here!" "Well, Owl read it to me once, and it was the longest thing I've ever heard."

That’s funny stuff, and sold perfectly by the actors. Obviously, Disney had been making Winnie-the-Pooh material for years in the time between the former movie and this one, including several TV series, and I was surprised initially to learn that they had largely recast the characters. I can’t argue the results, though. Jim Cummings was one of the two actors kept from the TV material, and he plays Pooh and Tigger better than he ever has before. I sometimes joke about how easy to pick out his voice is in these movies, but the guy knows the difference between bit parts and fast TV work and two lead roles in a movie, and he BRINGS IT. His Pooh is a bit more easygoing and less thoughtful than Holloway’s, and his Tigger’s more of a scrapper than Winchell’s, but there’s nothing wrong with a character growing alongside the actor. The other returning cast member is Travis Oates as Piglet, who was hired to play the part after the fairly recent death of John Fiedler. He’s got a somewhat more youthful voice, but that’s only to be expected, and works very well with Cummings.

Of the new voices, there’s three that could be considered “celebrities”. Well, one by general standards and two by my personal standards. The big star is Craig Ferguson as Owl. Ferguson plays up Owl’s scatterbrained nature, and runs a good deal more manic than Hal Smith did, which fits the rapid pace of the movie. Rabbit is played by voice acting superstar Tom Kenny, with the tones of a younger, more intellectual Ice King. Junius Matthews, you’ll recall, was one of the parts of the older film that didn’t really work for me, and Kenny is fantastic as always. Musician and voice actor Bud Luckey plays Eeyore, which is just too perfect. For those who can’t place the name, Luckey’s come to Disney through his many roles for Pixar, including Chuckles the Clown in Toy Story 3, which I know you’ve all seen. See? He’s PERFECT. Kanga, always a rather thankless part, is voiced by the film’s lyricist Kristin Anderson-Lopez, and she does a fine job. The child actors for Christopher Robin and Roo are also very good, and hey, C.R. finally has a British accent! And speaking of British accents, the narration duties are taken over this time by John Cleese. I don’t need to tell you what a great job he does, because he’s John freaking Cleese.

"Is there honey in this paragraph?" "Sorry, Pooh, I don't think so." "Then I don't find it very useful."

There is one other voice, which surprised me, and that’s Zooey Deschanel, who provides all the vocals for the interstitial music. I was initially expecting a modern version of the old Disney chorus, but having Deschanel provide the voice worked perfectly. Just as the running theme of Phil Collins’ voice gave a great spirit to Tarzan, so does Deschanel’s folksy singsong perfectly create the mood for this movie. The songs themselves, by Avenue Q co-creator Robert Lopez and his aforementioned wife, are uniformly excellent, blending old-school Sherman Bros. style with modern sensibilities.

The animation is also great. Due to Disney’s recent decision to focus on CG animation for the time being, this is the last we’ll see of Toon Boom for a while, and it does well. Obviously, in a movie like this, the focus is on the characters, and many of my favorite character animators got a chance to shine. Eric Goldberg lent his skill to Rabbit, a smaller and more restricted character for him than usual, but one he did excellently. Bruce Smith continued being an overachiever by animating Kanga, Roo, and Piglet. And Andreas Deja lent the fluidity of motion the so characterized his  classic villains to the more boisterous movement of Tigger, making him the MVA once again. Deja also did a sketchy sort of shading on Tigger’s stripes, which called to mind the character’s origins in the xerography age. A lot of the animators tried to emulate the “shaggy edges” of xerography at certain points, but with the slick and smooth Toon Boom animation, it just doesn’t work as well, and thankfully, they don’t try too much.

"It's a good thing I noticed it. Otherwise I wouldn't have seen it."

What a wonderful final movie to end our “year” with. And what a ridiculous shame it made such lousy money. Sure, it’s a small, character-driven comedy and not a big actiony blockbuster, so I wouldn’t expect it to break any records, but it’s Winnie-the-Pooh. The brand recognition on that name alone should have been enough to push it above 100 million with just the merest whiff of competent marketing. Instead, it made a feeble 33 million. Yeah, this movie had a 30 million dollar budget. That is tiny for any film, and if this had been a hit, we might have seen more small, affordable, and really good 2D animated features from the studio in the future. But it looks like big, action-packed CGI is the trend of the studio, and while Wreck-it Ralph was certainly enjoyable, it did leave me a bit leery of the next few years. Frozen looks like a mess at the moment, and Big Hero Six is such an easy property to mess up. And I’ll certainly come back to review those when the time comes. For now, though, the review portion of Volume 1 of the blog is over.

We’ve still got a little more of My “Year” With Walt Disney Animation Studios to go, though. The next couple of weeks will bring some supplementary entries handing out some awards to the top songs, villain songs (which has to be its own category, because come on,), and the best movies, as well as de-wards (or whatever) to the worst songs and worst movies. I will also be presenting a list of the hottest gentlemen of Disney, based off popular vote, and the hottest ladies, based off my own personal opinions. Then it’s on to Volume 2, which I have titled: “My Probably More Than A Year Without Walt Disney Animation Studios“. It’s gonna be good.

"All right, Pooh. I guess you've thought this through." "Indeed I have."

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS

* As previously, we get a live-action opening in Christopher Robin’s room, which looks a lot more lived in now. The set decorators deserve a special Oscar for perfectly showing the room of a boy with a wide range of interests and a bubbling creativity. Over the end credits, we see still shots of the movie scenes as Christopher Robin was imagining them, enacted by the stuffed animals with makeshift props.

* There is one more voice in the movie I didn’t mention, and that’s national treasure Huell Howser in a post-credits scene I don’t want to ruin. Just definitely stay to the end, and don’t read the cast list when it pops up, or it’ll spoil it.

* Not that you really need prompting to stay through the end credits. Even after the live-action stills are done, the credit scroll is filled with all sorts of funny little animated vignettes involving the characters.

"The Backson is horrible! Ferocious! And worst of all - terribly busy!"

*  In addition to being an excuse to get the plot started, Eeyore’s tail forms a great running gag, as it is replaced with an unraveling scarf, a spring (for Tigger training), the Pooh-coo clock, an umbrella, and an anchor.

* It is also replaced at one point by a balloon, which the other chiropractors consistently refer to as if it were alive.

* Okay, my computer barely autocorrects anything, but somehow I seem to have put a typo in “characters” that resulted in “chiropractors”. But you know what? Since they’re fixing Eeyore’s tail, I’ll leave it in. It fits.

"Found an anchor over there / Now it's on my derriere. / Not that anyone would care."

* One of the musical numbers is animated in a different style, a trick I always like. In this case, it’s chalk drawings as done by Owl on the small blackboard serving as Eeyore’s tail at the time.

* The gag of characters interacting with the text on the page is done even more this time around, and I love it.

"Everything is honey / There's a honey Pooh / he's just made of homey, so I guess I'll eat him, too."

"Isn't this super-duper fun, two Tiggers here together? / I used to be the only one, but two is twice as better!"

"As Pooh watched the honey honey away, his honey honey honey honey..."

"So Piglet dug and dug and dug. And Pooh supervised."

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