So a while ago I did my top ten Disney movies of all time, but honestly, I think many of their best songs came from movies I wouldn't call their best. So, because I can, I figure I would take some time and look over the best songs of Disney's animated features. Some did come from some of my favorite of their films, but many of them did not. Only thing is I only picked one song per movie. No need for a long pre-amble here, let's just get to it.
10) Bear Necessities (Jungle Book)
Sometimes you don't need any real deep meaning or huge hitting emotional number, you just need something chilled out and relaxed. As a movie, I could never really get into The Jungle Book, but this is just a classic song. Simple, laid back, and at the same time full of energy. That chorus is also a hell of an earworm.
9) Friends on The Other Side (The Princess and the Frog)
I'll get into why it's not higher a bit later, but Friends on the Otherside is the greatest thing about Princess and the Frog. From a purely visual standpoint, the musical number is amazing, and just as a song it sells the villain of this show as a wonderful shyster. It's helped along wonderfully by the building volume and threat of the music. It works wonders to see it go slowly from a street con man to a full-on voodoo doctor. I wish the rest of the movie and soundtrack were up to par with this, could have been an amazing film.
8) The Worlds Greatest Criminal Mind (The Great Mouse Detective)
The first thing that makes this musical number so fantastic is just how wonderfully fun it is. There is no Disney Villain I feel loves being dastardly more than Rattigan, and the absolute joy of this song helps to sell it. I feel like this is the most slept-on Disney movie, and while this is the only musical number from it, it holds up as one of the best.
The other thing I love is that in the context of the story, Rattigan is forcing his minions to sing and dance. It's not some random musical number for the sake of having one, it's a megalomaniac forcing people to joyously sing his praises.
7) I won't Say I'm In Love (Hercules)
I think people sleep on how much The Gospels make everything in Hercules better. The song itself perfectly encapsulates Meg's struggles, it's a very sweet song, and the Gospels do their best to make it sound huge. Not to take anything away from Megura's singer, but those Gospels are what make the emotions hit in this song, and any other track from this film.
6) Eye to Eye (A Goofy Movie)
This song is good entirely on its own merits. It does vaguely relate to the story, but honestly, I don't think it's that relevant to what's going on, and the movie wasn't very good. Eye to Eye is just a damn good pop song, and the lead singer is doing his absolute best Michael Jackson impression to make this song hit home. It seriously has a lot of energy, it's fun to sing along with, and completely devoid of context it's a great song.
5) Why Should I Worry (Oliver and Company)
Billy Joel is one of my all-time favorite artists. Considering his ability to sell you on his love of an area, see New York State of Mind, it's no surprise when Billy is tasked to perform a song about a street-wise rapscallion he nails it. Getting a singer this talented was the best thing this song did.
It also really encompasses the vibe of the entire movie. The ability to enjoy yourself despite your circumstances. With the right state of mind, anything can be enjoyable. Home is where the heart is, in a sense. The song is just fun, energized, and chilled out all at the same time.
4) Not in Nottingham (Robin Hood)
This movie is the one that grew on me most from my younger years till now, and I am surprised by how much I love this song. This song is just... sad. When I talked about the movie I mentioned the point of it, that I missed when younger, which was surviving the dark times. That is what this song represents in this movie, the dark times. The singer just sounds worn down, there is a lack of energy in the song, it just feels heavy.
It's very short and doesn't need to be longer. It so perfectly encapsulates what it wants in a very short period. It was really hard not to place this one higher.
3) Poor Unfortunate Souls (Little Mermaid)
The reason Friends on the Other side sits low on this list is that there is no getting around that as good as it is, it's no Poor Unfortunate Souls. I don't like this movie, I think it's bad, but Ursala is just wonderful as a villain. The opening with how she presents herself as saintly and then begins to break down Ariel more and more as the song goes on is wonderful.
Otherwise, I'd just be repeating a lot of what I said about Friends on the Other Side. This is all that, and better.
2) Reflection (Mulan)
As one of my favorite movies, I love the character's main song is so wonderful. It contains so many emotions compared to a lot of other songs on this list. There is a clear love of her family shown in the early lyrics, and how her desire to honor them is in direct conflict with who she is as a person. There is almost a sense that if she ever did be honest about herself and who she is, she would betray those she cares most for.
Furthermore, she isn't even entirely sure who she is, all she knows for sure right now is that's not what her family wants her to be. And the song is sung beautifully on top of it, with real sweat and a simple musical arrangement. Just a fantastic song.
1.) Hellfire (Hunchback of Notredamn)
There have probably been some surprise entries on this list, but this is not one of them. I don't like the movie this comes from, but there is no denying this is the greatest song Disney has ever produced, and I don't think it's even all that close.
It's not that Frollo himself is the evilest Disney Villain, it's that he is the most realistically evil. Everything in this song just enforces that. He has a very powerful faith, one that he truly does believe. Mixed with his arrogance, he can't seem to wrap his head around the idea that he could ever fall to sin. This makes for a very volatile mix as he's willing to go to extreme lengths to hold onto his purity, or at the very least deflect blame away from himself.
His inability to come to terms with this makes him violent and dangerous, and that is ever-present in the song. The jumping between fear, anger, and lust is unnerving in the best way possible. He legitimately feels like a terrifying person from just this song alone.
This list was just something I had ready for when my work cycle slowed down, but it was fun to write all the same. Work has slowed back down though, so after this, I'm hoping to get back to my regular posting schedule.