Deep Dive Disney: Wes's Top 20 Disney Songs (10-1)

Well folks, I hope you read our first article because I’m skipping the big introduction his time around. This is Wes’s Top 10 Favorite Disney songs, and we’re starting with a one that holds a special place in my heart.

10. Can You Feel the Love Tonight (The Lion King)

I think by this point I don’t really need to reiterate just how incredible the soundtrack to The Lion King is. Elton John and Tim Rice really pulled out all the stops for this film, and in my opinion, this song here is one of the best songs in the entire movie. Before we tackle it, I’d like to talk about the version from the credits sung by Elton John himself. Normally I’m not a fan of the pop song versions of popular Disney tracks that were all the rage in the nineties and are still around today, but Elton John is still Elton John and don’t think that requires any elaboration. But in any case, there’s still much to be said for the film version. It’s a very powerful love song between Simba and Nala. Would you believe that originally this was meant to be a duet between Timon and Pumbaa of all people? Don’t get me wrong, I love Timon and Pumbaa and even gave Hakuna Matata an honorable mention, but they made the right choice giving this to Simba and Nala. There’s something soothing about this song. Maybe it’s the bit about the world being in perfect harmony with all its living things. And yes, I’ll mention the fact that Nala gives the bedroom eyes and Simba and Nala probably conceived Kiara during this moment. Ya gotta love it. I’ll end with an anecdote about this song from my personal life. See, back in college, I just happened to be singing this song while minding my business, and a blind girl picked me out of the crowd and told me I was a great singer. One thing led to another, and we ended up dating for a while. We’re not together anymore, but it’s still a fun memory. However, I’d like to move on to yet another powerful Disney romance.

9. Beauty & The Beast (Beauty & The Beast)

It’s amazing. Two years ago if you’d mentioned this movie in my presence, I’d have dismissed it as crap. Now that I’ve sat down and given it an honest to god second chance, it’s become one of my all-time favorites. How fitting that this movie would be the one that would have to work to win me over and overcome a rather negative first impression. Now that I’ve come to see this movie for the masterpiece that it is (helped by the fact that it’s my girlfriend’s favorite movie), I can praise it accordingly. And one thing about the film that deserves the utmost praise is the soundtrack. I mean people, this is composer Howard Ashman’s magnum opus and songs like Be Our Guest and Gaston are among some of Disney’s greatest, but even so, they still pale in comparison to the movie’s signature number. I don’t think I need to tell you that the song is beautiful. The unforgettable singing voice of Angela Lansbury and the soothing melody see to that just fine, but there’s so much more to it than that. As I’ve said, Beauty & The Beast is a film about putting forth the effort to change and be better. Well, throughout the movie, Beast has been making progress little by little, and how far the former prince has come is perfectly captured in this scene. Remember, at the beginning of the film beast was a brute who behaved like an animal. Here, he stands erect, walks on two legs like a man, and makes the effort to mind his manners. You can tell that while dancing with Belle, he’s the happiest he’s ever been in his entire life. And it’s because of all this, he’s able to make the hardest decision he’s ever made in his life, to let Belle go… because he loves her. This song is incredible, iconic and beautiful and I love it. Before we move on, I wanted to say thank you to all of those who have supported me. It really means a lot. And of course, there’s only one way to respond when someone says Thank You.

8. You’re Welcome (Moana)

I make it no secret that I’m a huge fan of professional wrestling. Growing up, one of my favorites of all time was a fellow by the name of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Yes, long before he was the king of Hollywood, The Rock was the king of the wrestling ring, dazzling everyone with his incredible in-ring prowess as well as his unparalleled ability on the microphone. One thing I remember from the later end of his wrestling career was something he called “Rock Concerts” where he’d take out his guitar and sing a song that would openly mock the live crowd. It showed that in addition to his unlimited charisma and incredible athleticism, The Rock was not without musical talent. Nice to see him get to show it off. And what better way than in one of my all-time favorite Disney films and a song written by the one and only Lin-Manuel Miranda. Thematically, this song is a lot like a hybrid of Friend Like Me and Gaston. It’s introducing us to this powerful supernatural being and all the incredible things he’s capable of, but also serving to boost Maui’s already extremely inflated ego. Maui may come across as a self-absorbed jackass in this song, but you have to admit, it’s catchy. You really can’t help tapping your toes along to the chorus and you actually start to buy into Maui’s hype the longer it goes on. I especially like the rap breakdown in the middle. That is definitely Lin-Manuel Miranda playing to his strengths and Dwayne Johnson is more than up to the challenge of keeping up with Miranda’s fast paced rhymes. I remember back when karaoke bars were still open, I would often fight with other bar patrons to determine who got to sing this song, that’s how much I love it. It’s one of the best songs from a movie with an already stellar soundtrack. In any case, Moana is a movie about sailing on the ocean, but now… why don’t we see what’s going on beneath it.

7. Under the Sea (The Little Mermaid)

Remember how I used to hate Beauty & The Beast? Remember how after sitting down and giving it and honest to god second chance I learned to appreciate it for the masterpiece that it is and gained a whole new appreciation for it? Well, that did not happen with The Little Mermaid. If anything, I hate the movie even more now. Now look, I can understand why people like it and I can even acknowledge there is a lot of stuff in it that works, but sorry, this movie just isn’t for me. It wasn’t for me when I was two, and it’s certainly not for me now that I’m thirty-two. Literally the only thing in the entire movie that doesn’t bring out my cynical side is this song, Under the Sea. Poor, poor, Sebastian the Crab. He is but a humble court composer, and yet he keeps getting saddled with the unenviable task of babysitting a moronic air-headed teenager named Ariel. However, he still does as his king commands, and when Ariel goes off on her nonsense about wanting to go up to the service to be with a man she’s never met, Sebastian responds with an upbeat and energetic number about how great it is to live under the sea, and to the little crustacean’s credit, he makes a pretty convincing argument. Living in the human world, you have to work backbreaking jobs, pay pills and all manner of other unpleasant things. Under the sea, it's just a nonstop reggae party with friendly fish. Hell, Ariel can have the surface, I think I'm going to live under the sea myself. I have had this song stuck in my head since I was in daycare and even though I don’t care for the movie, this song has singlehandedly kept me from condemning it all together for the past thirty years. This is a beautiful song about living under the sea, but there’s so much more that lurks beneath the surface, as we’ll see in our next song.

6. Surface Pressure (Encanto)

If I haven’t said it yet, I’ll say it here and as many more times as it needs to be said, Encanto is the best Disney musical in years. All of the songs are absolutely incredible and they all fit into a powerful and relatable central theme. That brings me to what I consider to be my favorite song in Encanto, Surface Pressure. I love Louisa as a character, even if she doesn’t get as much screen time as Mirabel or Abuela. There’s just something about a big strong badass who’s actually a big neurotic softie on the inside that appeals to me. As we’ve discussed, the big theme of Encanto is the toxic nature of expectations and how it can negatively affect people in different ways. In the case of Louisa, her gift is superhuman strength. That strength, over time, became how she measured her own value. As time went by, a thought began needling at the back of her mind. If I’m not the strongest, then who am I? If I can’t live up to my family’s expectations, then am I good enough? The pressure to remain the strongest and the best ate away at Louisa to the point where once it looks like her strength might be disappearing, she collapses into a complete neurotic mess. This song demonstrates Louisa’s struggle perfectly through the lyrics of Lin Manuel Miranda and the powerful voice of Jessica Darrow. All of the rhymes in this song are brilliant, the chorus is amazing and the visuals are some of the best we’ve seen in a Disney Musical since Friend Like Me. All through it, we feel Louisa’s struggle to maintain her place within her family and her fear of not being enough through some powerful symbolism. We see Louisa walking on a tightrope, barely clinging to the side of a cliff and literally struggling to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders. Poor thing. What really drives the point home is when the world turns into the Madrigal home and it’s even heavier. This song is absolutely wonderful and one of the best illustrations of the film’s overall message. Plus, it’s a blast to dance to, but you know, I ain’t got time for dancing, that’s just going to have to wait a while…

5. Almost There (The Princess & The Frog)

The Princess and The Frog has become one of those movies that just gets better every time I watch it. One of the many things that I've always loved about this movie is how much it takes advantage of its New Orleans setting. The whole movie feels like a massive love letter to the Crescent City. And naturally, when we’re talking about New Orleans, we have to talk about the music. This film's entire soundtrack is loaded to the brim with that New Orleans jazz flavor. I’ve sung the praises of songs like Dig a Little Deeper and Friends on the Other Side in the past, but for my money, the best song belongs to Tiana. I speak of course of Tiana’s I Want song, Almost There. Tiana is a character defined by her dedication to hard work. Tiana’s work ethic is admirable to be sure, but it comes at the expense of any kind of a personal life, something she learns after she meets Naveen and spends a few days as a frog. However, it’s in this sequence where we truly get a sense of where Tiana’s head is at. Yeah, she works hard and sacrifices much, but she believes so much in her dream that it must be worth it. Here, we get a sense of what Tiana’s restaurant will look like once she’s done, and it’s beautiful. She’s so close despite a multitude of obstacles in her way, and now she can very nearly taste success. Almost there. I’ve said in the past, out of all the Disney Princesses, the best singing voice goes to Tiana, and by extension, her voice actress, Anika Noni Rose. I mean it, Anika Noni Rose’s voice is just otherworldly and carries this number through in a powerful way. She puts so much enthusiasm into her song that you can feel Tiana’s determination in every note. Tiana has always been a believer in hard work, but that’s nothing compared to what those in our next song go through. It’s the one you’ve all been waiting for. My friends, Let’s Get Down to Business.

4. I’ll Make a Man Out of You (Mulan)

Look, I love Mulan, but let’s be honest with ourselves, it barely meets the criteria for a Disney Musical. There are only four actual songs and only two of them are all that great. There’s Reflection which is indeed a beautiful number, and of course, there’s the topic of discussion here, I’ll Make a Man Out of You, the song that finds itself in the top five of a lot of people’s Top Disney Songs lists, including this one as it happens. And why not. The songs on this list are a lot of things, beautiful, relatable, haunting and so much more, but none of the other songs on this list can claim to be as badass as this one. Hard to believe that it’s sung by Donny Osmund of all people but hey, I guess even the whitest man on the planet can be a badass when the situation calls for it. Seriously, how many times has one of us heard the phrase "Let’s Get Down to Business," have we responded with an enthusiastic cry of “TO DEFEAT, THE HUNS”? The song just has that kind of impact on all who hear it and it sticks with you. I’ll even make a bold claim here, this might very well be the greatest training montage song of all time. Even better than the likes of You’re the Best Around from Karate Kid or Eye of the Tiger from Rocky III. Shortly after I covered Mulan, I started a Twitter thread entitled “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” goes with everything. And it’s true, this song syncs up perfectly with Rocky, Karate Kid, Hercules, Dragon Ball and so much more. I’m not much of a gym rat, but I know when I do exercise, I make a point to make sure this number is on my workout playlist. There’s just no other song out there that can pump me up quite like this one. It is one of the greatest Disney songs of all time and it could have topped the list, but we still have three more to go. Our next one pays homage to the great power ballads of the 80’s.

3. Lost in the Woods (Frozen II)

I bet you weren’t expecting this one to be so high on the list, but I don’t care, I love this song. I love everything about this song. I love this song so much that I ranked it higher than Let it Go, Into the Unknown and Show Yourself. What can I say, I relate to Kristoff. He’s a lovable dork who is dating a girl that he sees as way out of his league and constantly worries about his relationship. Perhaps, like me, Kristoff suffers from low self-esteem, and those emotions come to a head in this song. See, being in love is a wonderful thing, but it can also be a source of great stress. If you find the perfect woman, it almost doesn’t seem real to you. You worry every day that you’ll wake up from this beautiful dream and the one you love will realize they can do better. And when you’re with them, you’re constantly second guessing yourself, wondering if the slightest wrong move will scare your love away. It feels like you’re well… lost in the woods. I think that’s what Kristoff is going through here. He worries that one day, Anna will leave him behind, and he has a hard time navigating the complex series of emotions this causes him to experience. He knows he loves Anna, and he’s reasonably sure that Anna loves him, but he’s constantly second guessing himself and doesn’t know what to do. I can honestly say I relate. As many of you know, Kristoff is voiced by Jonathan Groff, recently known as Agent Smith from The Matrix Resurrections, but to me, he’ll always be King George from Hamilton. The point is, the dude is a hell of a singer and I love how this song evokes classic 80’s ballads of old. A very unique aesthetic for one of the most fun songs in the entire movie. Anywho, it’s now time for the top two, and wouldn’t you know it, each of these songs represents one of my two favorite Disney characters. So, why don’t we get started.

2. I Won’t Say I’m in Love (Hercules)

You all knew that I had to show love to my girl Megara on this list. To this day, she remains my favorite female character the Walt Disney company has ever produced. What makes her so interesting is how complex she is. Meg is a lot more cynical than the ballgown and glass slipper crowd, but we always got a sense that she wasn’t always like that. Once, she truly believed that she’d found her true love, her happily ever after, but then her boyfriend fell ill Meg she prayed to the gods to save his life. But the only god who would listen was the evil Hades. Meg had only one choice, sell her soul to save the life of the man she loved. And yet, after all that, the unthinkable happened. Meg’s love left her for another woman. She sold her soul for this man, and he just discarded her like she was nothing, taking away her happily ever after and giving it to another. As a result, Meg developed a thick skin and never allowed herself to feel vulnerable again, keeping a wall of cynicism and sarcasm up to keep anyone from getting too close. Happily ever after? That’s for suckers. You have to do whatever it takes protect the one person you can depend on, yourself. That all changed for Meg when she met Hercules, who was just so kind, genuine and innocent that Meg can hardly believe he’s for real. He’s clearly unlike anyone Meg has ever known. The closer she grows to Wonder Boy, the more she believes that he’s the real deal and the more that wall she keeps up starts to slowly crumble. However, Meg is still scared to let him fully into her heart because she knows what it’s like to have it broken and she’s terrified of letting that happen again. This song personifies Meg’s emotional conflict. Do I admit I love this man and put myself at risk, or do I continue to isolate myself. Will I say I’m in love, or not. This song is beautiful, which is what I’ve come to expect from Rose Quartz herself, the lovely Miss Susan Egan. Susan Egan is the shit, and anyone who says otherwise is wrong. You can feel Meg’s pain, but also her joy, all through the powerful voice of Susan Egan. And notice, after this song, Meg’s sarcastic attitude is virtually non-existent, showcasing that that wall has finally come down, all because she allowed herself to love again, even if she couldn’t say it out loud. But now, the time has come. Number one. There are a lot of songs in the Disney discography that are worthy of that slot, many of which appeared on this list, and some which did not. However, you all know me by now, and if I’m true to myself, then there’s really only one song that could ever make number one.

1. Stand Out (A Goofy Movie)

Really, what else could it have been. A Goofy movie is not only my favorite Disney movie, it's one of my favorite movies of all time. More than that, there has never been a character in fiction that I’ve related to on a deeper and more personal level than Max Goof. How could any other song possibly top this list? Let’s start with the scene in context. Max is hopelessly smitten with a girl named Roxanne, but as far as he’s concerned, he’s just a nobody in her eyes. And today of all days is the last day of school, his last chance to get Roxanne to notice him, and more than that, be remembered by his peers as something more than just that awkward and goofy kid no one knows. To that end, Max goes for broke. Cosplaying as Powerline, the hottest pop star in the world, Max highjacks the principal’s end of the year address and puts on a crazy dance. And the crowd, particularly Roxanne, goes wild. Sure, this stunt may have landed Max in the principal’s office but his fellow students, the same ones who hours ago were bumping into him like he wasn’t there, now cheer his name as they would a conquering hero. Max has made his mark on the world and his peers will now remember him forever. Now, let’s talk about the deeper meaning this song holds for yours truly. It should come as no surprise that this was a movie I watched several times as a child and revisit frequently as an adult, and it should also not surprise anyone that the film had an impact on my formative years. Many of the lessons in this movie have stayed with me to this day, but none more so than the one contained within this song. Throughout my life, I was always different. At the time, I had no idea I was on the autism spectrum and all that I really knew is that I wasn’t like the other kids. My parents did their best, but they didn’t understand what I was going through. They encouraged me to blend in and be like everyone else, but that only made me feel worse. What this song taught me was not to repress what made me different but embrace it, celebrate it even. I didn’t want to blend in, I wanted to stand out. I wanted to be someone that people remembered. I’ll never forget the night it all clicked for me. I was at a high school dance, and the song Jump Around by House of Pain came on. Up until that point, I had a hard time navigating the social jungle that was high school, and never truly felt accepted by anyone. That night, I decided to take a risk and danced like a bloody maniac. In that moment, the entire school was chanting my name. It was one of the most wonderful feelings I’d ever experienced. For better or for worse, people would remember this moment, and I finally got to stand out. That’s the lesson I took away from Max, to never be afraid to stand out and be noticed, even if some people think it’s strange. We only get one life to live, and we must live it as our true, authentic selves. That’s what Max did, and that’s what we all should do. It’s a lesson that has made me who I am, and I have this song to thank for it. How could I ever put it any lower than number one.

And that will about do it for Wes’s Top 20 Favorite Disney Songs. I hope you all enjoyed yourselves and saw a few of your favorites on the list. As for next time, it will be another Patreon exclusive affair as we’ll be once again returning to the Twisted Tales Series. This time around, Tangled will be receiving the Twisted treatment as we ask, What if Rapunzel’s mother drank a potion from the wrong flower? Until next time.