Movie Musings: Disney and More

Disney Music at the Oscars

All throughout the years, the Walt Disney Studios have produced films that consist of beautiful songs. Not just in the musicals, but in the non-musical films as well, both live-action and animated. Did you know that several Disney tunes have been fortunate enough to receive an Academy Award Nomination for Best Original Song?

The Disney studios garnered their first Academy Award for Best Original Song for “When You Wish Upon a Star” from Pinocchio (1940) with music by Leigh Harline and lyrics by Ned Washington. Today, that song has become the unofficial theme song of Disney, and can be heard in the background of the Walt Disney Pictures logos, at Disney theme parks firework shows and parades, and in the background of every version of the Walt Disney television anthology series. The studio would acquire their next Best Song Oscar 6 years later for “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” in Song of the South (1946) with music by Allie Wrubel and lyrics by Ray Gilbert. That song would also be used as part of “The Wonderful World of Disney” television program (one of the names of the Walt Disney television anthology series) and it gets used in several other film and television programs produced by the studio.

Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman won the studio their 3rd Best Original Song for one of Walt Disney’s biggest personal hits, Mary Poppins (1964), for the song “Chim-Chim-Cheree.” When Walt Disney passed away in 1966, all of the films that his studio produced, both live-action and animated, began to lose their touch with audiences. They seemed passé and outdated, much like the phase they experienced in the early 1940s when they lost money on their films like Fantasia (1940), Dumbo (1941), and Bambi (1942). The studio went on strike, and they weren’t able to get back on their feet until Cinderella in 1950. Without Walt, however, they were on the verge of having to close their studio. 

Fortunately, they were able to get back on their feet again, though not until 23 years after Walt’s death, with The Little Mermaid in 1989. The Little Mermaid (1989) begun what is now referred to as “the Disney Renaissance” period, because many other memorable hits for the studio were to follow, with Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), The Lion King (1994), Pocahontas (1995), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Hercules (1997), Mulan (1998), and Tarzan (1999). The first five films all won the Academy Awards for Best Original Song and Best Original Score, four of which had more than one song that was nominated. In addition to all these, the studio’s most recent win for Best Original Song, was “Let it Go,” from Frozen (2013). 

When the Disney studios made their very first collaborative project with Pixar Animation Studios, (Toy Story, in 1995,) the film received 3 Academy Award Nominations, including Best Original Song, “You’ve Got a Friend in Me,” with words and music by Randy Newman. The film unfortunately lost all 3 awards, but it did manage to win a special award presented to one of the film’s producers, and Chief Creative Officer of Pixar, John Lasseter, for Distinguished Achievement in Animation. Randy Newman received another Academy Award Nomination for the song he wrote for Toy Story 2 (1999), “When She Loved Me,” but sadly lost again, this time, to Phil Collins’s ballad for Disney’s Tarzan (1999), “You’ll Be in My Heart.” Newman finally won 2 years after that for writing the song “If I Didn’t Have You,” for Monsters, Inc. (2001), and won again in 2010 for the song “We Belong Together,” for Toy Story 3 (2010). 

Disney co-produced The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), and Muppet Treasure Island (1996), though they never actually owned the Muppets until 2004. Since then, Disney has produced and distributed 2 of the 8-film franchise, including The Muppets (2011) and Muppets Most Wanted (2014). The primary is the only film in the franchise to win an Oscar, which was for Best Original Song, “Man or Muppet.” Prior to that, however, the first two Muppet Movies, The Muppet Movie (1979) and The Great Muppet Caper (1981) received Best Song Oscar Nominations, “The Rainbow Connection,” for The Muppet Movie and “The First Time it Happens,” for The Great Muppet Caper (1981).

What the Disney studios’ next great music achievement will be remains to be seen. But we can all agree that they have excelled with movies full of unforgettable songs. Disney songs will continue to be remembered for generations much like the movies, themselves. If your curious, I’ve listed all of the songs that have either won or been nominated for the Best Song Academy Award below this.               

“When You Wish Upon a Star” from Pinocchio (1940) (Won)

“Baby Mine” from Dumbo (1941) (Nominated)

“Love is a Song” from Bambi (1942) (Nominated)

“Saludos Amigos” from Saludos Amigos (1943) (Nominated)

“Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” from Song of the South (1946) (Won)

“Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo” from Cinderella (1950) (Nominated)

“Once Upon a Dream” from Sleeping Beauty (1959) (Nominated)

“Chim-Chim-Cheree” from Mary Poppins (1964) (Won)

“The Bare Necessities” from The Jungle Book (1967) (Nominated)

“The Age of Not Believing” from Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) (Nominated)

“Love” from Robin Hood (1973) (Nominated)

“Someone’s Waiting for You” from The Rescuers (1977) (Nominated)

“Candle on the Water” from Pete’s Dragon (1978) (Nominated)

“The Rainbow Connection” from The Muppet Movie (1979) (Nominated)

“The First Time It Happens” from The Great Muppet Caper (1981) (Nominated)

“Under the Sea” from The Little Mermaid (1989) (Won)

“Kiss the Girl” from The Little Mermaid (1989) (Nominated)

“Beauty and the Beast” from Beauty and the Beast (1991) (Won)

“Be Our Guest” from Beauty and the Beast (1991) (Nominated)

“Belle” from Beauty and the Beast (1991) (Nominated)

“A Whole New World” from Aladdin (1992) (Won)

“Friend Like Me” from Aladdin (1992) (Nominated)

“Can You Feel the Love Tonight” from The Lion King (1994) (Won)

“Circle of Life” from The Lion King (1994) (Nominated)

“Hakuna Matata” from The Lion King (1994) (Nominated)

“Colors of the Wind” from Pocahontas (1995) (Won)

“You’ve Got a Friend in Me” from Toy Story (1995) (Nominated)

“Go the Distance” from Hercules (1997) (Nominated)

“You’ll Be in My Heart” from Tarzan (1999) (Won)

“When She Loved Me” from Toy Story 2 (1999) (Nominated)

“If I Didn’t Have You” from Monsters, Inc. (2001) (Won)

“Our Town” from Cars (2006) (Nominated)

“Happy Working Song” from Enchanted (2007) (Nominated)

“That’s How You Know” from Enchanted (2007) (Nominated)

“So Close” from Enchanted (2007) (Nominated)

“Down in New Orleans” from The Princess and the Frog (2009) (Nominated)

“Almost There” from The Princess and the Frog (2009) (Nominated)

“We Belong Together” from Toy Story 3 (2010) (Won)

“I See The Light” from Tangled (2010) (Nominated)

“Man or Muppet” from The Muppets (2011) (Won)

“Let it Go” from Frozen (2013) (Won)
"How Far I'll Go" from Moana (2016) (Nominated) 
"Remember Me" from Coco (2017) (Won)