Movie Musings: Disney and More

“I Want” Song Blog

Have you ever heard of the “I Want” Song? In musical terms, that is used to describe the moment near the beginning of the show when the main protagonist expresses that they are unsatisfied with their current life and they explain what they hope to achieve someday. Sometimes its an intimate moment about a life-long dream, but it usually gives us as an audience the ability to emotionally connect with the show’s main character. The “I Want” Song has been used for many years, and is one of the most common prototypes for both stage and screen musicals, and is often the musical’s most popular song. The term is believed to have been invented by A. Lehman Engle, who was a composer of Broadway, Television, and Film.    

One of the very first songs to really define the “I Want” Song prototype was “Over the Rainbow,” in The Wizard of Oz (1939). Dorothy Gale dreams of going to a place where she will never have any problems or get herself into any trouble—“where troubles melt like lemon drops”— because she’s convinced that anywhere is better than her farm in Kansas. In this blog, I’ll acknowledge some other examples of “I Want” songs—both Disney and Classic Broadway/Hollywood—and explain how they are examples of dreaming of “where happy little blue birds fly.”

1. “I’m Wishing/One Song,” from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). In this song, Snow White dreams of a life better than being a scullery maid for her cruel stepmother, the Evil Queen, and of finding true love one day. Out of nowhere, Prince Charming appears to be that special love. The Prince also expresses how he has found love her as well and wants to be with her forever. Larry Morey and Frank Churchill wrote all of “Snow White’s,” songs as well as the songs “Love is a Song,” from Bambi (1942) and “Lavender Blue,” from So Dear to My Heart (1948). 
2. “The Boy Next Door,” from Meet Me in St. Louis (1944). Just before “St. Louis’s,” trademark “Trolley Song,”Judy Garland (as Esther Smith) expresses how she is utterly smitten with her next door neighbor, John Truett, and how she hopes that somehow he will notice her and that they will ultimately be together. In life imitating art, Judy Garland was also directed by her future husband on this film, Vincente Minnelli. Vic Damone later sang a revised version of the song called “ The Girl Next Door,” in the film Athena (1954).
3. “A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes,” from Cinderella (1950). Much as in Snow White, Cinderella sings “A Dream…” to express her desire to find true happiness, not just finding true love, but a life where she won’t have to constantly cook, clean, etc. for her cruel stepmother and stepsisters. (“Cinderella,” spawned two direct-to-video sequels, Cinderella 2: Dreams Come True (2002) and Cinderella 3: A Twist in Time (2007) as well as a live-action version in 2015).  
4. “Wouldn’t it Be Loverly,” from My Fair Lady (1964). Eliza Doolittle, the humble cockney flower-selling girl, sings of life, better than just walking the streets of London selling flowers, and from the beginning of the movie sets her sights on a warm house with her true love. Julie Andrews made this song a hit, originating the role of Eliza on the Broadway stage in 1955, though it was Marni Nixon’s talents who were dubbed over Audrey Hepburn’s singing voice in the Best Picture Oscar Winning film version. (Coincidentally, “My Fair Lady” was released the same year that Julie Andrews made Mary Poppins (1964)). 
5. “The Sound of Music,” from The Sound of Music (1965). When this timeless and beautiful story begins in the Austrian alps, we learn that Maria Rainer is a rebellious postulant, who loves being outside and near the beautiful Austrian nature despite being a postulant in the convent. Thus, the Mother Abbess encourages her to leave the convent and pursue becoming a governess to the seven children of Captain Georg Von Trapp. And at that moment, she sings another “I Want,” song, “I Have Confidence,” which is about how Maria desperately wants to make a good impression on the Von Trapps. While “The Sound of Music,” the song is in both the Broadway version and film of “Sound of Music,” “I Have Confidence,” was written exclusively for the movie.   
6. “Maybe,” from Annie (1977). In this musical, an eleven-year-old Annie sings from an orphanage in New York, dreaming of finding the parents who abandoned her as a baby, but promised they would return. Her optimism is incredibly relentless as she describes what they “may be” like. While “Tomorrow,” is arguably the most popular song from this show, its “Maybe,” where Annie truthfully expresses what she longs for is most poignant. It was the favorite of Aileen Quinn who is the actress who played Annie in the 1982 film version. 
7. “Once Upon a Time/I Wish,” from Into the Woods (2014). This amazing version of the “I Want,” song includes several different characters, all wanting their own special wish. Cinderella wants to attend the King’s festival, the Baker and his wife want a child, Jack wishes that his cow would give milk and Little Red Riding Hood wishes for bread from the Baker to take to her Grandmother’s house. The show originally opened on Broadway in 1987, though Disney adapted it into its very first film in 2014. 
8. “Part of Your World,” from The Little Mermaid (1989). Ariel dreams of living her life on the land with humans and being with the man she loves, Prince Eric, in this plot-setting song. Disney Chairman (at the time), Jeffrey Katzenberg, initially felt that this song should be cut from the final film after an early film test screening with children. The films writer/directors/producers, John Musker, Ron Clements, and Howard Ashman all unsuccessfully tried to persuade Katzenberg to keep the song, but he relented when Glen Keane, one of Ariel’s supervising animators, was able to get through to him, and it was a hit.
9. “Omigod You Guys,” from Legally Blonde the Musical (2007). From the outset, we learn that Elle Woods wants nothing more than to marry her boyfriend, Warner Huntington III and she is convinced that he is about to propose to her. Of course, he instead dumps her, but through following him to Harvard she finds herself instead of a marriage proposal. “So Much Better,” and “Find My Way,” are songs that complete her transformation to comfort in her own skin. 
10. “When Will My Life Begin,” from Tangled (2010). Rapunzel appreciates her daily routine while living inside her tower, but dreams of getting out to experience life, especially floating lanterns that light up the sky each year on her birthday. “Tangled,” also received an Academy Award Nomination for Best Original Song “I See the Light,” which is the love duet between Rapunzel and Flynn Rider.

“I Want,” songs continue today (for example, “How Far I’ll Go,” from Disney’s Moana (2016) and “My Shot,” from Broadway’s Hamilton, both of which were written and composed by Lin-Manuel Miranda). Sharing a few examples of these important songs shows how storytelling through song is a pivotal way to get audiences to identify with—and enjoy—characters and their struggles.