Jim On Film
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There are Those
(Through 1980)

Surely you’ve found the same thing to be true. After buying various collections of Disney songs in varying forms (boxed sets, individual collections, and special releases), you find yourself with two copies of Out There, three copies of One Last Hope, and five copies of Be Our Guest in addition to your regular soundtrack copies of the films from which they come. In retrospectives and other such media, often the Disney songs that get the greatest press are the big numbers, moving ballads, and themes songs. No doubt, these songs are very popular and very good, but there are other great Disney songs; there are those songs which are more quiet but still gems. They are usually smaller songs, either not available on recording or quietly waiting to be noticed on soundtracks of certain films. It’s time they make themselves heard.

Song of the Roustabouts (Dumbo, 1941)--Possibly because it is one of Disney’s less-politically corrects songs, this tune from Dumbo hardly gets a mention. The figures in the song have darker skin and the lyrics are written for men who don’t have a strong educational background (roustabouts of the time probably would not be well educated). The song itself is a perfect example of character development through music. The lyrics are filled with simple rhymes such as "We work all day, we work all night/We never learned to read or write" which properly reflect the intellect of the workers--men who live from paycheck-to-paycheck because they haven’t been given educational opportunities. Besides that, the deep tone of the song combined with the short lines in the second half of the song provide a catchy rhythm. As far as plot is concerned, the song in its place of the film, dramatizes the rough life for both the workers and the animals as they set up for the circus. The song starts strong as the workers begin their work with energy, it climaxes into a fury of activity, and ends in a tired repetition of the word "pound," fading from the activity of night to the rest that comes with the morning sun.

Os Quindins De Yaya (The Three Caballeros, 1945)--Sung by cookie salesperson Aurora Miranda as she leads a love-struck Donald Duck through the city streets, Os Quindins De Yaya is one of the many highlight of The Three Caballeros. With a catchy Latin beat and an impressive blend of animation and live-action, it doesn’t matter that the average American viewer has no clue what is being said. Keep singing Aurora, we might learn Portuguese yet!

My Favorite Dream (Fun and Fancy Free, 1947)--Performed by Dinah Shore as the Golden Harp, My Favorite Dream is one of the many memorable songs from Fun and Fancy Free (most of which have, sadly, never been released on CD in America). While it is not the most fun-filled tune in the film (that would probably be "Say It With a Slap") nor an elegant romantic ballad (like "Too Good to be True"), My Favorite Dream has a soothing quality to it which allows it to be firmly planted in one’s head and not to any objection either. Perhaps the best line is "In his right vest pocket, you’ll find the key/The right vest pocket, go carefully," which works perfectly for the film and provides the right amount of variation in the lullaby tone to make the song fun.

Merrily On Our Way (The Adventures of Ichabod and Mister Toad, 1949)--Performed by Toad and Cyril Proudbottom as they gallop through the countryside, Merrily On Our Way is probably one of the wittiest songs in the Disney canon. In my younger years, I thought it was amusing for its fast pace and fun images, but as I got older and learned more, I got the humor in its witty lyrics.

With its rapid pacing and reliance on fun rhymes (like shire, shire, shire, and sure), alliteration (hammy Hamlet), assonance (any hammy Hamlet), and wordplays (sea/see), it’s easy to see that both the song writers and filmmakers were having a blast, and so do we.

Oh Sing, Sweet Nightingale (Cinderella, 1950)--Performed by a chorus of Cinderellas (and the sweetly voiced Ilene Woods), Oh Sing, Sweet Nightingale is reminiscent of the sound of The Andrew Sisters touched with beauty. Visually, the scene is one of the most beautiful in the Disney canon. As Cinderella scrubs the floor, the bubbles in the soapy water rises from the bucket with her image reflected in a prism of colors in each bubble, each image harmonizing the tune. The lyrics are simple but they are enough to carry Cinderella away from her drudgery, and for us, beautiful enough to want to take us back.

Painting the Roses Red (Alice in Wonderland, 1951)--Alice in Wonderland is a bouquet of fun songs, but it is the simple lyrics of Painting the Roses Red that make it one of the film’s minor gems. The lines are simple, such as:

But that is the fun of the song and where the humor comes from--simple and clever rhymes. The above line is always good for a laugh for a largely unexplainable reason, and that’s what makes it work.

The Moon-Spinners Song (The Moon-Spinners, 1964)--Given a mysterious aura mixed with a Grecian-sounding arrangement and set against mood-setting images from Crete, the title song from this suspense-filled Hayley Mills movie sets the tone of the film perfectly. Not to mention that it’s a very hummable song.

Sister Suffragette (Mary Poppins, 1964)--Often forgotten in the shuffle of the brilliant Jolly Holiday, Chim-Chim-Cheree, Step in Time, Supercalifragilisticexpialodocious, and many other great songs, Sister Suffragette stands strongly on its own. Performed by Mrs. Banks, it establishes her character clearly as the determined suffragette (that is, until her husband returns) with funny lines, such as:

The tune is upbeat and lively, the mood is fun, and what a better way to start such a musical--with a shining gem that’s both brilliant and humble.