50 Greatest Songs from Disney Animated Films: Guest Column
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#26. �Can You Feel the Love Tonight?� (The Lion King) -- That I ranked the 1994 Best Original Song winner where I have might surprise a lot of folks but, you�ll have to admit, while it is a beautiful song, its beauty is diluted by its opening and closing. Simply put, Timon and Pumbaa should have no role in this number;

#27. �Spoonful of Sugar.� (Mary Poppins) -- Need I say more?

#28. �Beauty and the Beast.� (Beauty and the Beast) -- Truthfully, while I think #33 on my list should have won the Oscar for Best Original Song in 1991, there�s no denying that this is a great song. And the AFI no doubt agreed, since the group named it as the 62nd greatest song in film history;

#29. �Candle on the Water.� (Pete�s Dragon) -- An Oscar nominee for the 1977 Best Original Song, just like #34 on my list, this was Helen Reddy�s shining moment in her otherwise pedestrian movie career;

#30. �God Help the Outcasts.� (The Hunchback of Notre Dame) -- No, that�s not Demi Moore�s voice as Esmerelda, rather, a New York City cabaret artist named Heidi Mollenhauer. Thank G-d; this is a subtle, but powerful, song;

#31. �Why Should I Worry?� (Oliver & Company) -- You don�t have to. Billy Joel proved that male pop singers can do Disney, as well.

#32. �Under the Sea.� (The Little Mermaid) -- A totally different kind of tune than Disney audiences were ever previously exposed to, this Oscar winner with the Caribbean flavor was a smorgasbord of sights and sounds;

#33. �Belle.� (Beauty and the Beast) -- No opening number from a Disney animated movie ever defined its main characters better than this showstopper from 1991;

#34. �Someone�s Waiting For You� (The Rescuers) -- Fain outdoes himself two decades after writing the lyrics for �Sleeping Beauty� with this sad, sweet song about a kidnapped girl trying to keep her faith that someone will save her from the clutches of her captors;

#35. �The Best of Friends.� (The Fox and the Hound) -- A puppy, a young fox and Pearl Bailey make movie magic together in this sweet and understated number from Stan Fidel and Richard Johnston;

#36. �Out There.� (The Hunchback of Notre Dame) -- Yes, that�s really the guy who played Pinto in Animal House and Mozart in Amadeus singing. The quintessential Disney number about fitting in, Tom Hulce�s vocalization is surprisingly moving and touching.

#37. �So This is Love.� (Cinderella) -- Gorgeous woman and handsome prince dance under the moonlit stars above. So what�s not to love?

#38. �Go the Distance.� (Hercules) -- Michael Bolton performed this number in the end credits, but it was the singing talents of Roger Bart, better known at the time for his work on Broadway, that really made this song a keeper;

#39. �Hakuna Matata.� (The Lion King) -- This sidesplitting comedic number, which the AFI ranks as the 99th greatest song of all time, features an absolutely hysterical flatulence joke by a meerkat and a warthog. Audiences had no worries about it;

#40. �Poor Unfortunate Souls� (The Little Mermaid) -- Ashman and Menken deliver one of the most unforgettable Disney villain songs of all time, made even more special by Pat Carroll�s deliciously rich rendition of nastiness personified;

#41. �The Three Caballeros.� (The Three Caballeros) -- Full of gags, this fast-moving number from the 1944 movie of the same name introduced a new comic foil for Donald Duck -- a Mexican charro rooster named Panchito;

#42. �Little April Shower.� (Bambi) -- Though �Love is a Song� got the Oscar nomination that season, this number is still exceptionally pleasant. Frank Churchill�s beautiful and thoroughly underappreciated score was a big reason this movie became such a major hit, especially because there�s so little dialogue.

#43. �Gaston.� (Beauty and the Beast) -- One of the most self-absorbed characters in Disney movie history is serenaded by his sycophants in a splashy production number that prominently features the hocking of a loogie;

#44. �Heigh Ho.� (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) -- Hands down, the greatest of all the Disney marching themes;

#45. �You Can Fly.� (Peter Pan) -- What I�ve always enjoyed about this number is the fact that Peter starts talking the lyrics before the three children join in. It�s all done with a subtlety that is very refreshing;

#46. �Be Prepared.� (The Lion King) -- Jeremy Irons drools evil as King Mufasa�s calculating and pissed off brother who, upon the birth of his nephew, Simba, realizes he has to devise a sneaky succession plan to the throne if he is ever to be the ruler of Pride Rock. The part of the song where an army of hyenas parade past Scar in perfect step and with chilling precision has been likened to how Nazi troops responded to Hitler;

#47. �The Bare Necessities.� (The Jungle Book) -- The perfect marriage of material and artist, Terry Gilkyson�s high-spirited lessons of life are exuberantly expressed by Phil Harris;

#48. �Winnie the Pooh� (The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh) -- Deep in the Hundred Acre Wood, where Christopher Robin plays, you�ll find the enchanted neighborhood of a young boy�s dreams. The song lists all of the principals, but the chorus is still its most famous part, given that this is about a silly old bear;

#49. � Hi Diddle Dee Dee� (Pinocchio) -- One of the best supporting characters in Disney history, a sly fox named J. Worthington Foulfellow, ticks off the numerous reasons to become an actor in this joyous number;

#50. �The Un Birthday Song� (Alice in Wonderland) -- As far as polar opposites go, this crazy tune is as different from David�s �A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes� as you can get. Nonetheless, it�s filmed so imaginatively that you can�t help but remember it.

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-- Text by Doug Gladstone

-- Posted October 12, 2011