Favourite soundtrack from a Disney animated movie?

[Fynn]

I always thought that one of the major advantages of Disney mowies are their musical scores. Now, I don't think it's just me, seeing as the music has been awarded oscars a couple of times ;)
So, which of the scores do you guys like best?

I'd have to go with "Pocahontas". I recently re-watched th movie and was enchanted by the score. Beautiful, light, it flowed the way the wind does and I think it suited the atmosphere of the film brilliantly.

[Armisael]

"Pocahontas", "Anastasia", "Tarzan" and "Lion King".

[Namelessfengir]

before i respond a question: what is the average age of this thread?

[JKTrix]

"Anastasia"

Not Disney.

I kinda liked Jungle Book and Lion King.

[Vermachtnis]

Tarzan and The Lion King.

[ReloadPsi]

Lion King, yo.


before i respond a question: what is the average age of this thread?

Before I respond, a question: which home would you like us to put you in?

[Marshall Banana]

The Little Mermaid, of course! =O

Beauty and the Beast comes in second place.

[Shauna]

I don't know. I love a lot of the musical scores from Disney movies.

[Fynn]

before i respond a question: what is the average age of this thread?

What, you too 'grown-up' to appreciate a good piece of music?

[qwertysaur]

Mulan and Hercules.

[Markus. D]

Mulan and Pocahontas I guess?

Kinda vaguely remember the music...

[yanis]

Treasure Planet and Atlantis...and Lion King!:cool:

[Vermachtnis]

Mulan and Pocahontas I guess?

Kinda vaguely remember the music...

I forgot about Mulan. That's going up there with Lion King and Tarzan.

[Avarice-ness]

Hmm.. Lion King, Tarzan, Little Mermaid, Hercules and Pocahontas.

.... Sleeping Beauty.. but does that count because other than the vocal songs it's Tchaivosky's songs.

[Rengori]

I don't really like Disney music, but Hukuna Matata is just too freaking awesome to ignore, so the Lion King.

[Avarice-ness]

I don't really like Disney music, but Hukuna Matata is just too freaking awesome to ignore, so the Lion King.

CLEARLY THE BEST SONG IN THE LION KING ISN'T REALLY A SOUNDTRACK SONG.

Timon: Luau. If you're hungry for a hunk of fat and juicy meat/ Eat my buddy Pumbaa here 'cause he is a treat/Come on down and dine/ On this tasty swine/ All you have to do is get in line/Are you achin'...
Pumbaa: Yup, yup, yup.
Timon: For some bacon.
Pumbaa: Yup, yup, yup.
Timon: He's a big pig.
Pumbaa: Yup, yup.
Timon: You can be a big pig, too. Oy.

[Rengori]

I don't really like Disney music, but Hukuna Matata is just too freaking awesome to ignore, so the Lion King.

CLEARLY THE BEST SONG IN THE LION KING ISN'T REALLY A SOUNDTRACK SONG.

CLEARLY!

[Shiny]

Mulan plz.

WHOOOOOOO IS THAT GIRRRRRL I SEEEEEEE

[Araciel]

Mulan plz.

WHOOOOOOO IS THAT GIRRRRRL I SEEEEEEE


you DO know talk like that will land you in hell right?

the answer is so obviously aladdin

[Raven Nox]

The Hunchback of Notre Dame. <3

I love Mulan and The Lion King's music as well though.

[Avarice-ness]

The Hunchback of Notre Dame. <3

I love Mulan and The Lion King's music as well though.

Omg, Hunchback music is win!

[Araciel]

i've never even seen it :S

[Breine]

Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and Pocahontas all had great soundtracks.

[Kossage]

Well, there are quite a few good soundtracks to Disney's animated movies, but if I really had to choose one particular soundtrack, that would probably be Bambi. It has great themes, orchestration that is complex in the way it interprets the story, a good use of choir, and it manages to cheer you up, make you sad and make you curious of what's going on. The finale in particular is among the strongest in any of Disney's soundtracks, so that's a big plus too.

Despite all the classic Disney movie soundtracks, I do have a soft spot for Menken's era of Disney's music, because the way he composed music was just amazing in the way how moving it was. And Zimmer's The Lion King is still among my favourites as well in the way it combines orchesta, choir and synths to a good effect.

[Namelessfengir]

What, you too 'grown-up' to appreciate a good piece of music?

fine wuss my answers are "pokahotass" and "101 felations" SNL all the way!!!

[Avarice-ness]

i've never even seen it :S

Hunchback is most likely the BEST overlooked Disney movie. From an artist aspect I consider it to be one of the best visually and musically. Especially the song "Heaven's Light/Hellfire" because it goes all latin and has a weird sexual darkness in throughout the movie. I mean, Frolo basically sings about how Esmerelda fills him with such Lust that if he doesn't get her in bed, he'll kill her.




What, you too 'grown-up' to appreciate a good piece of music?

fine wuss my answers are "pokahotass" and "101 felations" SNL all the way!!!
Gtfo the thread please. :(

[Rocket Edge]

Lion King & Hercules.

[Tifa's Real Lover(really]

lion king and aladin

[Rostum]

What, you too 'grown-up' to appreciate a good piece of music?

fine wuss my answers are "pokahotass" and "101 felations" SNL all the way!!!
Gtfo the thread please. :(

Agreed. Looks like he's too young for the thread.

My favourite soundtracks would be The Lion King, Tarzan and Aladdin.

[White Raven]

I'd have to answer with Robin Hood, my absolute favourite Disney cartoon of all time! In an odd coincidence, the actor who voiced Robin Hood (Brian Bedford), was playing King Lear in a play I saw this summer in Stratford, Ontario, Canada. :p

(BTW, I'm a 23 year old guy :D)

[Hazzard]

The best song I have ever heard related to a Disney soundtrack has to be "Under the Sea" or "A Pirates Life" best tunes ever.

[demondude]

fine wuss my answers are "pokahotass" and "101 felations" SNL all the way!!![/quote]


http://scienceblogs.com/ethicsandscience/upload/2006/09/sad_puppy.jpg

Its funny because your not hot but you are an ass.

ON TOPIC: There all alright not sure.:)

[Miriel]

before i respond a question: what is the average age of this thread?

I'm 21 and I have a BUNCH of Disney songs on my Ipod. :D

Also, don't call people wusses.

demondude55, don't call people asses and quit with the macros.

Now for the topic.

I think Mulan was pretty fantastic. They have a bunch of songs I really liked the whole way through. Lion King also had a lot of great songs. Beauty and the Beast didn't have as many great songs but Tale as Old as Time was one of my absolute favorites growing up. Same with Little Mermaid. Not as many great songs throughout, but Under the Sea is wonderful.

I wish Disney would do movies like they used to.

[Slade]

Lion King 1 and 2, Mulan and Tarzan. The Goofy Movie had a pretty groovy soundtrack too.

[Miriel]

Oh man! I completely forgot about The Goofy Movie. I actually really liked that movie. xD

[Marshall Banana]

Mulan?

I'm seriously disappointed in a lot of you.

[Araciel]

Mulan?

I'm seriously disappointed in a lot of you.

thank-you yes, they lose.

[Miriel]

Y'all are just racist. :mad2:

[Araciel]

i hate indians...and therefore pocahontas is lose.

[Peegee]

Thanks to me meeting your family I have no idea what you are. So currently that above statement is dubiously true.

In any case, I like Lion King, and to put a spin on the thread I also like Fantasia and Bambi.

[Vermachtnis]

Y'all are just racist. :mad2:

Everybody's a wittle bit lacist. ~ Avenue Q

[Slade]

Mulan?

I'm seriously disappointed in a lot of you.

Be a man
We must be swift as the coursing river
Be a man
With all the force of a great typhoon
Be a man
With all the strength of a raging fire
Mysterious as the dark side of the moon

Nuff said :cool:

[Rostum]

I forgot the Pirates of the Caribbean is Disney. I love those soundtracks, especially He's a Pirate and Jack Sparrow.

[Deborah]

Mulan?

I'm seriously disappointed in a lot of you.

I agree...Mulan was good, I guess but nothing in comparison to Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and the Lion King.
Although, I also used to love singing with the Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery day, But I'm not sure if thats considered a movie. :D

Ooh, "Follow the Leader" from Peter Pan was another early childhood favorite of mine!

[Marshall Banana]

Be a man
We must be swift as the coursing river
Be a man
With all the force of a great typhoon
Be a man
With all the strength of a raging fire
Mysterious as the dark side of the moon

Nuff said :cool:
That's the only catchy, fun song in the whole movie. Mulan is awesome, but not its music. The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Snow White, and several others (most Disney films prior to Mulan, basically) have consistently awesome background music and songs. =P

See? Debbie knows this, too.

"Sha la la la la, the music play - do what the music say - you got to KISS THE GIRL!"

[Necronopticous]

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[Shiny]

Be a man
We must be swift as the coursing river
Be a man
With all the force of a great typhoon
Be a man
With all the strength of a raging fire
Mysterious as the dark side of the moon

Nuff said :cool:
That's the only catchy, fun song in the whole movie. Mulan is awesome, but not its music. The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Snow White, and several others (most Disney films prior to Mulan, basically) have consistently awesome background music and songs. =P

See? Debbie knows this, too.

"Sha la la la la, the music play - do what the music say - you got to KISS THE GIRL!"
No wai. "Reflection", "Honor us All", and a "Girl Worth Fighting" for were good too. Mostly, because a few of them had humorous lyrics. If you want to count the 98 Degrees song then be my guess, but I dislike them. I don't even remember Snow White's music, so it must not have been that catchy.

[Marshall Banana]

No wai. "Reflection", "Honor us All", and a "Girl Worth Fighting" for were good too. Mostly, because a few of them had humorous lyrics. If you want to count the 98 Degrees song then be my guess, but I dislike them. I don't even remember Snow White's music, so it must not have been that catchy.
Eh, they're okay; they fit the movie well is all.

You don't remember Whistle While You Work, Heigh-Ho, or Someday My Prince Will Come? Oh, my. =O

[LunarWeaver]

I'll go with The Little Mermaid. Poor Unfortunate Souls is my favorite Disney song, and the others were nice as well. I always like the villain songs and I had the villain toys when I was a kid. I don't want to know what this says about me. :|

[Kossage]

Mulan is awesome, but not its music. The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Snow White, and several others (most Disney films prior to Mulan, basically) have consistently awesome background music and songs. =P

Now you're making Mr. Smiles sad. See? :(

It's interesting that a few people say that Mulan's music isn't awesome. Yeah, it isn't the best Disney music stuff out there, but it's still quite good. I'll divide my analysis into two sections, one for the songs and the other for the score.

SONGS:

Although the songs aren't necessarily as good as the ones in, say, certain Menken-scored Disney films, they're by no means bad. After all, there's a great song "Reflection" which is amazing in its intensity and the way it's performed (particularly in the Finnish version). Another wonderful song is "I'll Make a Man Out of You" which not only is a catchy song, its lyrics are relevant to the story at hand (like in "Reflection") and it actually furthers the story quite a bit and gives us a truly epic moment when Mulan finally succeeds in getting to that arrow.

"Honor to Us All" and "Girl Worth Fighting For" are more of a comedic mold than epic stuff, but they work relatively well in the context and although they're a bit silly, to me they're catchy as well and aren't as obnoxious as, say, some songs in certain Disney sequels. Heck, the only remotely annoying song for me is "True to Your Heart" which is played at the end of the film and during the end credits. It isn't appropriate to the style of other songs, and the pop kind of approach is out of place and irritating.

SCORE:

Although I could in some way understand that people might not like the songs for various reasons, I'd be amazed if people said that the underscore is bad as well, because frankly speaking it isn't. This of course depends on one's taste (like whether you enjoy classically-oriented, orchestral, complex film scores or not), but the fact is that the score's done by the great late Jerry Goldsmith who was a skilled composer and had created multiple great scores to great films and not-so-great films. Goldsmith was well versed in his craft and in Mulan he didn't disappoint: he combined synths, western orchestra and choir with Chinese instruments, and the end result is a spectacular action score with lots of romanticism.

There are quite a few interesting themes oozing with excitement, dread, tragedy and lyrical romanticism, and even the 'silly' music (like during the hilarious scene with the Matchmaker) isn't simple mickey mousing but is consistent with the rest of the score and develops various themes subtly underneath. Some of the themes are simple yet effective: a great example is the threatening theme for Shan Yu which describes the character well with powerful percussion and the like. I also like the way how Goldsmith occasionally refers to the themes of the songs themselves as well and doesn't neglect them.

Only one cue in the film differs radically from the style of the rest of the score, and that is "Mulan's decision" scene. The soundtrack has the original orchestral version of the cue whereas in the film Goldsmith used a 80s type of synth and orchestra combo to show the rebellious nature and determination of Mulan when she cuts her hair, and it works surprisingly well in the context of the film (not to mention the scene itself is among the most memorable of the whole film and the turning point).

The choir is used sparsely but in good spots like the Main Titles and in the end when people show their gratitude to Mulan, and it really gives an ethereal quality to the music as a whole. The action stuff is bombastic and threatening when the Huns are prominent, but there's still enough heroism injected into it, particularly when Mulan shows up, and the way themes are developed during this moment is complex and exciting.

I also like the way how the tragic moments are developed and how music truly enhances the scene: a good example of this is the burned-out village scene where Shang learns what happened to his father and the troops. Without Goldsmith's appropriate music this scene wouldn't have been as effective as it is now, and the same can be said about the massive Hun attack and avalanche scenes during which the score really elevated the scenes to a memorable status.

This is getting long enough, so in summary I'll just say that in my opinion the songs aren't Disney's worst and that they actually are quite nice and occasionally very memorable, particularly the emotional ones such as "Reflection" and "I'll Make a Man Out of You" as I explained earlier in this post. Goldsmith's score, whether you like it or not, is still leagues ahead of Menken and Zimmer in complexity as far as composition goes (which is understandable considering Goldsmith's role in scoring films). Both the songs and the score fit into Mulan well and elevate it to some extent. Don't get me wrong: as much as I like the music in Mulan in the way how charming and complex it can be, I don't consider it the best Disney soundtrack even though it's enjoyable. However, for me it's still among the best Disney soundtracks for the reasons I've mentioned, and it was a worthy follow-up to Hercules as far as music goes. :)