Best overall Disney soundtrack

We've had a few threads about our favourite Disney tuuuuunes, but which film do you think has the best overall soundtrack?

For me, I think I would have to say The Lion King because both the musical pieces and instrumentals are golden. But then I'm like AHHHHHHHHHHHH because The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Hercules are really close on it as well. I think what really sells Lion King as the best for me though is just how amazingly it translated to broadway and how timeless it all is. Just, so gorgeous and emotive. Disney really hit the nail on the head with it.

What do you think? Remember, this is overall soundtrack, not favourite Disney songs!

What about weakest soundtrack? I think Frozen was quite weak, I mean apart from a few (Let it Go) it felt a bit underwhelming to me considering the rest of the hype for the film.

I have to give it to The Lion King as well. I can't think of a single bad track on the whole thing, and even to this day that opener still gives me chills. The Little Mermaid would probably come in second for me.

Aladdin's the only movie that springs to mind for weakest right now. Compare to what came before and after it, it just kinda falls short aside from a couple of songs.

Yeah, it's Lion King for me as well. The only one that comes close for me would be Aladdin, although I love The Hunchback of Notre Dame's soundtrack and also The Jungle Book's.

Weakest I guess is Snow White? Is that even a musical? All I remember is "Hi-Ho, it's off to work we go." Cinderella isn't great either from what I remember.

I really enjoyed the Jungle Book's music.
Robin Hood as well was great!

I think sleeping beauty may be the weakest.

Enjoy being wrong, because the right answer is Nightmare Before Christmas and it always will be.

Aladdin or Hunchback of Notre Dame. I'm a little biased because Aladdin has my favorite songs. But Hellfire is probably the best Disney song.

I can't think of any weak ones that aren't musicals. I'm just going to say Snow White.

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Originally Posted by fire_of_avalon

Enjoy being wrong, because the right answer is Nightmare Before Christmas and it always will be.

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This, though my honorary mention would go to A Goofy Movie. Even the instrumentals give you that classic John Hughes feel. Of the Renaissance era, probably Beauty and the Beast.

foa is correct.

Aladdin is second.

Mulan

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Originally Posted by fire_of_avalon

Enjoy being wrong, because the right answer is Nightmare Before Christmas and it always will be.

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This. Unless we are retroactively including Star Wars.

thelittlemermaid :colbert:

Hunchback or Pocahontas. Never really liked the Lion King soundtrack, to be honest

Shout out to Sleeping Beauty for using Tchaikovsky's ballet for its soundtrack

THE LION KING!!!

I doubt it will ever really be topped, pretty much every song on that soundtrack is a classic.

Most Disney movies have one or two good songs, they don't kick it out of the park as consistently as The Lion King tho.

Hands down Aladdin. Really like Pinocchio too, so I'd probably put that second.

NAAAAAAAAAANTS INGONYAMAAAAAAAAA BAGITHI BABAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!

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Originally Posted by Bubba

NAAAAAAAAAANTS INGONYAMAAAAAAAAA BAGITHI BABAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!

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ENWAA HABITCHI SABA SAAAANA, ENWAA HABITCHI SABA SAAAANA

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Originally Posted by Pheesh

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NAAAAAAAAAANTS INGONYAMAAAAAAAAA BAGITHI BABAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!

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ENWAA HABITCHI SABA SAAAANA, ENWAA HABITCHI SABA SAAAANA

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If I wanted to read garbage I would just go over to the Gun Thread and read posts by Laserface.

(SPOILER)Joking, I now love you even more. Does Night Fury know about us yet?

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Originally Posted by Bubba

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Originally Posted by Pheesh

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Originally Posted by Bubba

NAAAAAAAAAANTS INGONYAMAAAAAAAAA BAGITHI BABAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!

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ENWAA HABITCHI SABA SAAAANA, ENWAA HABITCHI SABA SAAAANA

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If I wanted to read garbage I would just go over to the Gun Thread and read posts by Laserface.

(SPOILER)Joking, I now love you even more. Does Night Fury know about us yet?

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(SPOILER)idk do you know about me and your girl yet? :smug:

• Hunchback
• Aladdin
• Hercules
• The Little Mermaid
• Snow White
• And Nightmare Before Christmas !

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Originally Posted by Bubba

Does Night Fury know about us yet?

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It's not even 7am here and we've both already joked about banging Pheesh behind Night Fury's back.

The one that has little to no singing in it, though if that singing was some death metal then automatic win for hilarity

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Originally Posted by Bubba

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Originally Posted by Pheesh

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Originally Posted by Bubba

NAAAAAAAAAANTS INGONYAMAAAAAAAAA BAGITHI BABAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!

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ENWAA HABITCHI SABA SAAAANA, ENWAA HABITCHI SABA SAAAANA

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If I wanted to read garbage I would just go over to the Gun Thread and read posts by Laserface.

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Ooooh, this cat has claws.....miaowwww!

The soundtrack to Pocahontas is beautiful. A true work of art, and easily my favorite Disney album.

Treasure Planet and Atlantis: The Lost Empire both have wonderful soundtracks as well that are grossly overlooked because their respective films bombed. James Newton Howard is brilliant.

Although if we're ignoring scores and strictly focusing on vocal songs, that's a different story. The Hunchback of Notre Dame definitely has some of the more powerful pieces in that department, but I'd have to say The Lion King is well...king. Every song is just perfectly used and so memorable and lovingly crafted that you can't help but get a warm fuzzy feeling when you hear them.

What about Mary Poppins

Also, while I'm not a huge fan of the soundtrack overall, this might be the best Disney song I've heard.

Hellfire is an exceptional villain song, Kalevala! What I like about Hunchback is pretty much all of the songs have the same melody in them somewhere, and the way they change the tone of it to suit each song is wonderful. Like with Heaven's Light and Hellfire.



Mulan has a wonderful soundtrack.

I'll Make a Man out of You is my GET PUMPED UP song.

There have been many great Disney soundtracks over the years. Walt Disney himself insisted that music plays a very important role in his feature length films and shorts. As much as I'd like to say that The Lion King or equally beautiful stuff such as Alan Menken's the Hunchback of Notre Dame or Beauty and the Beast had the best soundtrack (not to mention that terrific trio of James Newton Howard scores for Dinosaur, Atlantis and Treasure Planet), there really is no question in my mind that out of all the soundtracks for the Disney Animated Canon, Bambi is the most accomplished and very resonant even today.

The score and the songs are integrated into the narrative well, each theme referenced throughout, and they evolve over the course of the soundtrack. Not only do we have great songs such as "Love is a Song", "Let's Sing a Gay Little Spring Song" and "Looking for Romance", the score also presents many interesting themes, one of the most memorable being the sinister three-note theme for Man who is never seen on screen but whose actions affect all the animals throughout the film. The only time the ever-present music is absent from the film is when Bambi suffers his personal trauma, and that silence is a very effective way of conveying the shock of the scene. Bambi, to me, is thus the pinnacle of Disney's musical direction and a true classic that stands over other impressive Disney scores. :)

As for the weakest entry in the canon, I'd almost want to nominate Chicken Little with its atrocious use of songs. However, John Debney's competent, thematic score saves the soundtrack from being a total loss. With that in mind, I suppose the weakest soundtrack overall (with mediocre songs and score) might be the Sword in the Stone for me. That soundtrack does have some nice moments (the squirrel love scene, the wizards' duel and the ending in particular) and isn't awful by any means, but the problem is that most of it is quite bland and forgettable and plays a secondary role to the film itself throughout much of it. When you compare it to the great body of work for the canon, it simply can't compare. It's somewhat surprising to me as George Bruns composed the score, and he's usually no slouch when it comes to scoring films (animated and otherwise); ditto for the Sherman Brothers whose songs were also a miss for the most part. I suppose the film and its music became the casualty of Walt's shifting interest from animation to Disneyland and EPCOT at that point, and it's a shame. :(