Top 10 Best Disney Songs (1937-1988)

This was a hard list to make, so I decided to take all the weight off myself and ask others their opinions on top of mine. That being said, these choices are not the same as my own Top 10. There are a few rules to this list. First off, all songs are from the Disney canon. Secondly, they are all songs written for their respective movies, not a song like "Night on Bald Mountain." I decided to split up my lists, since there are far too many to just squeeze them down to ten. Enjoy!

10. "Bella Notte" (Lady and the Tramp)

Bella Notte translates to "Beautiful Night" in Italian, in case you were wondering, which makes sense since Tony sings it in the first line. This song is probably one of the most iconic love songs in Disney, and probably everywhere. It's a beautiful song, and an even more beautiful scene. Who can forget the famous the Spaghetti Kiss? The scene is so famous that it's been parodied numerous times over the years. It's a short song, which they remedy by singing it twice, once by Tony, and another by a chorus. Whether you like this movie or not, you have to admit that this song is pretty moving.

9. "Winnie the Pooh" (The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh)

This song is a childhood favorite of many and it's easy to see why. It's very catchy and just a lot of fun. Also, who doesn't love Winnie the Pooh? For me, this right up there with another certain Winnie the Pooh song. This song serves as the opening to both The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and its sequel Winnie the Pooh. We're going to go with the original song as the better one just because it's a classic. The newer version was sung by Zooey Deschanel. I always like the opening because of the Winnie the Pooh character stuffed animals and the zoom in on the book, which contains the map of the 100 Acre Wood, complete with misspellings and backward letters.

8. "I Wanna Be Like You" (The Jungle Book)

This is probably one of the swinging-est, jazzy songs Disney has ever produced, and it is awesome. This is one of my personal favorite Disney songs, and it's easy to see why. This song just makes you want to dance, and sing-a-long. King Louie is a great character and this song just makes him cooler. The Sherman Brothers penned this song, while Louis Prima provided the vocals. The Sherman Brothers based it off of Prima and his band, who were huge hits in Las Vegas with their Dixie-Land style Jazz music. It was a winning combination, as this song, along with the rest of The Jungle Book soundtrack is considered one of the better all around musicals of pre-Renaissance Disney.

7. "You Can Fly" (Peter Pan)

This is probably the most well known song in Peter Pan, and it's a good one. No other song has made anyone want to fly more than this one. Every child has tried it at least once: they've stood on the edge of their bed, thought of a happy thought and jumped, hoping to fly off instead of awkwardly hitting the floor. This is another trademark of Disney music, popping up in ads and Disney theme parks. It's not my favorite Peter Pan song (that goes to "Never Smile at a Crocodile"), but it's a million times better than the embarrassingly racist, "What Makes the Red man Red?"

6. "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo" (Cinderella)

No other phrase is more synonymous with magic, save for abrakadabra or alakazam, than bibbidi-bobbidi-boo. This song, if you haven't noticed, is almost completely gibberish, and it's still good. The song ended up being a hit in its own right, later being performed by Perry Como and the Fontane Sisters. Cinderella has plenty of good songs, but I think this one made it on the list because it's probably the most fun. The scene is great too, with everyone getting turned into different things. This is one of those songs that makes people wish that they had that backup, a fairy godmother if you will, when things go terribly wrong.


5. "He's a Tramp" (Lady and the Tramp)

As you can see, I'm letting a few repeats on the list. This is definitely the coolest song in Lady and the Tramp, with it's bluesy feel and the outstanding vocals by Peggy Lee. Lee also did many of the other songs in this movie, but this is the highlight. "He's a Tramp" was actually a very late addition into this movie, being submitted by Peggy Lee and Sonny Burke. Disney liked it so much that they fit it into the movie by putting it during the pound scene. I always liked this song, mostly because it gave me a reason for singing in dog howls, but I hated the immediate scene after it. Lady finds out that Tramp has had quite a time with the ladies before her and decides to shun him. Still, it's a great song, and I can see how it made the list.

4. "Bare Necessities" (The Jungle Book)

As I said before, The Jungle Book is full of great tunes, and this is probably the best known one from it. Sung by Phil Harris and written by Terry Gilkyson, this song is the only hold-over from an earlier draft of The Jungle Book. Gilkysons songs were considered too moody for the picture, so Disney got the Sherman Brothers to take over. The crew begged Disney to let them keep it, and boy are we glad they did. This song is a ton of fun and has Disney written all over it. I've always considered this to be the pre-cursor to Hakuna-Matata. The song revolves around Baloo trying to convince Mowgli that any thing you need will come right to you, so don't bother worrying about anything. That is sound advice! Baloo is one of my all time favorite Disney characters, and he basically makes an appearance in another movie (Robin Hood) and a TV show (Talespin). He's the prototypical fun uncle, and this is his lazy anthem.

3. "Cruella De Vil" (One Hundred and One Dalmatians)

"Cruella De Vil" is the most iconic villain song Disney has. The biggest difference between this villain song and the others is that this one is sung not by a villain or their henchman, but a protagonist. Songwriter Roger Radcliffe (Bill Lee) pens the song on the spot after meeting his wife's boss, Cruella De Vil. The song is equal parts funny and terrifying, depending on what age you are. The song is also the only main song in this whole movie, save for an outro and a TV commercial, even though one of the characters writes songs for a living. Luckily the song is so great that it makes up for the lack of other musical interludes.

2. "Once Upon a Dream" (Sleeping Beauty)

There had to be a song from Sleeping Beauty. They're all good, but this whimsy song takes the proverbial cake. It has a great duet, a chorus, and woodland creatures pretending to be a person. Disney decided to make a nod to Snow White's "I'm Wishing/One Song" by having a Prince unexpectedly becoming part of the song. This song also sticks out because they use it in the opening credits. The songs in this movie are about the only bright and happy things, as this is one of the darker Disney films, so it's nice that the songs aren't crazy depressing. That being said, with the new Maleficent movie coming out, "Once Upon a Dream" has been redone, albeit in a darker, moodier way.

1. "When You Wish Upon a Star" (Pinocchio)

I'm sure a lot of you saw this coming. This song is heard almost anytime you see a Disney commercial, it's logo, or watch one of its movies. It's probably the most beautiful and hopeful song Disney, or anybody has ever made. It, like Mickey Mouse, has become an icon of the Disney company and is instantly recognizable. This song best represents the true essence of Walt Disney, a dreamer if there ever was one. This was far and away our top choice for best song before the Disney Renaissance. Is this the greatest song Disney has ever made? According to AFI it is, but what do you think? Is this better than the rest of the Disney song library?

Underrated Disney Songs: Part I

There are many Disney songs that everybody knows, like "When You Wish Upon a Star," "Bare Necessities," and "A Friend Like Me." Then there are other songs that you probably forgot even existed. What I compiled here could be one or the other for you, but I feel like they are more often forgotten by the general public. There are many other forgotten songs, I'm sure, but these are some of my favorite Disney songs, but they'll never make it on someone's top Disney songs list. The are in no particular order, so don't assume I like some of these more than others. I'm separating older Disney from newer, so it's not too much to read at once. All songs are from the Disney Canon. One last note is that I'm excluding all songs that were not exclusively written for the films, so no songs from Fantasia or any of the others like it will be present.

1. "The Three Caballeros" (The Three Caballeros)

Don't get me wrong, I love all the other songs in this movie, along with Saludos Amigos, but "The Three Caballeros" is a classic song. Honestly, I'd heard the song before I'd ever seen the movie, watching it on the "Heigh Ho" Disney Sing-Along VHS. This song is great fun, and best of all it has Donald Duck, who happens to be my favorite Disney character of all time. The song is great all by itself, but this one is best viewed through the movie where you can see all the sight gags. It's nice to every once in a while get a Disney song that doesn't sound like the rest, and this one is definitely unique. Also, you can learn some Spanish!

2. "Nowhere in Particular" (The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad)

This song stands as the only one in The Wind of the Willows segment of the package film The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. That, along with the fact that Ichabod and Mr. Toad are very rarely brought up account for this song's inclusion. The song and movie are referenced only at Disneyland, where you can go on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. The ride was also at Disneyworld, and I was fortunate enough to have been able to go on it when it was still open, but closed in 1998 and replaced with a Winnie the Pooh ride. Anyway, this is a great song, sung by Mr. Toad and Cyril, his accomplice in all things mania. The duet takes place while Toad is in the throes of his "horse and carriage" mania and the song illustrates very well Toad's character. He's careless and just wants to have fun. What could go wrong?

3. "Never Smile at a Crocodile" (Peter Pan)

OK, so this song just makes a brief appearance, but there is the real version with words and everything. So I'm counting this one and there's nothing you can do about it. This was another one I got from Disney Sing-Alongs, and now that I think of it, I'm pretty glad we had those as kids, because otherwise I would probably not know any of these. One of the best parts of Peter Pan is the relationship between the Crocodile and Captain Hook. The Crocodile taunts Hook incessantly and you can hear this song starting up when he comes around. The song is honestly pretty silly. It's all about forgetting your manners around a crocodile and not smiling at it, bowing, or any of that stuff. It's a simple song, but it's still pretty catchy and funny to boot.

4. "That's What Makes the World Go Round" (The Sword in the Stone)

This is one of those songs that gets forgotten mostly because people forget that The Sword in the Stone actually had some music in it. It actually had quite a few songs, but this is my favorite. It lays out very plainly what Merlyn wants Wart to learn from his tutelage. Don't be a mediocrity, always learn new things. It's a great song and it's hidden inside this Disney gem which people barely take notice of anymore. The song leads right into the pike attack (my wife and I always thought it was a barracuda), which is pretty terrifying, so that kind of puts a damper on the whole song.

5. "That's What Friends Are For" (The Jungle Book)

This song takes place at the tail end of the movie, so it's easy to see how it is usually overlooked. Plus, this movie boasts the likes of "Bare Necessities" and "I Wanna Be Like You," which are among the most popular Disney songs of all time. The song is sung in the style of a Barbershop Quartet, something that the filmmakers wanted so they could lighten up the dark mood. The four vultures who sing to Mowgli were originally intended to be none other than the Beatles, but the deal fell through. What remains is four mop-topped crooners with Liverpool accents, but not the iconic Beatles. That's alright, the Beatles probably would have stolen the focus away from the movie. The song works for me on a lot of different levels. The song is pretty upbeat, but its being sung in the middle of a barren wasteland of the jungle with a storm looming. There are also double entendres alluding to how vultures devour other animals, so that's always fun. I think I may just like Barbershop Quartets, so that may explain this choice.

6. "Oo-De-Lally"/"Whistle Stop" (Robin Hood)

I've decided to put these together since they take place right next to each other, and they're both awesome. I know, "Whistle Stop" isn't technically a lyrical song, but it's too good to leave off. "Oo-De-Lally" is basically a folksy intro to Robin Hood and Little John. There's nothing spectacular about the song, but its just very chill and a great intro to the story. Speaking of intros, "Whistle Stop" is what plays over the opening credits, and when I say credits, I mean it. For whatever reason, they decided to put most of the credits at the beginning of the movie along with the song and a parade of the characters. I guess they had to make it a little interesting. This is one of my favorite openings to a Disney movie, all because of this song. It's so catchy that it's annoying, but then it isn't again. If you think you've heard this song somewhere, it's because it's also "The Hamster Dance Song." I personally like this version better. Both songs were written and performed by Roger Miller.

7. "Little April Shower" (Bambi)

Bambi is one of those movies that I really didn't care for when I was a kid. I thought Bambi was a girl, and it wasn't cool to watch a movie about a girl deer apparently. Of course Bambi is a boy and I was an idiot. Upon viewing Bambi now, I see what a masterpiece the whole movie is. It has probably some of the best animation Disney has ever produced, plus it's a great coming of age story. The songs, though you miss them the first couple times around, are actually one of the highlights for me. "Love is a Song That Never Ends" is a beautiful opening, but for the best song in this movie that nobody knows, I'd have to go with "Little April Shower." The song takes place early in the movie when Bambi is still young and hasn't been crushed by the weight of the world. It's a simple song sung by a choir, but it fits the mood perfectly. What is especially good about the song is it goes in stages. It starts out nice and cheerful with a little bit of rain, then as the light rain turns into a legitimate storm, the music becomes chaotic, punctuated by cymbal crashes. Just when we think it'll never end, the storm breaks and all goes calm again. It mirrors the movie pretty well, foreshadowing the storms Bambi will face later in life. It also reminds me a lot of the Silly Symphony The Old Mill.

8. "Casey Junior" (Dumbo)

It's mostly an instrumental, but this song and sequence were my favorite part of Dumbo as a child, and I still like it a ton. It's a big song that sounds more like the opening of a Disney cartoon, but it works really well in Dumbo. I can't hear this song and not think of trains or the circus. It helps that the song is pretty catchy. I had actually completely forgotten about this song until I did research for this post. "Everybody knows Baby Mine" and "When I See An Elephant Fly," but this song is easily missed. It shouldn't be that way, since this song isn't depressing or filled with racist caricatures. While the song may be largely forgotten, the character is not. Casey Jr. operates as the children's train at Disneyland and Disneyland Paris.

9. "The Headless Horseman" (The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad)

This song is great for many reasons. First and foremost, because Bing Crosby provides the vocals. I mean, who can argue with Bing Crosby? Second, it's a Halloween song, and I love Halloween. Third, it's just a fun and spooky song. I know that this is more of a seasonal song, but to me, it can be listened to anytime. Same goes for the movie. You can't just watch The Legend of Sleepy Hollow during October! I think part of the reason it's overlooked is simply because this is seen as a Halloween only movie. The other songs in the movie, "Ichabod Crane,"and "Katrina" are also great tunes, if only because of Bing Crosby. The song serves as the way Ichabod learns of the Headless Horseman, with Brom Bones trying to scare him more and more. It's really where the movie takes off, because before this everything has been pretty light and quiet. This song marks when things get spooky.

10. "Scales and Arpeggios" (The Aristocats)

I'm honestly not a huge fan of The Aristocats, but I like this song. The song is actually much better in context, so I would definitely rather watch the scene than listen to it, but it's still a cute song. The image of a paint splattered cat playing piano never gets old. This song kind of molds into the rest of the movie and isn't as stand out as "Ev'rybody Wants To Be a Cat" or even "Thomas O'Malley Cat."It's just a simple little song that shows the lives of Duchess and her kittens. Disney doesn't have very many songs with just piano, so it's just kind of different.