Finding Oscar: Academy Award-Winning Songs at WDW

by Al Krombach
AllEars® Guest Columnist

Feature Article

This article appeared in the February 16, 2016 Issue #856 of ALL EARS® (ISSN: 1533-0753)

Every Academy Awards season, fans of all that's Disney eagerly scan the lists of Oscar nominees to see whether any of their favorites has a shot at bringing home the gold. Then, come that special Sunday night, they'll gather around the TV to root for their favorites. More often than not, they'll have something to cheer about.

The Walt Disney Co. is no stranger to the annual Academy Awards stage. Walt Disney himself collected 59 nominations and 22 awards during his lifetime, more than any other individual. And Disney Studios has gone on to rack up many more of the shiny statuettes since he passed away in 1966.

But Disney Oscars in the Best Original Song category is what we're all about here. Between 1940's "When You Wish Upon a Star" and 2013's "Let It Go," composers and lyricists working for the company have compiled more than 40 nominations and 12 or 13 wins in that category alone. (If those numbers seem a little vague, it's because some published lists include songs from Disney-produced Touchstone movies, and some don't. Some also include songs from Muppet movies that were released before Kermit and the gang actually signed up with the Disney organization.)

"When You Wish Upon a Star," by Leigh Harline and Ned Washington, from Pinocchio, went on to symbolize everything that Disney would become. It was Disney's first musical Academy Award, presented at the 13th annual awards banquet, the seventh ceremony since the best-song award was established. Nominations for "Baby Mine" from Dumbo followed in 1941, "Love Is a Song" from Bambi in 1942, and "Saludos Amigos" from Saludos Amigos in 1943 before Song of the South's "Zip-A-Dee Doo Dah" won Disney's second best-song award in 1947.

Sixteen years passed before the studio would collect another best-song trophy, although "Lavender Blue" from So Dear to My Heart and "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo" from Cinderella earned nominations in 1949 and 1950, respectively. In 1964, Mary Poppins garnered Julie Andrews a Best Actress award in her first film role, and "Chim Chim Cher-ee" became the first and only Oscar for prolific Disney songwriters Richard and Robert Sherman.

A full 25 years would separate that Academy Award from Disney's next best-song Oscar. During that stretch, however, nominations went to "The Bare Necessities" from The Jungle Book (1967), "The Age of Not Believing" from Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), "Love" from Robin Hood (1973), "Candle on the Water" from Pete's Dragon (1977), and "Someone's Waiting For You" from The Rescuers (also 1977).

In 1989, the stars aligned for what would eventually be called Disney's Second Golden Era. Disney ditties dominated the next decade, racking up 14 Best Original Song nominations and seven Academy Awards in that category.

Composer Alan Menken and lyricist Howard Ashman were largely responsible for the studio's musical renaissance. Ashman, an accomplished playwright, came to Disney to help with some projects, including the animated feature The Little Mermaid. A veteran of musical theater, he recognized strong musical possibilities in the film and brought in Menken, with whom he had partnered on the successful off-Broadway musical, "Little Shop of Horrors." Without comparing him to Walt, Roy E. Disney said Ashman had the same instinct for finding fresh approaches and inspiring others to new heights of creativity.

The musical-comedy setting of "The Little Mermaid" earned nominations for two songs, "Kiss the Girl" and "Under the Sea." The latter song won the Academy Award in 1989.

(Disney produced the movie Dick Tracy in 1990; a song from the film, "Sooner or Later," by Broadway legend Stephen Sondheim, won the best-song Oscar. Presumably because it was released by Touchstone, Disney's own Academy Award song list does not include it.)

In 1991, Menken and Ashman followed with three nominations for songs from Beauty and the Beast: "Be Our Guest," "Belle" and "Beauty and the Beast." The latter song took the award. (Only four films in the Academy's history have garnered three best-song nominations in a single year; three of them are Disney films.)

Yet another Menken-Ashman effort scored in 1992. "A Whole New World" won the Oscar, and "Friend Like Me" was also nominated. Both are from Aladdin. The pair's work on Aladdin was actually begun before Beauty and the Beast, but following Ashman's tragic death, lyricist Tim Rice collaborated with Menken on the winning song and others after the film's story line was altered.

In 1994, Tim Rice returned, this time with superstar Elton John, to pen songs for The Lion King. "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" won the Oscar, while "Circle of Life" and "Hakuna Matata" were also nominated – Disney's second hat-trick in the Best Original Songs category.

"Colors of the Wind" from Pocahontas won the Academy Award in 1995 – another Alan Menken tune, this time with lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. That year also marked the first entry from a Pixar film in the best-song category: "You've Got a Friend in Me" from Toy Story, by Randy Newman, was nominated.

Menken, with lyricist David Zippel, was nominated, but didn't win for "Go the Distance" from Hercules in 1997.

In 1999, Randy Newman collected another nomination, for "When She Loved Me," from Pixar's Toy Story 2. But it was another Disney animation, Tarzan, which supplied the award-winning song, "You'll Be in My Heart," by Phil Collins. In 2000, "My Funny Friend and Me" from The Emperor's New Groove was nominated, but didn't win.

The year 2001 was finally Randy Newman's year. He and Pixar took home the trophy for "If I Didn't Have You" from Monsters, Inc.

A spate of nominations followed: "Our Town" from Cars, Randy Newman, 2006; "Happy Working Song," "So Close," and "That's How You Know," all from Enchanted, by Menken and Schwartz, 2007. (It was the third time a Disney film earned three best-song nominations. Later, the Academy ruled that no more than two songs could be nominated from one film.)

"Down to Earth" from Wall-E, by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman, was nominated in 2008 but lost to "Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire. Randy Newman earned two more nominations in 2009 for two songs from The Princess and the Frog – "Almost There" and "Down in New Orleans."

In 2010, Disney-Pixar picked up an Oscar for "We Belong Together" from Toy Story 3, by perennial nominee Randy Newman. (While most of Disney's recent animated features employ songs to advance the plots, songs in Pixar animations tend to be used as background to a scene or are played over the closing credits. Both are acceptable under Academy rules.) "I See the Light," from Tangled, by Menken and Glenn Slater, was also nominated in 2010.

For 2011, "Man or Muppet" from The Muppets, by Bret McKenzie, won the best-song Oscar – the first award-winning song generated following Disney's acquisition of the Muppet Show characters in 2006.

When 2013 arrived, so did the phenomenon of Frozen. "Let it Go" captured the Best Original Song statuette along with the hearts of millions and the playlists of every possible recording media. Songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez contributed both words and music. Anderson-Lopez was the first woman to win a song-writing Oscar on a Disney film.

No Disney movie songs were nominated for 2014 or 2015. What future film will yield the next giant, magical Disney hit? No doubt someone's toiling away at the piano (or synthesizer) right now, all with a dream to snatch that golden trophy.

Now join me in a search for those Oscar-winning tunes among Walt Disney World's four parks. We're looking for attractions where the songs' melodies and words are an integral part of the show. Incidental appearances, including street entertainment, parades, fireworks shows, background music emanating from shrubbery and lampposts, and so on, don't count. While we're at it, can you name the single Oscar-winning tune that appears in two attractions?

Animal Kingdom

You may meet-and-greet Tarzan and Pocahontas here, but you won't hear their Academy Award-winning movie songs unless you can get them to sing a few bars for you. The Festival of the Lion King theater-in-the-round is where you'll hear "Can You Feel the Love Tonight," accompanying a flying ballet performance. The show is performed multiple times daily.

Disney's Hollywood Studios

You'd think a theme park dedicated to the magic of movies would feature the most movie-related music – and you'd be right. Park visitors can skip straight down Hollywood Boulevard to The Great Movie Ride. Near the show's beginning, Dick Van Dyke and Julie Andrews animatronics sing "Chim Chim Cher-ee" from the rooftops of London. Nearby that attraction, the For the First Time In Forever: Frozen Singalong takes to the bright lights six times daily, and what's Frozen without "Let It Go?" It's great fun hearing every kid (and a lot of the moms and dads!) in the place belt out that tune. A large amphitheater hosts Beauty and the Beast Live On Stage, where you'll experience "Beauty and the Beast" as recorded by Angela Lansbury, who sang the original version for the animated film. The Voyage of the Little Mermaid show employs giant puppets against a blacked-out background, helping viewers believe they're "Under the Sea." Lastly, the Walt Disney: One Man's Dream exhibit (usually) includes a short film about Walt that concludes with a sentimental "When You Wish Upon a Star" by the original performer, Cliff "Ukulele Ike" Edwards, leaving very few dry eyes in the house.

Epcot

As of this writing, the Norway pavilion in World Showcase was still being transformed to host the new Frozen Ever After attraction. But anyone searching for an Oscar-winning Disney song in this theme park will come up tuneless, so we'll "let it go," for now.

Magic Kingdom

"Zip-A-Dee Doo Dah" greets Splash Mountain flume riders following the 50-foot drop into the Briar Patch, though purists may note that the song's words have been changed to fit the ride's story line. "A Whole New World" is not to be found at the Magic Carpets of Aladdin ride, but it's a featured selection in the Mickey's Philharmagic 3-D movie. Last but not least, "Under the Sea" occurs in Journey of the Little Mermaid, part of the recent Fantasyland expansion – the second Disney World show where Sebastian the crab gets his Caribbean calypso claws into that catchy tune.

Author's Note: No single CD contains all of Disney's Academy Award songs, though some come close. A favorite is "Color, Rhythm and Magic" by jazz pianist Earl Rose; it contains eight of the 12 songs mentioned above, played in a gentle, easy-listening style. (Varese Sarabande label) A definitive four-CD boxed set on the Menken-Ashman partnership features working sessions, demo recordings and the final tracks from The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin. It's titled "The Music Behind the Magic." (Walt Disney Records)

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Al Krombach previously wrote for the AllEars.Net Guest Blog:
The Music of Impressions de France

He also wrote The Music of the Haunted Mansion for the newsletter.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: A professional journalist for more than 30 years, Al Krombach has worked for several Florida newspapers and retired in 2015. He is an alumnus of the Florida State University College of Music and has worked with a variety of musical groups (as an instrumentalist) and choirs (as a director). He and wife Vicky have three children and five grandchildren, every one a Disney fan. They are longtime Disney aficionados and have accumulated more than 250 park visits since the World began.

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Editor's Note: This story/information was accurate when it was published. Please be sure to confirm all current rates, information and other details before planning your trip.