Top 10 Best Songs from Disney Movies

The opening scene of The Lion King is one of the most awe-inspiring film sequences ever made. From the very first second, when South African singer Lebo M. starts the Zulu cry “Nants ingonyama bagithi baba” and the bright red morning sun rises over the African savannah, the viewer is captivated by pure cinematic grandeur. As herds of animals from all corners of the kingdom flock to the King's Rock to greet the newborn cub Simba, Elton John and Tim Rice's composition builds to a breathtaking climax. The song summarizes the philosophy of birth, survival and the eternal cycle of life in an unparalleled way. Without a single spoken word of dialogue, “Circle of Life” definitively proved that animation and film music can work together to create timeless art.

The heart of the very first animated film ever nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture beats in the famous ballroom scene. While Beauty and the Beast shyly waltz across the shiny marble floor, the enchanted teapot Mrs. Tuit (a legendary role by actress Angela Lansbury) sings the timeless ballad about two opposites who slowly grow closer. Lansbury recorded the song in the studio in a single take, right after an exhausting overnight flight. Howard Ashman's delicate lyrics (“Tale as old as time, tune as old as song”) and Alan Menken's lush melody resulted in a gigantic success, winning an Oscar, a Golden Globe and two Grammy Awards.

Floating on a magical flying carpet over the rooftops of Agrabah and the pyramids of Egypt, street urchin Aladdin (Brad Kane) and Princess Jasmine (Lea Salonga) share one of the most romantic moments in movie history. The duet marked a triumph for composer Alan Menken and lyricist Tim Rice, who joined after the untimely death of Howard Ashman. The song made history in the American music industry: the pop version by Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle even knocked Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" off the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. To this day, it remains the only Disney song to win a prestigious Grammy Award for Song of the Year.

The couple Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez wrote one of the biggest pop phenomena of the 21st century. Initially, Snow Queen Elsa was designed as the villain of the story, but when the directors heard the first demo of “Let It Go,” they decided to change the entire script: Elsa became a tragic character struggling to embrace her own powers. Sung by Broadway star Idina Menzel, the liberating pop anthem grew into a worldwide sensation that topped the charts for months. The song won an Oscar and Grammy, and exceeded billions of views on YouTube. Parents around the world grew tired of hearing the chorus over time, but the song's cultural impact is undeniable.

After a decade of artistic and commercial setbacks, The Little Mermaid sparked a glorious rebirth for the animation studio in 1989. That artistic revival was in large part due to lyricist Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken, who approached the animated film as a full-fledged Broadway musical. With “Under the Sea,” the duo created an irresistible calypso explosion in which the Caribbean crab Sebastian (Samuel E. Wright) tries to convince mermaid Ariel that underwater life is infinitely better than the dangers on dry land. The song set the new musical standard for the modern Disney film and won the Oscar for Best Original Song.

In the midst of the famous 'Disney Renaissance' of the 1990s, composer Alan Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz delivered one of the most profound songs in the Disney repertoire. “Colors of the Wind,” sung by actress Judy Kuhn, is a fiery argument against colonialism, greed and the disrespectful plundering of the earth. Pocahontas confronts the English colonist John Smith with his limited worldview and teaches him that nature is not a soulless possession, but a living organism full of connection and wisdom. The song was showered with awards and won the Oscar, the Golden Globe and the Grammy Award for Best Film Song.

Sung by Cliff Edwards in the role of Jiminy Cricket, “When You Wish Upon a Star” is the musical soul of the Walt Disney Company. Written by Leigh Harline and Ned Washington, the song summarized Walt Disney's philosophy in a few lines: dreams can come true if you sincerely believe in them. It was the very first Disney song to win an Oscar for Best Original Song. In the decades that followed, the timeless melody became the official signature tune of the entire company: to this day, the first seven notes sound at the opening logo of every studio film and are played by the horns of the Disney cruise ships.

Few phrases from film history have penetrated as deeply into everyday language as the Swahili expression hakuna matata, which roughly translates to 'no worries'. Cheerful meerkat Timon (Nathan Lane) and good-natured warthog Pumbaa (Ernie Sabella) teach traumatized cub Simba how to leave the past behind and enjoy the present. Composed by Elton John with lyrics by Tim Rice, the song replaced a previously planned lament about eating insects. With its energetic vaudeville rhythm and comic lyrics (including Pumbaa's frank confession about his digestive problems), the song was nominated for an Academy Award and is regarded worldwide as the anthem for carefree joie de vivre.

For the Tarzan soundtrack, Disney took a completely new path by approaching pop icon Phil Collins. Instead of the traditional Broadway style where characters themselves burst into song, Collins wrote songs that functioned as musical narration in the background. “You'll Be in My Heart” originally originated as an intimate lullaby that Collins composed on the piano for his young daughter Lily. In the film, the gorilla Kala sings about her unconditional motherly love for the found human child Tarzan, after which Collins takes over the song with his recognizable, emotional voice. The singer not only sang the English version for international cinema versions, but also took care of the French, German, Spanish and Italian translations himself. It earned him both a Golden Globe and an Oscar.

Written by Terry Gilkyson, “The Bare Necessities” (known in Dutch as Als je van beren can learn from bears) was the only song Walt Disney kept after scrapping the film's original, far-too-dark soundtrack. The infectious Dixieland jazz melody embodies the carefree life philosophy of the good-natured bear Baloo, inimitably sung by jazz musician Phil Harris. The song was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Song and became one of the most covered Disney songs ever, performed by artists ranging from Louis Armstrong to Robbie Williams. The swinging duet between Baloo and Mowgli was the musical highlight of the very last animated film that Walt Disney personally collaborated on before his death in 1966.