The most iconic songs from the Disney animated film canon

When the big Disney fantasy musical "Encanto" got released to theaters in November of 2021, it did merely OK business. At the time, the coronavirus Omicron variant was still ravaging much of the world, so it's understood why some families didn't feel safe congregating in theaters. Yet once the musical started streaming on Disney+ on Christmas Eve, its popularity exploded. While Disney quickly pegged the obvious ballad "Dos Oruguitas" as the song to submit for Best Original Song consideration at the Oscars (where it did get nominated but did not win), it was another Lin-Manuel Miranda-penned original that ended up taking the world by storm: "We Don't Talk About Bruno".

A story song detailing why a family with supernatural gifts had ostracized a sibling with the power to see into the future, a majority of the film's voice cast drop amusing anecdotes over a catchy salsa rhythm that is blessed with a good amount of Broadway flourish. People unfamiliar with "Encanto" will find the song nothing short of impenetrable, but within the context of the movie, it is a focal point and ended up being the number that audiences latched onto. Despite little support from radio, the song pulled off a remarkable chart feat by becoming only the second song from a Disney film to top the charts, occupying the penthouse for five straight weeks. Even if you haven't seen the film, you've heard it, but if you had kids when this came out, you probably never heard the end of it.

With the amount of money Disney is making with the live-action remakes of its animated film canon, there is no doubt this trend is expected to continue for years to come, especially as the remake of "The Lion King," arguably the most treasured of the trove, will be landing in theaters on July 19.

Yet the scripts and animation styles, as distinct as they were in the House of Mouse, were often coupled with truly amazing, galvanizing, culture-affecting songs. These tunes have been a trademark of its musicals dating all the way back to the studio's pre-WWII days, and its library of instantly hummable numbers has grown even into the CGI era.

So let's celebrate the most iconic songs ever of the animated Disney canon, shall we? Being as this is Disney musicals we're talking about, songs from Pixar movies will not be counted here. (Sorry, Randy Newman.)

While "Snow White" sports the romantic "Someday My Prince Will Come" and even, arguably, "Whistle While You Work," it was the whimsical, nearly non-sensical "Heigh-Ho" (it's off to work we go, you know) that became a staple for many working Americans in the decades since the film's release. It was often sung in jest right before time cards were punched and long before shift-closing whistles were sounded. We're not discounting the lush romantic ballads that Disney would continue to release for decades down the line, but the studio's first true and proper full-length feature never shied away from a good sense of whimsy, which is why "Heigh-Ho" has endured in such a surprising and welcome fashion.

It's time for a bold declaration: There is no Disney song more iconic than "When You Wish Upon a Star." Heard during the opening and closings sequences of "Pinocchio," the dreamy, Jiminy Cricket-sung number embodies Walt Disney's entire aesthetic and philosophy, driving the hope that no matter who you are, your dreams really can come true. Even as you read this, the Disney Studios title card on most of its films uses some iteration of the "Star" melody, proving to be the unofficial (but totally official) anthem for all things Disney nearly 80 years since its release.

Sung during perhaps one of the absolute saddest parts of any Disney film ever (when the baby elephant Dumbo visits his ostracized mom in a cage and tries to have a familial moment through the bars, trunks touching and tears flowing), "Baby Mine" was co-written by Ned Washington, fresh off his acclaimed work writing "When You Wish Upon a Star" for "Pinocchio." Barely over two minutes long, the song nonetheless still strikes a lonesome chord. And try as Arcade Fire might to recreate its magic for the 2019 live-action remake, absolutely nothing beats the original.

It's one of the most memorable Disney songs ever (you probably are already humming it in your head) and marked the second time that Disney was able to walk home with the Academy Award for Best Song (following "When You Wish Upon a Star" of course). But its film, "Song of the South," remains notably problematic for its portrayal of plantation life and horrendous use of black vernacular and stereotypes. As a result, clips of the film exist but the whole movie has never seen a full release in the United States (and is notably not on the vast film archives of the Disney+ streaming service). When you visit Disneyland, however, it still plays during the ride on Splash Mountain, and that's a tradition that may never change.

You got to love the time when Disney was able to get away with making entire songs out of absolute nonsense words. There really isn't much substance at all to "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo," but it contains a sizable amount of whimsy to match its instantly memorable melody. Nominated for the Best Original Song Oscar, this Fairy Godmother-sung tune was written by Al Hoffman, Mack David and Jerry Livingston, the same team who would write another memorable number from the same musical: "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes."

Capturing that dreamy sense of lush fantasy fulfillment first caught in "When You Wish Upon a Star," this hallmark Disney ballad, amazingly, was written by a group of songwriters who weren't already a part of Disney's music stable at the time. They were hired by Walt Disney after he heard a Perry Como number on the radio that they had penned together. Incidentally, it is Como who would later record his own version of it, but the Disney one remains the gold standard.

As beloved as it is, "Peter Pan" remains a highly problematic film due to its portrayal of Native Americans in insultingly caricature-driven ways. But revisions like "Hook!" and the umpteen number of Pan-related reboots since then have all but whitewashed this out of the public consciousness. The songs, however, have endured, and while we were tempted to slot "A Pirate's Life" here, "You Can Fly!" remains a joyful expression of joy and happiness, summarizing what the film — and Disney itself — is all about.

Borrowing heavily from a melody from the Tchaikovsky ballet of the same name, there's a simpleness and fluidity to "Once Upon a Dream" that makes it the film's theme song, having been worked into its opening, closing and midpoint rather seamlessly. Breathlessly covered by Lana Del Rey for the Angelina Jolie revisionist film "Maleficent," the original remains the languid beauty we keep coming back to.

What a ramshackle Tin Pan Alley-styled theme this is! Remember: In the film, this is a song that Roger (the human husband who oversees the dogs) writes and later gets rich on, a looping theme that dances around with comic menace. When the fur-loving villain, Cruella De Vil, stops by to see the puppies, he sings it, bashes it out on a piano and reiterates it through more than a few horned instruments. This theme proved so popular that the later stage musical "Annie" featured the villain song "Easy Street" that very much carried on the spirit of the Mel Leven-penned original.

A feel-good ragtime number always manages to makes your worries go away, doesn't it? Penned by the great Terry Gilkyson (who also wrote "Thomas O'Malley Cat" from 1970's "The Aristocats"), "Bare Necessities" was one of several songs that Gilkyson penned for an earlier version of "The Jungle Book" that never made its way to production. When the film was attempted to be made years later, The Sherman Brothers — the Mouse's in-demand, in-house songwriters — added some new songs to the mix but kept "Necessities," as it still fit what they were going for thematically. The end result? An Academy Award-nominated classic, lovingly given new life by Bill Murray in the 2016 live-action remake.

Some Dis-nerds debate when the Disney animation dark age (sometimes known as "The Bronze Age") formally ended. "The Little Mermaid" from 1989 is often cited as the start of the studio's new renaissance, while some argue that 1986's "The Great Mouse Detective" had a helping hand. All of this discussion, however, dismisses the kitschy, often-overlooked "Oliver & Company" from 1988. It may not go down as an all-time great, but it has a killer soundtrack, anchored by the talents of one of the voice actors: a little-known guy named Billy Joel. The strutting mid-tempo number "Why Should I Worry?" wasn't penned by Joel, but it sure sounds like something you'd find in his greatest hits collection. This is a sleeper Disney hit if there ever was one.

And then came Alan Menken. Fresh off the theatrical hit that was "Little Shop of Horrors," Disney hired Menken and lyricist Howard Ashman to compose an original set of songs for a new animated musical called "The Little Mermaid." Suffice to say, they knocked it out of the park. "Part of Your World," mermaid Ariel's ballad of longing to belong to something bigger than her life, became an instant classic, netting Menken and Ashman the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Once Menken was in the Disney stable, there was no stopping him, as he and Howard Ashman continued to push out great, memorable songs with each new project that came along. From "The Little Mermaid" alone, nearly every track is a standard, from "Kiss the Girl" to "Under the Sea." Yet one thing that Menken and Ashman did extremely well was compose a litany of great villain numbers, and out of all of them, Ursula's romp, "Poor Unfortunate Souls," might be the best of them all. Voiced by the inimitable Pat Carroll, this standalone song bursts with more verve and character than entire other movies. The best part? Menken and Ashman would only go up from there.

In the Disney Renaissance era, every film needed an absolute showstopper. Think "Under the Sea." Think "I Just Can't Wait to Be King." Think "Friend Like Me." Yet above them all lies what may be the most referenced, most imitated and most-beloved humdinger of them all: "Be Our Guest." Blessed with a landmark performance by the late, great Jerry Orbach as Lumière the talking candlestick, the joie de vivre captured here remains one of the high points in all of Disney animation, with a mix of hand-drawn and computer animation adding up to a colorful spectacle that never fails to put a smile on any viewer's face.

A Broadway ballad of the highest order, Angela Lansbury reportedly sang this lovely, romantic number in one single take. Since then, it has endured as one of the definitive charmers in Disney's entire songbook, not just the Renaissance era. Although covered by Emma Thompson in the 2017 live-action remake, there was a warmth and sincerity missing from the new version, meaning that we'll keep coming back to this song again and again, like "a tale as old as time."

In the history of Disney animated films, has there ever been a voice presence as explosive, commanding or memorable as Robin Williams turn as the Genie in "Aladdin"? We're going to say no because this brassy, sassy, big-band number burst off the screen as an explosion of color and creativity that absolutely felt plausible within the world of the story all while opening the audience's eyes to the possibilities of what the Genie could do. And listen, Will Smith, we love you, but some classics just aren't to be trifled with.

Although Alan Menken and Howard Ashman were proving to be one of the most dynamic songwriting teams in all of modern cinema, the passing of Ashman in 1991 left a giant hole in Disney's heart. Truly nothing could fill it, but Menken needed a new creative partnership, so he turned to Andrew Lloyd Webber's lyricist, Tim Rice, to help with "Aladdin." Classic in composition, "A Whole New World," a song about the possibilities of romantic love, was nothing short of a sensation, not only netting Menken his third consecutive Oscar for Best Original Song but also winning the Grammy for Song of the Year as well — so far the only time a Disney film has pulled off such a feat.

Despite Alan Menken's songwriting prowess, he proved unavailable to work on a project as ambitious as "The Lion King," which resulted in the film turning to lyricist Tim Rice and asking him with whom he wanted to work — and the answer was Elton John. Upbeat and catchy, this comic, carefree number about forgetting about your worries proved to be one of the film's many musical highlights. It's no surprise that at the Academy Awards that year, three "Lion King" songs were nominated, with this and "Circle of Life" losing out to "Can You Feel the Love Tonight."

Arguably the last great romantic ballad of the Renaissance era, "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" absolutely swept the world off its feet (paws?) when it first came out. Lush and languid, curious and coy, the film version alternated between multiple characters' inner monologues, while the Elton John rendition became another top 20 hit for him and proving once again that when it came to saccharine, no one could do it quite like Disney.

While "A Goofy Movie" was largely dismissed at the time of its release, it has since gone on to find a cult following all its own. Goofy's son, Max, idolizes the pop star Powerline, who is a sort of Prince/Michael Jackson hybrid (and voiced by former Prince protege Tevin Campbell). The movie's climactic song takes place at a Powerline concert, and as easy as it is to call "I 2 I" a big Prince pop ripoff, it remains one of the most surprising, catchy numbers that has ever come out of the House of Mouse. Go ahead; put it on: You'll be dancing to it within seconds.

No one could replace Howard Ashman and the creative bond he shared with Alan Menken. But following Ashman's passing, Menken was certainly open to new partnerships and just so happened to find a common language with the Broadway great Stephen Schwartz. "Colors of the Wind" may be the best thing about the indifferently received "Pocahontas," and the movie's signature song is defiant and downright political, with Pocahontas criticizing this traveling white man for claiming this land just because he landed on it. Amazingly, the number still manages to hit notes of poetry and beauty despite its raw edge, and in listening to it in this day and age its themes still ring painfully true.

Alan Menken is not one to rest on his laurels, nor were Disney animators, who for the underrated "Hercules" decided to go with a more angular aesthetic that was set apart from the previous films. Keeping in line with this break from tradition, Menken worked with another Andrew Lloyd Webber lyricist (David Zippel) to devise a gospel-soul template of which all of the "Hercules" songs would be based on. The lively, upbeat "Zero to Hero" effectively serves as a montage to Herc's rise to fame, and it moves with a pep that simply can't be topped. Some may even argue it's the best song from the film.

Another year, another centerpiece ballad in a Disney film and another Academy Award nomination for Alan Menken. It's not that things have gotten stale by any means, but when it comes to a rousing or romantic number that ties the Disney song suite together, Menken has the formula down cold. Anthemic and empowering, "Go the Distance" was a sizable hit in its own right (with pop and international versions recorded by Michael Bolton and Ricky Martin), and although it lost the Oscar to "Titanic's" "My Heart Will Go On," it still goes down as one of Disney's late-Renaissance greats.

If you're wondering why the music to "Mulan" didn't feel as substantial as that from prior Disney animation films, it may because this movie was mired in drama. Although the uber-talented Stephen Schwartz was initially signed on to write both music and lyrics for this film, he left the project to do DreamWorks' "Prince of Egypt" instead, causing several already-written songs to be scrapped. As such, one-time synth-pop artist (remember "Break My Stride"?) and later No Doubt album producer Matthew Wilder was brought in to work on the music with lyricist David Zippel. Out of the work they were able to do, the Donny Osmond-sung training number, "I'll Make a Man Out of You," has endured, with its militaristic beat and rousing spirit proving to be more memorable, to some, than the movie itself.

"Tarzan" is a somewhat misunderstood film, as the Mouse realized that having a half-naked man break out into song crossed a line of plausibility that "Mulan" and even "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" only toed. As such, Phil Collins provided songs to the movie and sang them himself, with only the occasional voice actor joining in; Collins' voice acted more as a narrator/internal monologue than anything else. It may not be a classic on the level of "Can You Feel the Love Tonight," but "You'll Be in My Heart" is a rousing slice of mid-tempo pop that not only grounded the film's love story but also helped reboot Collins' sagging solo career, netting him an Academy Award along the way.

Remember: There's a generation of kids who grew up without ever having seen "Snow White" or even "Aladdin," and "Tarzan" may have well been their first Disney animated experience. The reason this is worth mentioning is that a whole group of youngsters absolutely grew up on "Trashin' the Camp"," the found-sound nonsense party-starter that had an *NSYNC version of it grace the soundtrack on top of the Rosie O'Donnell one.

When it comes to a list of the most iconic songs from animated Disney films — well, you know this was going to be on here. Originally penned for a villain given that Elsa was initially the film's antagonist before being rewritten, this pop ballad was the work of eventual EGOT-winning composer Robert Lopez and his wife, Kristen Anderson-Lopez. Propelled with the voice of Broadway great Idina Menzel, "Let It Go" absolutely revitalized the Disney animation brand for a whole new generation of viewers and can already be counted in the same canon as the Alan Menken songbook — a high bar to clear, and the Lopez couple did it with aplomb.

By its Polynesian setting alone, "Moana" was going to be a change of pace from the CGI spectacle that was "Frozen,"  here interpreting ocean mythologies and demigod culture into a new, empowering musical, with all the big songs written by "Hamilton" creator Lin-Manuel Miranda. Although Dwayne Johnson's playful "You're Welcome" has its own charm, it's the big anthem, "How Far I'll Go," that is the heart of "Moana," conveying wanderlust and empowerment all at once. Deservedly Oscar-nominated, it's clear that when it comes to iconic animated numbers, Disney isn't running out of steam anytime soon.