Toon Talk Special: The 101 Greatest Disney Songs - Part 2 of 2 - Aug 24, 2001

Toon Talk Special: The 101 Greatest Disney Songs - Part 2 of 2
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#61 - "A Whole New World"
Aladdin - 1992
Music by Alan Menken, Lyrics by Tim Rice

"I can open your eyes
Take you wonder by wonder
Over, sideways and under
On a magic carpet ride"

Vocals: Brad Kane as Aladdin and Lea Salonga as Princess Jasmine
Source Album: Aladdin Original Soundtrack
Alternate Track: No, not the Regina Belle/Peabo Bryson end-title duet, but Collin Raye's The Best of Country Sing the Best of Disney track.

Behind the Music:

  • A number one single, the song took home an Oscar, a Golden Globe and two Grammys, for Song from a Movie and the prestigious Song of the Year award.
  • Menken's original title was "The World At Your Feet". Rice suggested the final title.

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(c) Touchstone

#62 - "This Is Halloween"
Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas - 1993
Music and Lyrics by Danny Elfman

"Boys and girls of every age
Wouldn't you like to see something strange?
Come with us and you will see
This, our town of Halloween"

Vocals: The Citizens of Halloween, including Elfman
Source Album: Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas Original Soundtrack

Behind the Music:

  • Golden Globe nomination for Best Score.
  • The original demo for this song is available on Elfman's Music for a Darkened Theater, Volume 2: Film & Television Music.

#63 - "What's This?"
Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas - 1993
Music and Lyrics by Danny Elfman

"There are children throwing snowballs
Instead of throwing heads
They're busy building toys
Absolutely no ones dead"

Vocals: Danny Elfman as Jack Skellington
Source Album: Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas Original Soundtrack

Behind the Music:

  • This song, with revised lyrics, was used for an Epcot commercial.

#64 - "Home"
Beauty & the Beast: The Broadway Musical - 1994
Music by Alan Menken, Lyrics by Tim Rice

"What I'd give to return
To the life that I knew lately
But I know that I can't
Solve my problems going back"

Vocals: Susan Egan as Belle
Source Album: Beauty & the Beast: The Broadway Musical Original Cast Recording
Track Note: The above lyrics are on the cast album, but were altered for the final production.

Behind the Music:

  • The first Disney movie to be adapted for the Broadway stage.
  • The score, which included all the songs from the film, was nominated for a Tony Award.

#65 - "If I Can't Love Her"
Beauty & the Beast: The Broadway Musical - 1994
Music by Alan Menken, Lyrics by Tim Rice

"Long ago I should have seen
All the things I could have been
Careless and unthinking I moved onward"

Vocals: Terrence Mann as the Beast
Source Album: Beauty & the Beast: The Broadway Musical Original Cast Recording

Behind the Music:

  • John Barrowman, who played the Beast in London, includes this song on his Reflections from Broadway disc.
  • Unrecorded Beasts include James Barbour, recently on Broadway in Jane Eyre, and Hugh Jackman, a.k.a. The X-Men's Wolverine.