Like everyone else in the States born in the seventies or later, I grew up on Disney animated films, and I have some favorite songs from some of the films. First and foremost is “He’s a Tramp” from Lady and the Tramp. It was so unexpected, a jazz number in the middle of a culturally inappropriate Disney film. We won’t talk about the cats in this one; we’ll save that for The Aristocats.
Like everyone else on the planet, I love the music from Disney’s animated rendition of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book, but “I Wanna Be Like You” ranks higher than “The Bare Necessities” for me. Like Balloo says, “Man, what a beat!” These three songs, and one more, are my favorites.
“Everybody Wants to Be a Cat” rounds out my Disney set. I liked it when Walt got funky and jazzy.
And don’t get me started on Schoolhouse Rock! We watch this one every Tuesday in my Humanities classes:
About the Creator
Harper Lewis
I'm a weirdo nerd who’s extremely subversive. I like rocks, incense, and witchy stuff. Intrusive rhyme bothers me. Some of my fiction might have provoked divorce proceedings in another state.😈
MA English literature, College of Charleston
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Comments (2)
I know those songs too!
I love how you describe “He’s a Tramp” as unexpected, because that jazziness really did feel like Disney briefly letting the cool kids take over the soundtrack. It unlocked a memory for me of realizing, way later, that those songs shaped my taste more than I ever admitted, especially when you mention Walt getting funky and jazzy — that little rebellion inside something so polished. Also, Schoolhouse Rock on a set weekday feels oddly comforting, like ritual learning. Do you think those offbeat musical moments stuck with us because they broke the Disney mold, or because they trusted kids with something a little weirder?