Top 10 Underrated Disney Songs

Between theme-park rides, movies, shorts and everything else, there are endless Disney songs. However, it seems that the ones agreed upon as the top ten are always the same songs. Well, here’s ten songs that you may have forgotten through the years, but deserve just as much credit as “Circle of Life” or “When You Wish Upon a Star.”

For anyone who hasn’t seen The Great Mouse Detective, it really is worth seeing, particularly for the performance of Vincent Price as Ratigan. The movie is a clever spoof on the stories of Sherlock Holmes, but is often forgotten among all the Disney classics. The whole “not a rat” thing in this song is hilarious, and I mean really – it’s Vincent Price, need I say more?

It seems like everyone and their mother sings on this one – apparently people watching is the number one hobby in this French town. That being said, this is one great song. It really lightens the tone from the dark prelude and gets you in the mood for the movie. The melody is one of Disney’s best, and the song also sets up the story line very nicely. People always remember “Be Our Guest” and the title song, while this song is regrettably thrown by the wayside.

This may be the least known song on the least, because it wasn’t really even in Peter Pan. An instrumental version was played when the crocodile appeared, but the lyrics were left out. They were probably excluded because it would have slowed down the story line, which is understandable. I just wish there was some way they could have included it; it’s such a fun little song.

What’s cool about this one is that this piece of music was used in the ballet for Sleeping Beauty, and Disney songwriters added the lyrics. Many times when lyrics are added to a song that has been only instrumental for a long time, it sounds awkward and forced, but this works. The melody remains gorgeous, and the lyrics fit the already dream-like feel of the song perfectly.

Ah, Disney’s first full-length movie. Three of the songs from Snow White have been immortalized in the Disney song book: “Heigh Ho,” “Whistle While You Work,” and “Someday My Prince Will Come.” For whatever reason, this silly little yodeling number has been forgotten. It is incredibly catchy (more so than the songs just named), and it is one of the most fun moments in any Disney movie.

I’m not sure if underrated is even the right word for this song, because it is very well-known. However, many seem to know it for the assumption that it is racist, instead of for its merit as a song. First of all, anyone who sees this as racist is reading way too far into it and not understanding it in the context of the movie. Anyway, the whole Dixieland feel to the song is great, and the part where Baloo (Phil Harris) and King Louie (Louis Prima) are making things up is hilarious, as well as very catchy.

Before the comments roll in, yes, I am aware that this song was not written for a Disney movie. It was around before Disney ever made movies, but would anybody know this song today if it weren’t for Disney? Honestly, I’m not sure how many people know it to begin with, but they should. This was featured in two Disney sing-alongs, at least one CD/cassette tape and was parodied in a certain Eddie Murphy Disney film that most of us would like to forget. It’s got such a pleasant tune, especially that chorus, that you just have to sing along with it.

Yes, there are two Disney songs that feature both Phil Harris and a Dixieland breakdown. This one comes from, possibly Disney’s most underrated movie, “Robin Hood” and man is it a good one. Just listen to these lyrics and try not to laugh, and if you don’t laugh from the lyrics, you will from watching the video. Walt Disney was sadly gone by the time this movie was made, but he would have been proud.

Some of the songs on this list are Disney songs I have liked since I was very young; others I have grown to like. This one falls into both categories in a way. I have always thought this was a great song, because I’ve always loved a catchy tune, but now that I’m older, I laugh at the subtle shots this song takes at actors. This mocks their lavish lifestyles in the same way Joe Walsh would do 40 years later with “Life’s Been Good” – this song was way ahead of its time. Anyway, one with the most underrated Disney songs ever.

This has got to be the most forgotten Disney song of all time. There are a lot of songs in “Mary Poppins” and somehow the other ones are always brought to mind first: “A Spoonful of Sugar,” “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” “Let’s Go Fly a Kite,” “Feed the Birds,” “Chim Chim Chiree,” the list goes on. Regardless of Dick Van Dyke’s fake accent, this is probably the best part of the whole movie. I really like to think that early 20th century chimney sweeps danced from roof to roof and just started parading through houses with their all-too-catchy musical numbers. The best part of this song has to be when Mrs. Banks comes in with her “Votes for Women” sash and the chimney sweeps incorporate it into their song. It is one of Disney’s great mysteries as to why this is not rated among their best songs.