Board 8 > Best Disney Song Ever - Bracket and Discussion Topic (BDSE)

(+) Yeah! (+)

Day 22 Results:

Round 2, Division 3

(14) Beauty and the Beast (Beauty and the Beast) --VS -- (30) Everybody Wants to Be a Cat (The Aristocats) - 15-3
With this result, no songs from pre-Renaissance animated movies are left in the contest. Everybody Wants to Be a Cat and Cruella de Vil (eliminated last round) were the last remaining entrants.

(11) I'll Make a Man Out of You (Mulan) --VS -- (27) Shiny (Moana) - 13-4
Artist David Bowie served as inspiration for the song Shiny, specifically in Jemaine's theatrical performance and vocals.

(7) I Won't Say I'm in Love (Hercules) --VS-- (10) Hellfire (The Hunchback of Notre Dame) - 6-10
Menken originally composed a "soaring" ballad entitled "I Can't Believe My Heart" for Meg to sing in the film, which he had intended to serve as a solo conveying the heroine falling in love with Hercules. However, Meg's supervising animator Ken Duncan disagreed with Menken's song because he believed the character was "too tough" and "hardened by life" to perform such a soft ballad.

(2) Part of Your World (The Little Mermaid) --VS-- (18) Circle of Life (The Lion King) - 7-11
The song Part of Your World was nearly cut because Jeffrey Katzenberg felt that it was "boring", as well as being too far over the heads of the children for whom it was intended. It was only through the insistence of Howard Ashman and Glen Keane that it was included in the movie.

Day 23 Results:

Round 2, Division 4

(1) X-Men the Animated Series Main Theme --VS -- (16) Zero to Hero (Hercules) - 13-8
In Zero to Hero, the Hercules store that appears in this song was a parody of the Disney Store in malls.

(8) I Just Can't Wait to Be King (The Lion King) --VS -- (9) Let it Go (Frozen) - 10-10
Our second tie of the tournament.

(12) What's This? (The Nightmare Before Christmas) --VS-- (28) Star Wars Main Title (Star Wars) - 14-7
Star Wars Main Title was such a big hit, that the London Symphony Orchestra version of the song reached number 10 on the Billboard 100 charts in the fall of 1977.

(4) He Mele No Lilo (Lilo & Stitch) --VS-- (13) The Bells of Notre Dame (The Hunchback of Notre Dame) - 9-11
Originally, the film's climactic spaceship chase was instead an airplane chase through the city of Honolulu. This was changed and Disney had to completely re-animate the scene from the ground up because of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, since it was considered too controversial and upsetting for a children's film. In fact, the film was pushed back by an additional seven months to account for these changes. Several other scenes in the film were cut that involved airplanes and airplane seating.

guffguy89 posted...

(4) He Mele No Lilo (Lilo & Stitch) --VS-- (13) The Bells of Notre Dame (The Hunchback of Notre Dame) - 9-11
Originally, the film's climactic spaceship chase was instead an airplane chase through the city of Honolulu. This was changed and Disney had to completely re-animate the scene from the ground up because of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, since it was considered too controversial and upsetting for a children's film. In fact, the film was pushed back by an additional seven months to account for these changes. Several other scenes in the film were cut that involved airplanes and airplane seating.

I'm trying to find a funny way of pointing out that we voted 9-11, but I'm coming up empty.

oh my gosh, I didn't even notice that. LOL

Day 24 Results:

Round 2, Division 4

(3) Suite (X-Men 2) --VS -- (14) I'm Still Here (Treasure Planet) - 10-11
X-Men 2 was a successful box office sequel, eclipsing that of the original X-men movie. To date, the most successful X-men movie, from a box office perspective, has been Deadpool 2. The most successful X-Men movie with X-Men in the title has been X-Men: Days of Future Past.

(11) Go the Distance (Hercules) --VS -- (27) You'll Be in My Heart (Tarzan) - 9-11
Go the Distance was one of two songs written for Hercules in the film, the second being "Shooting Star", which failed to make the final cut.

(7) How Far I'll Go (Moana) --VS-- (23) Can You Feel the Love Tonight (The Lion King) - 11-11
Our third tie of the contest and second in as many rounds.

(2) We Don't Talk About Bruno (Encanto) --VS-- (18) Kiss the Girl (The Little Mermaid) - 15-6
Kiss the Girl was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song, along with the song Under the Sea from the same film in 1990; the latter won.

**TIEBREAKER**
(8) I Just Can't Wait to Be King (The Lion King) --VS -- (9) Let it Go (Frozen) - 10-12 (10-10)
I Just Cant Wait to Be King displays a more flamboyant set of background animals compared to how they were presented in the Circle of Life opening. In doing so, the animators introduced several animals in the background that are not actually native to Africa. This included several birds native to Australia and Asia, as well as a giant anteater, which is native to South America.

With Round 2 in the books (well, besides that tiebreaker for today), here are your current stats.

Format: Round 2 (Round 1)

animated movie songs: 26-23 (49-27)
live-action movie songs: 2-2 (4-8)
television theme songs: 2-3 (5-12)
television songs: 0-2 (2-10)
video game music: 2-1 (3-5)
theme park music: - (0-2)
shorts: 0-1 (1-0)

across all genres, scores went: 5-4 (9-12)

Just 6 songs remain that arent from animated Disney movies.

guffguy89 posted...

(3) Suite (X-Men 2) --VS -- (14) I'm Still Here (Treasure Planet) - 10-11

daaaaaaamn it, I love I'm Still Here but I was really pulling for the X-theme

After a fierce comeback at the end, Belle falls just short and becomes the first 1 seed to fall.

Day 25 Results:

Round 3, Division 1

(1) Belle (Beauty and the Beast) --VS -- (8) Be Prepared (The Lion King) - 12-13
The book that Belle was reading (which the sheep briefly bites a page off) is implied from her description to be Sleeping Beauty, which was later confirmed in the New Fantasyland attraction version of Belle's Cottage, which shows both the original book Belle's mom read to her as a child (explaining why it was her favorite) and the book that she acquired from the bookkeeper.

(12) Reflection (Mulan) --VS -- (20) Poor Unfortunate Souls (The Little Mermaid) - 9-14
The movie Mulan is often credited with launching the career of Christina Aguilera, whose first song to be released in the US was the film's song "Reflection". The song was so well received that it landed her a recording contract with RCA Records.

(6) A Whole New World (Aladdin) --VS-- (19) Friends on the Other Side (Princess and the Frog) - 22-3
Friends on the Other Side is similar to Poor Unfortunate Souls from The Little Mermaid, as both songs explain the villain's abilities and serve as a way to get their victim to trust them and both numbers end in the villain's victim being transformed as part of their plan.

(2) Gaston (Beauty and the Beast) --VS-- (7) Surface Pressure (Encanto) - 16-9
In Surface Pressure, one of Luisa's verses, "I'm as tough as the crust of the Earth is", actually further exposes her insecurities. The Earth's crust is actually its weakest layer, which alludes that as strong Luisa is, she actually has sensitive feelings.

**TIEBREAKER**
(7) How Far I'll Go (Moana) --VS-- (23) Can You Feel the Love Tonight (The Lion King) - 11-13 (11-11)
Alan Menken, the heart and soul behind Disney animated music, did not work on The Lion King at all, easily Disneys most successful Renaissance film and soundtrack. The reason for this is because he was working on Pocahontas, which was projected by Disney to be the more profitable movie of the two.

boooo
boooooooooo

I feel bad too because I almost voted for Belle, but decided to go with Be Prepared, then while tallying it up, I kind of had second thoughts and wished I'd gone the other way.

Tons of close ones so far in this one. I may change the tiebreaker rules starting in the Sweet Sixteen to "first to 5" in the following round.

The two best villain songs find themselves to a face off again. (They faced each other last year right?).

Anyways, expecting Be Prepared to roll.

While I would agree with that, Poor Unfortunate Souls just beat Reflection pretty decisively, a song that went on a deep run last contest. Should be interesting.

Speaking of rematches, there is potential for another rematch from last contest depending on the results of today's matchup.

Im expecting a strong showing from The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I dont really like some of the songs (I respect Tony Jay, but Hellfire isnt really my thing).

Wow, almost.

Another 1 seed falls in as many days. Hmm, if I remember correctly, Round 3 was the doomsday round for 1 seeds in last contest as well.

Day 26 Results:

Round 3, Division 2

(1) He's a Pirate (Pirates of the Caribbean) --VS -- (8) Simple and Clean (Kingdom Hearts) - 7-10
Congrats to Simple and Clean for being the last video game song standing!

And heres a fun clip of Pirates of the Caribbean scenes with Hes a Pirate playing in the background:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6wtzDI7dYk

(5) The Moon (Duck Tales: Remastered) --VS -- (13) Friend Like Me (Aladdin) - 1-17
I was going to include a little trivia bit about The Moon, but instead take a read of this article to truly appreciate the underappreciated greatness of this song and its cultural impact:
https://www.thegamer.com/ducktales-moon-stage-music/

(11) God Help the Outcast (Hunchback of Notre Dame) --VS-- (14) What Else Can I Do? (Encanto) - 11-7
What Else Can I Do is inspired by 90s Colombian music, as confirmed by composer Lin-Manuel Miranda, who recounted that, during the creation of this song, he contacted his next-door neighbor Fabian, who was a botanist for the NY Botanical Gardens. Miranda called him in a panic, saying, "I need to know everything about Colombian plants, and other exotic weird plants you can give me." An hour later, Fabian had provided him a list of Colombian plant species and few facts about them.

(2) I See the Light (Tangled) --VS-- (7) This is Halloween (Nightmare Before Christmas) - 7-11
I See the Light was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 83rd Academy Awards in 2011, becoming composer Alan Menken's fourteenth nomination in the category, but lost to Randy Newman's We Belong Together from Disney Pixar's Toy Story 3.

alas, the rematch between God Help the Outcast and I See the Light will not come to pass. Last contest they faced each other in 4 v 5 seed matchup, one won handily by I See the Light. However, This is Halloween came up with the upset to move on.

Aw yeah, Moon pity vote represent!

Day 27 Results:

Round 3, Division 3

(1) The Imperial March (Star Wars) --VS -- (8) You're Welcome (Moana) - 12-8
Believe it or not, Youre Welcome was originally going to be sung by Moana. According to the director, when she first met him, she idolized him, and when she came upon this down-and-out guy, this mope, she had to get him going and so she sang a song to him reminding him, 'Don't you know you did all these great things? That tipped the scales too far in Moana's favor, it seemed, until the idea arose to heighten Maui's braggadocio so that he, in turn, became the one offering a sales pitch and selling his own case.

(12) Under the Sea (The Little Mermaid) --VS -- (13) The X-Files Main Theme - 11-9
Materia Primoris, the X-Files theme song, was a huge hit in Europe, particularly the UK and France, where it charted in the top 5 in both countries in 1996.

(11) I'll Make a Man Out of You (Mulan) --VS-- (14) Beauty and the Beast (Beauty and the Beast) - 10-11
The lyrics "You must be as swift as a coursing river, with all the force of a great Typhoon, with all the strength of a raging fire, mysterious as the dark side of the moon" is similar to an excerpt by Sun Tzu in his treatise "The Art of War". The actual excerpt essentially reads "Swift as the wind, silent as the forest, fierce as the fire, and strong as the mountain."

(10) Hellfire (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)--VS-- (18) Circle of Life (The Lion King) - 8-11
In Hellfire, The hooded priests sing mea culpa, meaning my fault, to answer to Frollo's "Its not my fault." The hooded priests represent Frollo's conscience, suggesting that Frollo knows deep down that he is vulnerable to sin, but his God complex and pride prevent him from confessing his sins and being at peace. At the end of the song, Frollo passes out on the floor in the shape of the Petrine Cross, foreshadowing his ultimate fate. Other deep takes of the song show how Frollo displays all seven deadly sins throughout the song, despite claiming to be a righteous man at the beginning of it. Needless to say, this song packs a heavier punch than most Disney songs.

Coincidentally, I was at a baseball game this afternoon and between innings the Circle of Life started playing - a stadium gimmick where they show people in the audience on the jumbotron holding up their babies as the song plays in the background.

Day 28 Results:

Round 3, Division 4

(1) X-Men the Animated Series Main Theme --VS -- (9) Let it Go (Frozen) - 9-15
There are so many superhero-based animated series that its hard to imagine a time without them. However, it was X-Men: The Animated Series (along with Batman: The Animated Series, which debuted a few months earlier) that started the superhero cartoon boom. Even after Marvel filed for bankruptcy, the show still continued for another year being directly funded by Saban Entertainment rather than Marvel. Disney would later go on to acquire Saban Entertainment.

(12) What's This? (The Nightmare Before Christmas) --VS -- (13) The Bells of Notre Dame (The Hunchback of Notre Dame) - 9-13
The music of Whats This? has been used in many theatrical trailers for other films. This includes the trailer for Flubber, James and the Giant Peach, Santa Claus 3, Matilda, and The Corpse Bride.

(14) I'm Still Here (Treasure Planet) --VS-- (27) You'll Be in My Heart (Tarzan) - 8-15
I'm Still Here is a song written and performed by The Goo Goo Dolls frontman, John Rzeznik. However, the song was released by Rzeznik as a single away from The Goo Goo Dolls.

(2) We Don't Talk About Bruno (Encanto)--VS-- (23) Can You Feel the Love Tonight? (The Lion King) - 12-11
The song originally was storyboarded to be sung completely by Timon and Pumbaa in a comical fashion, but was changed at the insistence of Elton John to be the film's "Prince and Princess" moment. It was the first song Elton John wrote for the film.

I once heard What's This? as the music in a furniture advert. It seems to have become stock music based on that, and the movie trailers you mentioned it being used for.

I forgot to do end of round stats. Probably the last time I'll do this since its mostly all animated movie songs at this point.

Format: Round 3 (Round 2) (Round 1)

animated movie songs: 14-12 (26-23) (49-27)
live-action movie songs: 1-1 (2-2) (4-8)
video game music: 1-1 (2-1) (3-5)
television theme songs: 0-2 (2-3) 5-12)
television songs: - (0-2) (2-10)
theme park music: - (-) (0-2)
shorts: - (0-1) (1-0)

scores across all genres: 1-4 (5-4) (9-12)

Congrats to Imperial March for being the last score standing and the only number 1 still standing.

Even though the Tangled franchise had the most entries left at the start of Round 2, by the end of Round 3, there are no Tangled songs left in the contest.

In fact, there is a lot of parity with the songs remaining. No movie has more than 2 songs left in the contest. There are 5 movies tied with 2 songs remaining. Those are: Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Lion King, and The Little Mermaid. Long live the Renaissance!

Man I really don't agree with the board in this contest.

Day 29 Results:

Round 4, Division 1

(8) Be Prepared (The Lion King) --VS -- (20) Poor Unfortunate Souls (The Little Mermaid) - 16-8
During Poor Unfortunate Souls, Ursula pulls out a contract, laying out the terms of the deal. The movie spares a moment to glance over the words of the contract, but speeds from the top of the scroll to the bottom at fast speed. If one were to slow down the movie at this part, they would notice that the contract is made up of garbled words, and a Hidden Mickey can be seen as well.

While were at it, heres a cover of the song from Descendants 2 that I particularly enjoyed:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgPOZAXF5GY

(2) Gaston (Beauty and the Beast) --VS -- (6) A Whole New World (Aladdin) - 9-16
The version of the song Gaston featured on the soundtrack notably includes a small scene where LeFou tries to spell out Gaston's name, but fails and ultimately gives up. This scene was cut from the film's version, however. This stanza was reinstated in the 2017 live-action film, with LeFou justifying why he is unable to spell it by mentioning that he is illiterate.

For a more in-depth analysis, the song can be seen as an allegory for enabling someone's vices instead of correcting them as LeFou and the villagers stroke Gaston's ego rather than tell him how he can improve himself as a person.

And thus, our first quarterfinals matchup will be between the winners of the two previous Disney music tournaments. Though it should be noted that there was a large gap of over a decade between the previous two contests.

Day 30 Results:

Round 4, Division 2

(8) Simple and Clean (Kingdom Hearts) --VS -- (13) Friend Like Me (Aladdin) - 13-10
Friend Like Me was the first completed animated sequence produced in Aladdin. Some of the character designs are slightly altered or simplified compared to later scenes to prove this. However, the animators knew that the speed of the movements and the craziness of the scene would easily distract audiences from this difference, so the scene wasn't remade to adjust the designs.

(7) This is Halloween (The Nightmare Before Christmas) --VS -- (11) God Help the Outcasts (The Hunchback of Notre Dame) - 13-10
After Menken and Schwartz wrote God Help the Outcasts, directors Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale and Disney CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg debated whether or not the film required a more uplifting song; Menken and Schwartz wrote the inspirational song Someday with which to replace God Help the Outcasts at the behest of Katzenberg. However, Wise and Trousdale ultimately decided that God Help the Outcasts, a religious ballad, was more suitable for the scene. Someday ended up being played during the end credits.

If Simple and Clean can beat Friend Like Me then This is Halloween is screwed. Nicely done making it into the final four, Kingdom Hearts!

I feel like it's slowly been gaining momentum as each round passes.

Day 31 Results:

Round 4, Division 3

(1) The Imperial March (Star Wars) --VS -- (12) Under the Sea (The Little Mermaid) - 14-9
Under the Sea is briefly heard in Aladdin just before Genie turns Aladdin into a prince. During this segment, the Genie opens a recipe book to find a supposed recipe for a prince and comes upon "Alaskan king crab", a snippet of Under the Sea playing as he pulls Sebastian from his finger. ("I hate when they do that.")

(14) Beauty and the Beast (Beauty and the Beast) --VS -- (18) Circle of Life (The Lion King) - 8-15
Every single line of the song Beauty and the Beast has five syllables.

Day 32 Results:

Round 4, Division 4

(9) Let it Go (Frozen) --VS -- (13) The Bells of Notre Dame (The Hunchback of Notre Dame) - 14-9
Clopin says that "quasimodo" means "half-formed" (in other languages "deformed"), but in reality it means (in Latin) "almost made" or "more or less".

(2) We Don't Talk About Bruno (Encanto) --VS -- (27) You'll Be in My Heart (Tarzan) - 12-12
Our fourth tie of the contest will decide the last quarterfinal spot.

Day 33 Results:

Quarterfinals - Division 1

(6) A Whole New World (Aladdin) --VS -- (8) Be Prepared (The Lion King) - 21-3
Towards to the end of Be Prepared, Jeremy Irons, who provided the voice of Scar, said that after the part where he yells, "You won't get a sniff without me!", his voice gave out and he couldn't sing the rest of the song. Jim Cummings replaced Irons for the rest of the song.

**TIEBREAKER**
(2) We Don't Talk About Bruno (Encanto) --VS -- (27) You'll Be in My Heart (Tarzan) - 12-11 (12-12)
Youll Be in My Heart was the last song from a Walt Disney Animation Studios-produced film to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song until Let It Go from Frozen 14 years later.

What in the world... I mean I voted for it, but that sort of result is unexpected in a semi-final of former champions.

At this point it looks like a repeat is very possible

Day 34 Results:

Quarterfinals - Division 2

(7) This is Halloween (The Nightmare Before Christmas) --VS -- (8) Simple and Clean (Kingdom Hearts) - (11-11)
Our fifth tie of the contest. Can we stop being so evenly divided please?

Just a bump

Day 35 Results:

Quarterfinals

(1) The Imperial March (Star Wars) --VS -- (18) Circle of Life (The Lion King) - 12-17
Trivia time: The Imperial March is a staple of the Star Wars franchise that is rivaled only by its Main Title. The ominous tune appears at least in some form in The Clone Wars movie/show, Rogue One, Solo, as well as various games, shows, and other media throughout the expanded Star Wars universe. And of course, it appears in all 9 main Star Wars movies (Episodes 1-9).waitcorrectionit appears in 8 of the 9 main Star Wars movies. Can you guess which one it does not appear in?

(7) This is Halloween (The Nightmare Before Christmas) --VS -- (8) Simple and Clean (Kingdom Hearts) - 11-14 (11-11)
In This is Halloween, the lines "Say it once, say it twice. Take a chance and roll the dice" could be a reference to Beetlejuice, where he can be summoned if one says his name three times in a row. The Nightmare Before Christmas is written by Tim Burton who was also the director of Beetlejuice, which came out five years earlier.

Also, I cant pass up the opportunity to share my favorite cover of This is Halloween, done by Panic at the Disco:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mp_XS4dYNjk

https://youtu.be/SPqa2faffgU

^ Haha, that's the other popular cover of the song. Oddly, I like both of those covers over the original.

On an unrelated note, Circle of Life defeated both the 1 and 2 seed along its way to win Division 3. Quite impressive.

Todays matchup is also interesting because Let it Go and We Don't Talk About Bruno both had to survive an overtime match along the way in order to get here, meaning this matchup was very close to not happening at all.

Feels like were on a one way ticket to A Whole New World/Circle Of Life finale to me.

Day 36 Results:

Quarterfinals - Division 4

(2) We Don't Talk About Bruno (Encanto) --VS -- (9) Let it Go (Frozen) - 12-12
Curse you board 8 and your even number of voters!

And since no one took a stab at the trivia, Episode 4 is the only main star wars movie not to have The Imperial March in it in some form. This is because the song debuted in Episode 5. It was also noticeably absent from the Disney+ Obi-wan series. The producer indicated they avoided using the iconic theme because they didnt want to always associated Vader with it..sigh.hiring people who make decisions like that is probably a reason why that series didnt do very well.

guffguy89 posted...

The producer indicated they avoided using the iconic theme because they didnt want to always associated Vader with it

ah yes of course, nothing good ever comes from a character having a recurring theme

I've seen this more often over the past decade or so for some reason. Producers/directors over-intellectualizing situations and making dumb decisions because of it. When they get backlash, they complain that "people just don't understand art." It's like. No. You made stupid decisions that a lot of people ended up not liking. Simple as that.

Not saying this is an ideal example of that. People's dislike of the show likely has nothing to do with the omission of that song. The mindset behind omitting it though speaks volumes that the producer likely spent the whole time on that show with their head up their ass.

Day 37 Results:

(6) A Whole New World (Aladdin) --VS -- (8) Simple and Clean (Kingdom Hearts) - 16-13
There were rumors of a Kingdom Hearts collaboration with Star Wars, but those were ultimately scrapped, though theres always a chance it could be revived in the future. Funnily enough, Mark Hamill has already done some voice acting for the Kingdom Hearts franchise. He was the voice of Eraqus in BBS and KH3.

**TIEBREAKER**
(2) We Don't Talk About Bruno (Encanto) --VS -- (9) Let it Go (Frozen) - 13-15 (12-12)
According to Lin-Manuel Miranda, Bruno was given his name in order to fit the lyric "Bruno, no, no" into the song.

Simple and Clean had won its previous four matches by exactly 3 votes. In an odd twist of fates, it loses the semifinal matchup by the same number.

damn iiiiiiiiit

I can't stand KH, but I was pulling for Simple and Clean as it was the only underdog choice left. Anything has to be better than the Elsa song--how did you all let this happen

When did Board 8 get into adult contemporary? That's the only way to explain some of these results.

Day 38 Results:

(9) Let it Go (Frozen) --VS -- (18) Circle of Life (The Lion King) - 12-14
Originally, Elsa was going to be the antagonist and Let It Go was intended to be her villain song. If one listens very closely, one can hear subtle clues in the song's lyrics that potentially hint at Elsa heel-turning (such as "No right or wrong/no rules for me!/I'm free!"). The song was originally going to be sung in a mocking tone which becomes more demented as the song progresses to enforce this. However, the song defeats the purpose of making Elsa an antagonist since she never committed any evil beforehand. This resulted in Hans being re-written as the main antagonist.

Final Results:

(6) A Whole New World (Aladdin) --VS -- (18) Circle of Life (The Lion King) - 21-11

Congrats to A Whole New World: Champion of the 2023 Best Disney Song Ever Tournament.

Back in 2021, the Disney music tourney was resurrected after a 10+ year absence, and A Whole New World was its champion. Now, 2 years later, against a larger and more broadened field, A Whole New World has defended its title in dominant fashion to prove once and for all that it is Board 8s favorite Disney song.

The final result may have been the same, but the journey was completely different, and I had a blast running this contest. Thanks to all who participated. I think with this result, it is safe to put this contest back in the vault for maybe another 10 years or so. However, I for one would love to see a revival of the Save My Disney Character contest. What do you guys think?