#7 - Anika Noni Rose as Tiana - The Princess and the Frog (2009)
Best Song: Almost There
I love my Broadway ladies. I really do. Most of my favorite female singers are from Broadway. Ruthie Henshall, Kerry Ellis, Linda Eder, Bernadette Peters, Audra McDonald, Kristin Chenoweth... I'm a gay theater nerd through and through, and these are some of my very favorite singers. And I have to say, if I looked up more of Anika Noni Rose's stuff, I wouldn't count out her being right up among these upper echelons of quality. With one performance in a Disney movie, she impressed the HELL out of me with her voice. And I've heard a lot, by the glory of YouTube, so it becomes harder and harder to impress me.
But she does. I can listen to Almost There, the Down in New Orleans reprise at the end, and even the end of the otherwise-kind of annoying "Dig a Little Deeper", just for those last few notes of hers, over and over again. Add to this a nice and likeable, charismatic performance through the rest of the movie, and you've got yourself a real winner and the star of the show in The Princess and the Frog.
And honestly, I don't have TOO much more to say than that. We've gotten to the point in the list where the only reason someone isn't higher is because she isn't the people above her. These Top 7 are, for my money, the elite of the elite, where I have virtually no complaints about their vocal performances in their films. The only thing I would really want from Anika's voice to make it even better is a little more grit. If any of you are as familiar with musical theater as I am, or if you read into my comparatively low placement of Paige O'Hara correctly, you'll know that the singers I REALLY love have a certain "edge" to their voice, particularly when they're belting, that I just don't get from Anika Noni Rose.
Granted, I've never really sought out other performances by her, and that could tip the balance in her favor, but for now, I'm very happy with where she is. The Princess and the Frog was a wonderful return to classic form from Disney, that had me ecstatic when I saw it in the theaters for the first time, and it is in large part thanks to this brilliant performance. I can only hope that y'all feel the same way about it.
Next HINT: Anastasia probably should've been an honorable mention, by definition. However, I would defend anybody putting this next character on any list of "Disney Princesses", even though she's not technically a princess by any definition.
Jodi Benson Mandy Moore Mary Costa Amy Adams Kathleen Turner/Amy Irving/Betsy Brantley as Jessica Rabbit or Kathryn Beaumont as Alice or Lillias White, Cheryl Freeman, LaChanze, Roz Ryan and Vanéese Y. Thomas as the Muses
#6 - Ming-Na and Lea Salonga as Fa Mulan - Mulan (1998)
Best Song: Reflection (duh)
I think this is the biggest gap in "quality of movie" to "quality of entry in this list". I've always thought of Mulan as a movie that's so-so at best, so it's difficult for me to put something from it this high on any list. Well, unless I was doing "best soundtrack moments", and then the music that plays when Mulan cuts her hair would easily make the Top 5. But the titular vocal performances from it are more than deserving, and in a way, I wish this had fit in the Top 5.
First of all, this has something very basic that the other two-voice teams on this list seem to lack: a speaking voice and a singing voice that match up almost perfectly. I've heard Lea Salonga speak (as she seems to for several minutes in all of her live performance videos on YouTube), and actually her speaking voice matches up fairly well to Ming-Na's, except the latter's is slightly less harsh, which makes her a better fit for the character. But really, unlike Jasmine, Pocahontas, Esmeralda, Anastasia, etc., it's never distracted me when Lea Salonga starts singing "Reflection", despite the fact that I know her voice so well. It's practically seamless, and there's no moment of "wait, that's totally not her voice". Maybe I just have a better ear than most, but that's no mean feat.
Now, in lieu of going on and on about Broadway stuff like I did in the last entry, I'll just say that even though Lea Salonga isn't my favorite, "Reflection" is a song that's practically tailor-made to her voice. It is the perfect song for her. In fact, for any of you who haven't ever heard her singing the full version of the song, here it is: It's quite the performance, and it's absolutely perfect for her.
But Ming-Na is really the best part of the movie, bar none. I have my issues with the songs that aren't called "Reflection", with the other characters, with Eddie Murphy, and with the story in general, but what really sells the movie is Ming-Na's fantastic performance as Mulan. It would be so easy to go over-the-top with the "pretending to be a man" schtick, but she walks that fine line between "cartoon" and "realism" just right for a (comparatively) light-hearted Disney movie. I mean, Mulan definitely has its dark moments, but compared to a few of the movies in the Renaissance string that came before it (Lion King, Pocahontas, Hunchback), it's a gay romp in the park.
But anyway, we've now rounded out everybody but the Top 5. As they seem to be a bit too obvious, I'm going to stop giving hints now, but I'm interested to see if you can pinpoint who exactly is still missing. I think at least one of the entries will be quite surprising, as it's someone who has not yet been mentioned in either topic, but who I would never consider omitting from any decent Top 5.
1. Jodi Benson as Ariel 2. Mandy Moore as Rapunzel 3. Susan Egen as Megara - could have sworn she came up already but apparently I was imagining it. 4. Mary Costa/Erin Torpey as Princess Aurora 5. Catherine O'Hara as Sally
I could also see Amy Adams as Giselle up there or- for a total wildcard pick Christy Carlson Romano as Kim Possible. Would be great to see Vanessa Doofenshmirtz's VA up there but I won't count on it, lol.