I think the original version of Belle’s song was so much better.
How is ‘Almost There’ 3rd? Criminal.
And is ‘Let It Go’ even an I want song? It’s talking about her getting what she wanted and experiencing the thrill of it, the actual lamentation about her life is a minor part of ‘For the First Time in Forever’ and ‘Do you Want to Build a Snowman’.
It’s too bad the “Little Mermaid” on Broadway was so stylized and weird. It had great songs, story and an excellent cast. But giant bongs onstage and all the swimming characters on heelies was just too much.
I adore ‘I Want’ songs!
When I co-wrote a musical comedy about Britney Spears, the first song we wrote was an ‘I Want’ song called “My I Want Song”:
I am not a musical theater person. Does Aladdin have an ‘I Want’ song?
What about Alice singing “Guess, I was to busy growing up” in Alice in Wonderland?
“One Jump Ahead” qualifies, especially its reprise.
I was gonna throw things if “Part of Your World” wasn’t number one.
A lot of people criticize The Little Mermaid for being about a woman who gives up her unique talent (singing) to chase a man. I see it as a woman who, like a trans person, feels profound dysphoria between her life as she knows it and her life as she wants it to be. (A number of trans people I’ve talked to agree, and identify with Ariel in this way.) Although her affection for Eric is genuine, he is most important to her as a means of becoming part of the human world.
Hmmm…So the Disney Theme (used in their logo) from Pinocchio, didn’t make the cut? Not wish-y enough? Not on a star enough?
Leila
“Now I’m the king of the swingers, whoa
The jungle VIP
I’ve reached the top and had to stop
And that’s what botherin’ me
I wanna be a man, mancub
And stroll right into town
And be just like the other men
I’m tired of monkeyin’ around!”
– clear “I want” theme here, with a grain o bawdiness.
“De-zop-ba-ronie
Hap-da-dee-ba-lat
Da-dat-dat-non
Hey, a-baby-dot-doo
Zaba-doo-doo-day-doo-bop
Doo-boo-doo-day, ze-bonz
Za-bop-bop-bobby”
King Louie:
Rrrrahr-rrrahr!
Baloo:
Gettin’ mad, baby"
—> Lyrics and music working together…again kinky remarks here.
“I wanna be like you” remains my favorite Disney “I want” songs. This King has a lot of “whaketywhakety” to give.
Calling Philip “the most attractive Disney prince” is objectifying and sexist.
What, no love for “I Just Can’t Wait to be King?” It’s clearly an expression of young Simba’s thirst for power—an “I Want” song if I’ve ever heard one.
Yeah the “One Jump” reprise is the I Want song for him. It’s short and sweet but it covers most everything. The normal iteration of the song is just an intro to his kooky personality.
Agreed. “For the First Time in Forever” is a much better song musically, and it’s a better I Want song thematically. While there are two princesses, Anna is clearly the one the audience is supposed to follow and identify with.
I’m kinda miffed that ‘I Want’ songs are only applicable to the protagonist, because otherwise, we’d have to consider one of the creepiest villain songs in the Disney canon:
Don’t forget “Everything and More” from Twisted (nsfw, probably)
I won’t argue that Ariel’s theme song is indeed the best of them all. I have watched my teenage daughter sing that on stage and its moving.
BUT…That you didn’t even list, let alone not have at #2 “I’m Still Here” from Treasure Planet which is Jim Hawkins theme song performed by GooGoo Dolls is simply a travesty. It deals with the very WORST of all possible human conditions…abandonment. Jim’s character is one shaped completely and solely by one act of utter selfishness by his father. The bitterness and resentment built from that one fateful day.
In the moment of the theme song, we see him finally for a brief moment break away from the albatross on his neck. He overcomes it and opens the door thanks to Captain Silver to see who he can become.
That moment of transformation…shedding the soul wrenching experience of being abandoned to glimpsing your own potential greatness is so moving…it encompasses the Human Condition!!! Getting out of our own damn way to finally self realize our own potential.
If you hadn’t considered it…go back and watch it. Listen. Put yourself in Jim Hawkins position. You will be moved by it, I promise.
