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Prepare to be enchanted! Join us as we celebrate the most iconic Oscar-winning songs from animated films. From heartwarming ballads that define childhood to groundbreaking anthems that inspire generations, these musical masterpieces have captivated audiences and critics alike, earning their rightful place in cinematic history. Get ready to relive the magic and discover which unforgettable tunes claimed the coveted golden statue, proving the power of animation and song.
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00:00Come stop your crying, it'll be alright.
00:04Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the best Oscar-winning songs from animated films.
00:11The sweet caress of twilight, there's magic everywhere.
00:18Number 10. If I Didn't Have You, Monsters, Inc.
00:22After 15 losses, Randy Newman won an Academy Award for this testament of friendship.
00:27It also marked the first competitive Oscar for a Pixar feature.
00:31Hey, I never told you this. Sometimes I get a little blue.
00:37Looks good on you.
00:39But I wouldn't have nothing if I didn't have you.
00:44Let's dance.
00:45Although If I Didn't Have You plays over the end credits,
00:48one can easily envision Mike and Sully singing this tune in a piano lounge on Scaraoke Night.
00:53While the music draws from Dixieland jazz,
00:56the banter between Billy Crystal and John Goodman makes the song equal parts comedy bit.
01:01For years I have envy.
01:03You're green with it.
01:05Your grace and your charm.
01:09Everyone loves you, you know.
01:13Yes, I know, I know, I know.
01:16It has the essence of a Crosby Hope duet from a Road 2 movie,
01:20as well as one of Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra's routines.
01:23Almost a decade later, Newman accepted his second Oscar for another Pixar song,
01:28We Belong Together from Toy Story 3.
01:30This pair of statuettes belongs together.
01:45Number 9, Remember Me, Coco.
01:48Remember me, though I have to say goodbye.
01:55Remember me, don't let it make you cry.
02:01Even if the lyrics remain the same,
02:03a song can completely change depending on who's singing it.
02:07When we first hear Ernesto de la Cruz perform Remember Me to a mariachi beat,
02:11it's a celebration of his life, followed by his death, ironically.
02:15Until you're in my arms again.
02:19He lived the kind of life you dream about.
02:26Until 1942.
02:29The song wasn't intended to be a grand spectacle,
02:32but rather a simple lullaby between Hector Rivera and his daughter Coco.
02:36For years, only they knew its deeper meaning,
02:39which Miguel awakens in Coco through the most tear-jerking rendition.
02:43Remember me, each time you hear a sad guitar,
02:58just as the song evolves throughout the story,
03:01so does the way we see the characters.
03:04Remember Me thus serves an essential,
03:06not to mention unforgettable role in the film,
03:08bringing Kristen Anderson Lopez and Robert Lopez their second Oscars.
03:12As for their first...
03:31Few Oscar-winning songs took the world by storm like Let It Go,
03:35inspiring countless covers and parodies.
03:37Yet the version that's forever ingrained in our subconscious
03:40is the original from the wickedly talented Idina Menzel.
03:44Was her name really that difficult to say, John Travolta?
03:47What starts as a lament on the verge of frozen tears
03:50builds to an uplifting power ballad
03:52as Elsa is finally free to be the person
03:54who spent years concealed behind closed doors.
04:04The majestic lyrics can be applied to a wide range of individuals
04:08who have felt repressed in one way or another,
04:10connecting to them in ways that Kristen Anderson Lopez
04:13and Robert Lopez likely never anticipated.
04:15It's a song overflowing with passion that can't be contained,
04:19forever taking the gloves off.
04:21Here I stand in the light of day
04:29Let the storm rage on
04:34The cold never bothered me anyway
04:39Number 7. Golden. K-pop Demon Hunters
04:43We dreamin' hard, we came so far now
04:51Not since Let It Go have we seen a song
04:53take over the world quite like Golden,
04:56the first K-pop tune to win an Academy Award.
04:59Between its wins for Best Original Song
05:01and Best Animated Feature,
05:03K-pop Demon Hunters is also the first
05:05non-Disney or Pixar animated film
05:07to take home multiple Oscars.
05:09This song played a major role
05:11in turning Maggie Kang and Chris Applehawns' film
05:14into a global phenomenon,
05:15climbing up, up, up the billboard charts
05:17on its way to claiming Oscar gold.
05:27Golden is so much more than a catchy earworm.
05:30It's a celebration of friendship,
05:32female empowerment, and being true to oneself.
05:35It has also become an anthem for Korean culture,
05:38making the kids who always thought
05:39K-pop was cool feel seen.
05:41You know that it's a time,
05:43no fears, no lies,
05:46that's who we're both in.
05:53Disney dominated Best Original Song
05:55throughout the 90s.
05:57Yet Under the Sea was only the second song
05:59from the animated film to win,
06:00ending a dry spell of almost 50 years.
06:10While some may argue that part of your world
06:13should have been nominated and won,
06:15Under the Sea is the film's most
06:16infectiously upbeat song,
06:18so much so that we almost side with Sebastian.
06:21The human world is a mess.
06:23The crab pitches a more colorful alternative,
06:26one we can visualize
06:26even without the imagery on screen.
06:37The mix of reggae,
06:39calypso,
06:39and Broadway vibes
06:40practically submerges us
06:41into an underwater wonderland.
06:43Howard Ashman and Alan Menken
06:45forever changed the animated musical.
06:47While this wasn't their last Oscar,
06:49it would sadly be the only one
06:51they would accept together.
06:52The Oscars were on a Sunday night,
06:54I guess,
06:54and we probably met that Tuesday
06:57up at his house,
07:00came into his living room,
07:01and he said,
07:01well,
07:02I said,
07:02what?
07:03You know,
07:03what do you want to talk about?
07:05He said,
07:06well,
07:06you know,
07:07I'm sick.
07:09And all of a sudden,
07:10you know,
07:11a million dominoes just went...
07:13Number five,
07:14Can You Feel the Love Tonight?
07:16The Lion King.
07:17Can you feel the love tonight?
07:22The Lion King will peace the evening brings.
07:29Co-written by Tim Rice and Elton John,
07:31the latter of whom would record his own cover,
07:34Can You Feel the Love Tonight?
07:35remains one of the most romantic songs
07:37in the Disney and Oscar libraries.
07:39The music effortlessly combines
07:40the tranquility of nature
07:42with the phenomenon of falling in love.
07:55Nature and love are perhaps
07:57the most powerful forces on the planet.
08:00Neither can be easily explained,
08:02but we experience them through this number,
08:04which reunites childhood friends Simba and Nella.
08:06Old feelings come rushing back
08:08while new ones also surface,
08:10seeing each other in a new light.
08:12The past and future are on both of their minds,
08:15but for now,
08:16they live in the moment,
08:17with this song encapsulating one magical night.
08:20And can you feel the love tonight?
08:28Number four,
08:30When You Believe,
08:31The Prince of Egypt.
08:32Many nights we've prayed
08:36With no proof anyone could hear
08:41In our hearts a hopeful song
08:45We barely understood
08:49When You Believe became the first song
08:51from a non-Disney animated film
08:53to win an Oscar.
08:54Of course,
08:55the song did have a Disney alumnus
08:57in Stephen Schwartz,
08:58who previously shared in a victory
09:00for Colors of the Wind from Pocahontas.
09:02When You Believe would inspire
09:04a soulful cover
09:05between Mariah Carey
09:06and Whitney Houston,
09:07which Kenneth Babyface Edmonds
09:09produced and wrote additional material for.
09:18Within the film's context,
09:20the song makes us feel
09:21the weight being lifted
09:22from the Hebrew people.
09:23At first,
09:24it's almost hard to believe
09:26that after all these years,
09:27they're finally free,
09:28as they head toward a new tomorrow.
09:30The reality of this miracle sinks in,
09:33building to a triumphant final note.
09:35It is an embodiment
09:37of the unbreakable human spirit.
09:51Number 3.
09:53A Whole New World
09:54Aladdin
09:54A Whole New World
09:56not only won the Oscar,
09:57but also the Grammy
09:59for Song of the Year.
10:00The latter of which
10:01Alan Menken described
10:02as his, quote,
10:03biggest shockeroo.
10:04I can open your eyes
10:07Take you wonder by wonder
10:12Over, sideways, and under
10:14On a magic carpet ride
10:18Co-written with Tim Rice,
10:20A Whole New World
10:21makes the listener feel
10:22as if they're soaring through the sky
10:23with Aladdin and Jasmine.
10:25Even without the magic carpet,
10:26Peebo Bryson and Regina Bell's pop version
10:28has a similarly stirring effect.
10:30I'm like a shooting star
10:33I've come so far
10:35I can't go back
10:37The song is simultaneously dreamlike
10:40and eye-opening,
10:41as if you're living out a fantasy
10:42alongside the person
10:43you want to share it with the most.
10:45Just as the music evokes
10:47the sensation of flight,
10:48the song skyrocketed to the top
10:50of the Billboard Hot 100,
10:51the first tune
10:52from a Disney animated feature
10:54to do so.
11:15A song that needs no introduction,
11:17When You Wish Upon a Star
11:18remains the anthem
11:19for the Walt Disney Company
11:21and one of cinema's
11:22defining pieces of music.
11:37Its enduring legacy
11:38was cemented at the 13th Academy Awards
11:41as the first song
11:42from an animated film to win.
11:44Lee Harleen's music
11:45and Ned Washington's lyrics,
11:46paired with vocals
11:47from Cliff Edwards
11:48as Jiminy Cricket,
11:49can only be described
11:50as enchanting.
11:51When your heart
11:54is in your dream
11:57no request
11:59is too extreme
12:04It's a song
12:05that not only makes us believe
12:07our dreams are attainable,
12:08but that we possess
12:09the power within ourselves
12:11to make them come true.
12:12From the first note,
12:13we're overcome
12:14with starry-eyed optimism.
12:16Just as a star
12:17can symbolize hope,
12:18so too does this song
12:19in all of its infinite wonder.
12:21When you wish
12:23the powers
12:25come
12:26You are
12:28please
12:31come
12:33true
12:39Number 1.
12:40Beauty and the Beast
12:41Beauty and the Beast
12:43A song as romantic
12:44as it is timeless,
12:46Beauty and the Beast
12:47marks a pivotal moment
12:48where the titular couple's
12:49feelings for each other
12:50reach a new dramatic height.
12:52True as it can be
12:57Barely even friends
12:59Then somebody bends
13:04Unexpectedly
13:05Whatever differences
13:06they've had
13:07have been overcome
13:07as both bring out
13:09unexpected changes
13:10in each other
13:10that they're both better for.
13:12Between Angela Lansbury's
13:13rendition in the film
13:14and the pop cover
13:15from Celine Dion
13:16and Peebo Bryson,
13:17it has inspired
13:18two equally iconic covers
13:20that give us goosebumps
13:21every time.
13:22Ever just as sure
13:25as the sun can rise
13:29Bittersweet in more ways
13:30than one,
13:31Howard Ashman
13:31wouldn't live to accept
13:32his second Oscar,
13:33his partner Bill Louch
13:35taking his place
13:35alongside Alan Menken.
13:37While Ashman's time
13:38was cut tragically short,
13:40he has lived on
13:40through his songs,
13:42this perhaps
13:42being his most beautiful.
13:45Certain as the sun
13:49Rising in the east
13:52Tale as old as time
13:54Song as old as rhyme
13:57Beauty and the beast
14:00What's your favorite
14:01Oscar-winning song
14:02from an animated film?
14:03Let us know in the comments
14:05and if you'd like to learn more,
14:06this list was written
14:07by Nick Spake,
14:08author of Bright and Shiny,
14:10a history of animation
14:11at award shows.
14:12Chronicling almost 100 years
14:14of animation and awards history,
14:16volumes 1 through 3
14:18are all available
14:19wherever books
14:19and e-books are sold.
14:21Visit CartoonContender.com
14:22for more information.
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