Blog Response 5: Disney Songs

When evaluating the song of a villain from a Disney film, I look at a few key components to determine if the song was a successful part of the movie. Above all else I compare the songs to other villain songs that I think to be good in other Disney movies. I enjoy Scar's song "Prepared" from the Lion King. I enjoy how the evil from his character is shown as he describes diabolical things. The environment also conveys a very malicious message. In the Little Mermaid, Ursula's song, "Poor Unfortunate Soul," there are several things that also make this a classic Disney villain song. Her placement in the cave makes her seem even more evil as she twists and turns in the darker and duller environment. There is also a lot of dialog in the song, it is slow and methodical. The tension continues to build and build as she fiddles around with potions and creatures of the cave. The explicit trickery also makes the audience almost want to stand up and yell at Ariel for making the deal. It is beyond obvious that Ursula is evil and the audience knows what will happen next but drawing out the scene through the slow moving song makes it more of an experience than just a scene where the antagonist gains the upper hand. Similarly in The Princess and the Frog, there is a good amount of dialog in the song, slowly building to the climax towards the end of the scene. In this case the setting is in an alley and instead of playing with a morbid cave; the villain uses cards tricks and other spectacles to fool the good guy. Again it is very obvious that the protagonist will be fooled but the result is not as important as the delivery. I believe that both of these villain songs are successful displays of the evil natures of the characters. When the scene ends it is very easy for a viewer to say, "Wow, that person (or octopus) is definitely a bad guy." I am never looking for a subtle exchange of wits in my Disney movies. I want to be a kid and watch the bad guy be almost impossibly evil. These songs succesfully go over the top in making evil a very cool thing.