DVDizzy Forum

What are your favorite new songs from the Disney live-action remakes? You can share your top 3, 5, 10... etc. or rank them all if you prefer.

I took the list of films from Wikipedia, where only remakes of animated films and their respective sequels/prequels are included. I've seen some sites also count Pete's Dragon among them since the original has some animation in it, and I know some people here consider Mary Poppins Returns as one of them as well. I personally see the later more as a direct sequel, especially since there's no change in medium, but if anyone wants to include its songs or Pete's Dragon's in your rankings, feel free to do so.

I've listed the deleted songs and demos too, but not new reprises of the old songs. Again, you can choose from them too despite it if you want. And I took a page from Sotiris and Farerb who in similar threads included info about the songwriters, etc./added links to the songs, respectively, since I thought both were great ideas.

Sorry for the long intro. Here's a list of all the titles. I hope I haven't missed any.


Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book (1994)

"Two Different Worlds" (only featured in some international versions of the film)
Written by Richard Page, Marc Jordan & Spencer Proffer
Performed by Kenny Loggins


102 Dalmatians (2000)

"Digga Digga Dog"
Written by Pamela Phillips-Oland, Mark Brymer, George Clinton Jr., Garry M. Shider & David L. Spradley (featuring samples from "Atomic Dog" by George Clinton)
Performed by Oren Waters

"Whatcha Gonna Do (With Your Second Chance)"
Written by Steve Diamond & Paul Vann
Performed by Nobody's Angel


Alice in Wonderland (2010)

"Alice"
Written and performed by Avril Lavigne

"Alice's Theme" (Full song/Reprise 1/Reprise 2/Reprise 3/Reprise 4/Reprise 5)
Written by Danny Elfman
Performed by chorus


Cinderella (2015)

"Strong"
Written by Patrick Doyle, Kenneth Branagh & Tommy Danvers
Performed by Sonna Rele


Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016)

"Just Like Fire"
Written By Pink, Max Martin, Shellback & Oscar Holter
Performed by Pink


Beauty and the Beast (2017)

"Aria" (Film version/Demo)
Music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Tim Rice
Performed by Audra McDonald/Alan Menken

"How Does a Moment Last Forever" (Music Box/Montmartre/Céline Dion version/Music Box Demo/Montmartre Demo)
Music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Tim Rice
Performed by Kevin Kline/Emma Watson/Céline Dion/Alan Menken

"Days in the Sun" (Film version/Demo)
Music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Tim Rice
Performed by Adam Mitchell, Stanley Tucci, Ewan McGregor, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Ian McKellen, Emma Thompson, Emma Watson, Audra McDonald & Clive Rowe/Alan Menken

"Evermore" (Dan Stevens version/Josh Groban version/Demo)
Music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Tim Rice
Performed by Dan Stevens/Josh Groban/Alan Menken


Christopher Robin (2018)

"Goodbye, Farewell"
Written by Richard M. Sherman
Performed by Jim Cummings, Brad Garrett, Toby Jones, Peter Capaldi, Sophie Okonedo, Nick Mohammed & Sara Sheen

"Busy Doing Nothing"
Written and performed by Richard M. Sherman

"Christopher Robin"
Written and performed by Richard M. Sherman


Aladdin (2019)

"Speechless" (Part 1/Part 2/Full song)
Music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Benj Pasek & Justin Paul
Performed by Naomi Scott

"Desert Moon" (Deleted Song)
Music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Benj Pasek & Justin Paul
Performed by Mena Massoud & Naomi Scott


The Lion King (2019)

"Spirit"
Written by Timothy McKenzie, Ilya Salmanzadeh & Beyoncé
Performed by Beyoncé

"Never Too Late"
Music by Elton John, lyrics by Tim Rice
Performed by Elton John


Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019)

"You Can't Stop the Girl"
Written by Bebe Rexha, Alex Schwartz, Joe Khajadourian, Michael Pollack, Nate Cyphert, Evan Sult, Aaron Huffman, Jeff Lin & Sean Nelson
Performed by Bebe Rexha


Lady and the Tramp (2019)

"What a Shame"
Written and performed by Nate "Rocket" Wonder & Roman GianArthur

"That's Enough"
Written by Nate "Rocket" Wonder & Roman GianArthur
Performed by Janelle Monáe


Mulan (2020)

"Loyal Brave True"
Written by Jamie Hartman, Harry Gregson-Williams, Rosi Golan & Billy Crabtree
Performed by Christina Aguilera


Cruella (2021)

"Call Me Cruella"
Written by Nicholas Britell, Florence Welch, Steph Jones, Jordan Powers & Taura Stinson
Performed by Florence + The Machine


Pinocchio (2022)

"When He Was Here With Me"
Written by Alan Silvestri and Glen Ballard
Performed by Tom Hanks

"Pinocchio, Pinocchio"
Written by Alan Silvestri and Glen Ballard
Performed by Tom Hanks

"I Will Always Dance"
Written by Alan Silvestri and Glen Ballard
Performed by Kyanne Lamaya

"The Coachman to Pleasure Island"
Written by Alan Silvestri and Glen Ballard
Performed by Luke Evans


Peter Pan & Wendy (2023)

"All Grown Up"
Written by Daniel Hart
Performed by Molly Parker

"Behemooth"
Written by Curtis Glenn Heath
Performed by Ian Tracey, Garfield Wilson & Pirate Chorus

"Ode to the Falling"
Written by Curtis Glenn Heath
Performed by Ian Tracey, Garfield Wilson & Pirate Chorus


The Little Mermaid (2023)

"Wild Uncharted Waters"
Music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda
Performed by Jonah Hauer-King

"For the First Time"
Music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda
Performed by Halle Bailey

"The Scuttlebutt"
Music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda
Performed by Awkwafina & Daveed Diggs

"Impossible Child" (Deleted song)
Music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda
Performed by Javier Bardem

"Evermore"
"Speechless" (Full Version)
"One Jump Ahead (Reprise II)"
"Loyal Brave True"
"Days in the Sun"
"Part of Your World (Reprise II)"
"Aria"
"How Does a Moment Last Forever"
"Just Like Fire"
"Wild Uncharted Waters"
"Spirit"
"Call Me Cruella"

Those last four are just okay, but I love the others.

The only ones I keep track of are musical numbers that interact with the existing musical songbook. The four that I unquestionably like,

1. Speechless
2. Wild Uncharted Waters
3. For the First Time
4. Evermore

I also liked "Strong" from Cinderella, but I count it in a different class because it's not a musical number in the vein of the rest of the songs I singled out.

"Desert Moon" I've gone back and forth on whether it should be in the finished film.

The other two songs from "Beauty and the Beast" are fine, I guess, but I don't have any great love for them. Same with "Scuttlebutt."

The rest I either don't remember or don't care for.

Anyways, additional songs are one of the only things that these remakes really could add to the table for me, but like ten years into this mess (and only about five since they started making them as proper musicals) and the total sum of songs I'd add to the canon comes to four. Props to "Mermaid" for being the first remake to add more than a single tune to the list (and for doubling the list ... so many missed opportunities.)

I guess it might have helped if more of them had been conceived as real musicals ("The Jungle Book" or "Mulan" come to mind, or even "Cinderella" even though I ended up liking the finished film as is) or if the musical remakes like "Pinocchio" hadn't been total trash. I suppose there's still hope for "Snow White," but given that my hopes for the film are at base level now, I don't know how much the added music is going to offer.

Not really a ranking, more general thoughts:

Beauty and the Beast:
Evermore - I like Josh Groban's version of the song. I like the idea of a song for the Beast, but in execution it destroys the pacing.

How Does a Moment Last Forever - I like Celine Dion's version of the song, and it's fine in the film itself because it plays more like a lullaby.

Days in the Sun - I don't care for it and I don't care for its inclusion. It doesn't fit in its tone to the film and just makes everything depressing (a moment ago they sang Be Our Guest). I would have preferred if they had kept Human Again.

Overall I'd say that Beauty and the Beast had the best new songs out of the remakes, and even with them I'll just listen to the end credit versions because I just don't care about the movie and I don't care to listen to different "singers" singing for the characters.

Aladdin:
Speechless - I think this song is unremarkable and doesn't fit Jasmine at all. It really doesn't help that they basically stop the movie completely just so she could have her music video, and it also doesn't fit the other songs in the movie - It feels as if they decided to put a Eurovision song in Aladdin for some reason.

Desert Moon - better than Speechless but overall unnecessary.

The Lion King:
Don't care for Spirit, it's not even sung by any of the characters.

The Little Mermaid:
Wild Uncharted Waters - it's fine, Jonah sings it like he's bored, it might have been better if they made an end credit version of the song.

For the First Time - I don't care for it but I guess it makes the most sense in the movie out of any of the other songs in any other remake (in the sense that the plot doesn't just stop just to have a song, but the song helps further the story). The bridge is nice though, when she sings:
"He's coming through those doors
Up the stairs
From the shore
From that moment
And he'll smile
Like he knows
When I say"

Scuttlebutt - hate it.

I don't really have anything to say about other songs.

1. Speechless (part 2)- I remember hearing this song on loop for 9 months since it came out I really do think its the best of the new remakes, its powerful, adds more to Jasmines character and ambitions etc.

2. Evermore- Also another song that hits the same points, but its not as catchy as Speechless

3. Just like Fire- This song is just catchy, I really like it, but its obviously not relevant to the movie but that doesnt really matter

4. For the First Time- I like that one, just not as good as the others, but I think it will grow on me.

...


1000. Scuttle Butt

Yeah, "Just Like Fire" is just P!nk being P!nk, it seemed to have no relation to the movie at all. Thankfully, I do like P!nk.

I only wish they'd had an unfiltered version of "Evermore" on the soundtrack. I still wish they'd had him sort of do it more as a moment inside his head as far as we see (and hear) Dan Stevens separate from the Beast form while he's singing (as in it's a visual of how he still sees himself inside) while he's watching Belle ride away. Perhaps he looks at himself in the mirror at the beginning and sees himself as a human, and then reverts to the Beast form at the end when he's standing beside the gargoyles. And it would've worked, too, as far as signifying how Belle made him feel (and act) human again and without her, he's cursed to be like he was / is forever.

This subject of the remakes' new songs is a bit complicated. The songs are fine on their own, but in the movie they don't fit with the rest of the score. The only exception I can think of is Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland.

In Beauty and the Beast, Evermore would have to be the highlight, because it's so epic. Days in the Sun is my least favorite, because it replaces Human Again, which, in my opinion, is one of the best musical numbers in the original. The other two are just meh, I can take them or leave them.

In Aladdin, I loved Speechless and Desert Moon, but again, they don't match the score.

In The Lion King, Spirit replaces the epic music in one of the best scenes in the movie. It was kinda cringey.

In The Little Mermaid, For the First Time was fun (I especially loved the part after Eric leaves), but Eric's song was a bit boring. It felt like the movie was stopped for 3 minutes, in my opinion. But the second POYW reprise was really great. Scuttlebutt is a fun song, but really out of place in the movie. Having Lin Manuel Miranda work on TLM soundtrack was a really bad idea.

The rest of them had their main song during the end credits, which was great. My favorites would have to be P!nk's Just Like Fire, from Alice Through the Looking Glass and Lana del Rey's brilliant Once Upon A Dream in Maleficent. I also loved A Dream is A Wish Your Heart Makes and Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo from Cinderella.

I love Lana's OUaD, too. I wad trying to stick only to new songs rather than covers of old stuff--but I like a lot of the covers and new versions of old songs, too.