Opetaia Foa’i helped create the soundtrack’s South Pacific touches, while Dwayne Johnson even wheeled out some light rapping for his performance as the demigod Maui. The Hamilton composer and lyricist is a maestro when it comes to cranking out the hits. Not only is there the famous “Bella Notte” scene and its accidental spaghetti kiss, but the crooning Pekingese, voiced by Peggy Lee, is simply sublime.ĭisney took the straightforward path to making a hit musical for today: they hired Lin-Manuel Miranda. However, given that the central courtship is between two dogs, the film boasts a surprisingly elegant love story. One of several films on this list containing problematic material, Lady and the Tramp certainly isn’t a faultless film. Only Cruella could answer a simple “How are you?” with the line: “Miserable darling, as usual, perfectly wretched.” And a Disney princess working hard to make her dreams come true? That’s something to celebrate.Ĭruella de Vil may have committed attempted puppy murder, but there’s still something irresistibly delightful about her “Patsy from Ab Fab” combination of luxury goods and frightening taste. There’s a wonderful sense of artistry to how The Princess and the Frog renders New Orleans during the Jazz Age, especially in the Art Deco-stylised number “Almost There”. It’s, quite simply, a beautiful piece of filmmaking.ĭisney’s brief return to traditional animation reminded us what had been lost in the switch to 3D animation.
Tangled finds fun, humour and adventure in its re-imagining of the Rapunzel tale, but what’s crucial to its success is how it anchors the entire film around a single, showstopping sequence: “I See the Light”, where Rapunzel watches hundreds of paper lanterns float up into the skies. Then there’s the ability to descend into the totally bizarre, as characterised by the downright scary “Pink Elephants on Parade” sequence. There’s the capacity for moments that are pure and heartrending, as seen in “Baby Mine” (a scene that’s almost impossible to watch without welling up). Dumbo demonstrates the two gifts of early Disney films.