Pop Ballads from Animated Movies: Part Deux

Animated movies are great, with their gripping stories, lovable, comical, and even diabolical characters, voiced by many of the best actors in show business, and most importantly, their spectacular animation. Probably the most integral part of these films is the timeless and memorable soundtrack, with its well orchestrated instrumental pieces, and charming, fun, and emotionally-driven musical numbers, most of which hold a very special place in people's hearts. No matter how cheesy they may sound at times, everybody has sung along to at least one of these delightful tunes, even when nobody else is around to hear them sing. Of all the songs on the soundtrack, ballads seem to be the most potent, whether sung by one or more of the cast of characters, or by popular artists in music to add to the movie's commercial appeal, some of which can still be heard on the radio today, and enjoyed by both kids and adults, whether dependent on the context of the film or not. The following are my other favorite pop ballads from an animated movie.










Used in the romantic sequence with its main character and his love interest Maid Marian, the near-two minute song would receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song in 1974, only to lose to the Barbra Streisand title song from The Way We Were. It would later be used in the 2009 animated flick Fantastic Mr. Fox. While the artist Nancy Adams was not technically a pop music singer, this song did set the blueprints for future, award-worthy pop ballads for animated movies, however it wasn't until the release of An American Tail's Grammy-winning "Somewhere Out There" and the utilization of radio and music video play (something that could not have been done back in the 70s as MTV was not yet born) that these songs and their respective films could be marketed better, leading to the Disney release of the Céline Dion/Peabo Bryson rendition of "Beauty and the Beast" after the studio's reinvention in the late 80s and early 90s.








Used in a sad sequence to the movie, this was another Disney song to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1978, only to lose to Debby Boone's chart-topping title song from You Light Up My Life, which also beat out Helen Reddy's "Candle On The Water" from Disney's other effort Pete's Dragon. Pop singer Shelby Flint would perform two other songs for the soundtrack; the opening theme "The Journey (Who Will Rescue Me?)" and "Tomorrow Is Another Day".








Sung by folk singer Art Garfunkel, the ballad from the movie, based on the critically-acclaimed Richard Adams novel, didn't even crack the charts in the US, but would achieve major success in the UK, becoming the biggest selling single of 1979. "Bright Eyes" would later be used as the theme song to the Watership Down animated series on the BBC and would appear on the UK version of Garfunkel's fourth studio album Fate For Breakfast, and the US version of his fifth album Scissors Cut.








After a departure from Disney in 1979, Don Bluth's first animated feature film, adapted from Robert C. O'Brien's Mrs. Frisby And The Rats of NIMH, has been regarded by many as his magnum opus. Despite being generally underrated and overlooked since its theatrical release 30 years ago, it has gained a cult following with young audiences, and continues to captivate and enthrall new generations of cinema viewers. Its love theme "Flying Dreams", sung by Sally Stevens in the movie version, and Paul Williams in the end credits, may not have been a mainstream hit like other animated movie ballads, or of the Oscar-winning "Up Where We Belong" from that same summer's release of An Officer And A Gentleman, but it has become a favorite for many animation soundtrack lovers.








70s rock group America had achieved success in their day with a string of hits, including "A Horse With No Name", "Sister Golden Hair" and "Ventura Highway". After the departure of Dan Peek in 1977, the band's popularity had declined until the release of their top ten hit "You Can Do Magic" from their 1982 album View From The Ground. With a new sense of fame, the band had contributed songs to multiple soundtracks, as well as the animated children's flick The Last Unicorn, based on the Peter S. Beagle fantasy novel. The soundtrack album had become immensely popular in Germany and the band has often performed its title track while touring the country, where it became a top 40 hit.








After singing a duet with James Ingram in "Somewhere Out There" from An American Tail, Linda Ronstadt was poised to return for the soundtrack to its sequel Fievel Goes West. As breathtaking as the James Horner and Will Jennings composition is, especially sung by voice actress Cathy Cavadini in the movie version, "Dreams To Dream" was unable to match the success of "Somewhere Out There", or win any awards, as both the song and Universal/Amblimation picture were largely overshadowed that year by the Disney effort Beauty And The Beast, as well as its award-winning title theme.








In the early 90s, with the success of animated greats like Beauty And The Beast and Aladdin, many studios were inspired to follow the classic Disney storytelling formula for their animated movies, including director Don Bluth, which would also mean incorporating pop ballads into the soundtracks. Unlike "Far Longer Than Forever" from Richard Rich's The Swan Princess, the pop version of "Let Me Be Your Wings", sung in part by famed singer Barry Manilow, wasn't nominated for any awards as Thumbelina was a box office bomb, though the song was a major relief from the insufferable "Tyin' Your Shoes" in the end credits to Bluth's previous movie Rock-a-Doodle. However, another song off the Thumbelina soundtrack, the Jack Feldman and Manilow-composed "Marry The Mole", would win a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Original Song. Manilow would compose the soundtrack to one of Bluth's next projects The Pebble and the Penguin a year later, and would even sing a duet with pop singer Sheena Easton for its end title ballad "Now and Forever", which was also unsuccessful as that movie was another critical and commercial failure.








Unlike the movie's more robust ballad "Whatever You Imagine", which actually was used in the end credits as well, the Lisa Stansfield and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds duet did not receive any Grammy Award nominations, not even cracking the top 100 on the pop charts, as The Pagemaster performed poorly in theaters, which was also a setback for its then-child star Macaulay Culkin. However, "Dream Away" did have the musical partnership of renowned pop songwriter Diane Warren and music producer David Foster, both of whom had gained individual success since the 80s, composing songs for numerous pop artists, before achieving joint success in the mid to late 90s composing hit ballads for artists like Céline Dion, Toni Braxton, Whitney Houston, and Gloria Estefan and *NSYNC.








Actress and entertainer Vanessa Williams made history in the early 80s by becoming the first African American female to be crowned Miss America, only to have her title revoked after nude photos of her became widely known to the public. Four years after the scandal, Williams got into the music industry with her debut album The Right Stuff, followed by her sophomore effort The Comfort Zone in 1991, featuring her #1 smash hit "Save The Best For Last". In the mid 90s, she was asked to do a pop rendition of the ballad "Colors Of The Wind" for Disney's animated feature about the legendary Pocahontas. The song became a Top 5 hit, and would win an Oscar and Grammy, both for Best Original Song, as well as a Golden Globe Award for Best Song Written For A Movie.








English pop/soul singer Steve Winwood had achieved fame in the 60s and 70s as the lead singer for bands like The Spencer Davis Group, Blind Faith, and Traffic. In the 80s, he was able to branch out as a solo artist with chart-topping singles "Higher Love" and "Roll With It", and a remix of his previous single "Valerie", which became a top ten hit in 1987. While "Reach For The Light" is a very good pop ballad, its movie, Balto, another product of the long-defunct Amblimation, found itself hard to compete at the box office that winter with the Disney and Pixar release of the first ever fully computer-animated motion picture, Toy Story.








Anybody who was a teenager in the mid-90s probably remembers the R&B quartet All-4-One, famous for two cover versions of John Michael Montgomery songs, including the #1 smash hit "I Swear", competing with rival quartet Boyz II Men in the summer of 1994. While "Someday" is a very beautifully-composed song, it didn't achieve the success of other Disney pop ballads as The Hunchback of Notre Dame was considered too dark of an animated movie for children, one of the darkest the studio has released since The Black Cauldron 11 years prior. The same was the case for the pop version of "God Help The Outcasts" by Bette Midler, which wasn't even featured in the movie or end credits. Though very well-sung, it was also unsuccessful and has often been reminiscent of her previous hit single "Wind Beneath My Wings".








Blue-eyed soul crooner Michael Bolton was best known in the late 80s and early 90s for having two #1 singles "How Am I Supposed To Live Without You" and a cover of the Percy Sledge song "When A Man Loves A Woman". He would also be known for his collaboration with saxophonist Kenny G. In 1997, Bolton contributed to the soundtrack to Disney's 35th animated motion picture by singing the end title version of "Go The Distance". The song was a huge hit on the adult contemporary charts that summer and was even nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, along with pop ballads "Journey To The Past" and "Once Upon A December" from Don Bluth's Anastasia, all of which lost to Céline Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" from Titanic. The song was even sung in Spanish by latin pop singer Ricky Martin, two years before his breakout success and English crossover.








Written in part by producer David Foster, the collaborative version by superstar diva Céline Dion and operatic pop singer Andrea Bocelli, received a Golden Globe Award in 1999 for Best Original Song, and was nominated for an Academy Award in that same category, but lost to "When You Believe" from The Prince of Egypt. In keeping up with rising demands for productions of animated movies, à la Disney, Quest For Camelot would feature more than one pop ballad on the soundtrack, one of which included a rendition of "Looking Through Your Eyes" from country superstar Leann Rimes, who achieved success in the late 90s at the tender age of 14 with "Blue" and her rendition of the Diane Warren-penned "How Do I Live", not featured on the soundtrack to Con Air. The other would include a rendition of "I Stand Alone" from former Journey lead singer Steve Perry. All three Foster-composed songs would become more successful than the movie itself, however "The Prayer" was the only one to achieve major success, as it would be covered by numerous artists, including Charlotte Church, Josh Groben, Heather Headley, and American Idol contestant Katharine McPhee.








After the success of the late Aaliyah's rendition of "Journey To The Past", Disney had decided for its 2001 animated motion picture to attach its end title ballad to 21 year old R&B singer Mya. While the Diane Warren composition was received with mixed praise in its release, and largely ignored by the public as Atlantis failed to achieve the success of previous Disney films, the song has been given a second chance in recent times, slowly rising in popularity, and has yet to be used elsewhere.








Canadian rock singer Bryan Adams achieved fame in the 80s and 90s, with four #1 singles, as well as a spot on the David Foster-produced charity single "Tears Are Not Enough", the Canadian equivalent of "We Are The World". The opening theme to the second to last hand-drawn motion picture of Dreamworks became a top ten hit in eight countries, earning Adams an ASCAP award, as well as a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song. Sadly, this would be the last major ballad from an animated movie soundtrack to feature a veteran popular artist.




The following songs are ones that were unable to reach the same level of other popular movie ballads, but still deserve honorable mention:










As beautifully crafted and well sung as it is, partly by long-forgotten pop artist Rachele Cappelli, it's not quite on par with other animated movie ballads, but could easily work with any other soundtrack. However, the film from which the song came was a failure at the box office, and even named one of the worst of 1990 by Siskel and Ebert.








Like "Flying Dreams" from The Secret of NIMH, it wasn't a mainstream hit like other pop ballads that year, but is regarded as a cult classic for movie soundtrack fans. Though it is sung perfectly by its artist Sheena Easton to a very beautifully animated sequence to FernGully, "A Dream Worth Keeping" would have also been suited well for the end credits.








As poorly as this animated abomination performed at the box office, and as detrimental as it was to the Tom and Jerry franchise, the Stephanie Mills end title song was one of the few redeeming values of the film, the other being "I Miss You (Robyn's Song)", the only decent musical number.








Though the Elton John rendition is another good pop ballad on the soundtrack, it's not quite on the same level as his version of "Can You Feel The Love Tonight", but certainly has more respect than the half-baked Disney Mania version.








Though it is a very well-composed song, and though Phil Collins had done the entire soundtrack justice, it falls a little short of the more memorable and Oscar-winning "You'll Be In My Heart".




These wonderfully written ballads, performed by many of the best pop artists in the music industry, gave audiences young and old a sense of awe and appreciation for the movies from which they came, as well as an appreciation for the songs as standalone music. No matter how schmaltzy they may have sounded, audiences may never hear them again in cinema, even for live action films, as pop ballads have since waned in popularity, but remain timeless classics. With the exception of a few of the most recent Winnie The Pooh movies, Disney has shifted away from really talented, well-established musicians for their animated movie soundtracks, and have now employed younger, more manufactured pop singers, especially for their Disney Mania albums.