The top five catchiest Disney songs

Herald online

24 Jun, 2014 05:40 AM2 mins to read

Let it go, let it go...It's the song you just can't get out of your head. The movie Frozen has taken the world by storm, driving parents crazy with endless renditions of the soundtrack.

There's no denying Disney knows how to create a catchy and timeless tune. Here are our top five catchiest Disney ditties:

1. Hakuna Matata (The Lion King)

The soundtrack to the Lion King could easily fill this list, but catchiest of all is Timon and Pumbaa's Hakuna Matata sung by Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella.

The song was written by Elton John (music) and Tim Rice (lyrics), who found the term in a Swahili phrase book.

It was nominated for Best Original Song at the 1995 Academy Awards.

2. Under the Sea (The Little Mermaid)

Another Oscar-winning (1989 for Best Original Song) offering is The Little Mermaid's Under the Sea, performed by Sebastian the crab (Samuel E. Wright).

3. A Whole New World (Aladdin)

Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle's version (which played in the end credits) peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in March 1993, kicking Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You off the top spot.

Brad Kane (Aladdin) and Lea Salonga (Jasmine) performed the song during the film and at the 65th Academy Awards, where it won for Best Original Song.

4. Bare Necessities (The Jungle Book)

From the 1967 Disney film, performed by Phil Harris (Baloo) and Bruce Reitherman (Mowgli). Originally it was written for an earlier draft of the movie that was never produced, and was the only song to be used from this draft.

5. Let it Go (Frozen)

The song we just can't let go won the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 86th Academy Awards, where the show-tune version was performed live by Idina Menzel, (who can forget John Travolta's gaffe introducing Menzel, as "Adele Dazim"?)

It is the first song from a Disney animated musical to reach the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 since 1995, when Vanessa L. Williams' "Colors of the Wind" from Pocahontas peaked at number four on the chart.

On December 6, 2013 Disney released a video of the entire "Let It Go" sequence as seen in the movie, which has 257,317,234 views as of June 15, 2014 on YouTube.