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One of the essential ingredients to any movie is music. These days, almost every motion picture has some sort of music, whether it is in the form of songs sung by characters in the movie, or just background score to go along with the action on the screen. Music can enhance the mood that is to be presented in a specific scene. Slow, moving music can bring more emotional weight to a dramatic scene, while fast, moving music can add to the pace of an action scene.
Often, the soundtrack to a movie finds its way to a CD release. Sometimes the CD mainly contains songs heard in the movie, along with a portion of the score. Other times, the CD consists entirely of portions of the score, either when there are no songs in the movie, or when a separate CD of songs is released.
Here is a look at my top ten favorite Disney soundtracks. Of course, with as many great Disney soundtracks as there are, I could have just as easily made a list of my top twenty or thirty. Narrowing it down to ten was a bit of a challenge. But here they are.
 10. 101 Dalmatians: To be quite honest, I'm not all that crazy about the movie. It's okay, but not one that I choose to watch all that often. However, I enjoy the score by Disney staff composer George Bruns. It has a nice, 60s-contemporary feel to it, and the style is very much like most of Bruns's work. And then "Cruella de Vil" is always a fun song, too. Interesting that with the character of Roger being a songwriter, that there aren't more songs in the movie!
 9. National Treasure: Over the last several years, I have become increasingly fond of the instrumental scores of movies. I feel that the National Treasure score by Trevor Rabin helped set the fun, adventurous tone of the movie. And in listening to the score, I am reminded of the atmosphere of the movie. The fast-paced action and the percussive instrumentation are reminders of the edge-of-your-seat happenings during the movie.
 8. The Jungle Book: I'm sure it was no mistake or coincidence that Disney chose popular singers Phil Harris and Louis Prima for two of the main roles in The Jungle Book. And the songs written by the Sherman brothers and Terry Gilkyson are still quite memorable today. The movie also has a great score by George Bruns. Slightly different from his Dalmatians score mentioned above, as this one has more jungle rhythms and sounds to keep with the setting of the movie.
 7. The Little Mermaid: The first time I recall hearing anything from this soundtrack was on a visit to the Disney Store in the early fall of 1989, a few months before the movie was released. On the video screen, they were playing a clip from "Under the Sea". I immediately enjoyed the song and couldn't wait for the soundtrack to be released, not knowing anything about the other songs, or about the composers - except for the fact that they had written the songs for Little Shop of Horrors. On Halloween 1989, I wandered in the store again, and they had the soundtrack CD for sale, although the movie release was still a few weeks away. I gladly bought it, and it instantly went to the top of my list of favorites. I was telling everyone about it, and they had no idea what I was talking about, because they still hadn't heard of the movie. A few weeks later, the movie was released, and everyone was talking about how great it was, including how much they enjoyed the songs and music. That was my real introduction to Howard Ashman and Alan Menken. And listening to the CD today, the songs and score still sound fresh and fun!
 6. Sleeping Beauty: For the 1959 animated feature Sleeping Beauty, the decision was made to adapt the music from Tchiakovsky's Sleeping Beauty ballet for use as the movie's score. Disney staff composer George Bruns was given the task of adapting the music for the movie, and he was perfectly suited to the task. The result is a grand orchestral score that differs somewhat from Bruns's usual style, but fits perfectly with the tone of the film.
 5. Mary Poppins: Mary Poppins was considered by many to be Walt Disney's greatest motion picture accomplishment, as well as Richard and Robert Sherman at the top of their songwriting game. Over forty years later, most everyone can hum at least one song from the movie. And the score by Irwin Kostal features nice arrangements of the Sherman brothers' songs.
 4. The Rocketeer: I still remember the anticipation that I had before The Rocketeer was released. And I felt certain that it would have an exciting, action-movie score. And then I remember sitting in the theater when the film started, and hearing...a nice, slow piano piece. Completely opposite from what I was expecting, and I loved it! A few years later, several passages from Horner's score for Titanic sounded very similar to passages from The Rocketeer.
 3. Aladdin: After the success of The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, there was much anticipation for Aladdin, featuring the last songs by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, along with songs by Menken and Tim Rice. As with the movie, the soundtrack did not disappoint. The songs were wonderful, including some great performances by Robin Williams. And like Alan Menken's other scores, the score for Aladdin was a nice mix of original themes and melodies from the songs heard in the movie.
 2. Finding Nemo: One of the first things I remember thinking about Finding Nemo is how much of a departure Thomas Newman's score was from the previous scores of Pixar films by Randy Newman. Although the previous scores had been enjoyable, Finding Nemo had a completely different tone in its music. In the soundtrack's liner notes, Andrew Stanton describes Thomas Newman's work as "bittersweet", and that is indeed fitting. The music helps to bring out the emotion of the story, while also accentuating its lighter moments.
 1. The Incredibles: To go along with the retro feel of the world of The Incredibles, Michael Giacchino wrote an incredible score. As a superhero movie score, it is reminiscent of such music as James Bond movie scores, as well as the old Batman television series. The music easily sets the mood for the film, allowing viewers to ease into the world they are seeing on the screen. But besides that, the score is just downright fun to listen to on its own.
As movies continue to be created, and music and songs continue to be written, this list will no doubt change over time. But that's part of the fun of discovering something new!
- Story by Steve Burns; Cover art ©Disney
Posted March 22, 2006
Steve is a three-time Disney Store National Trivia finalist and webmaster of BurnsLand, home of Steve's Disney Railroad Adventures.
E-mail Steve at steve@startedbyamouse.com, discuss this article in the StartedByAMouse.com Disney Discussion Forums or use the Talkback feature below.
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