It is a strange and trying time for all of us in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. We certainly understand times are tough for you, as it is for us. We have been proud to bring School Band & Orchestra for free for more than two decades and we will continue to provide you with free subscriptions during the pandemic. However, we would like your consideration in these difficult times to help support our efforts here at School Band & Orchestra to keep our information flowing and to provide you with a continuous stream of current and vital information when you need it the most.
It is with the utmost sincerity we ask you to consider supporting our efforts here with a small donation which will allow our staff the ability to keep these interesting stories about your chosen career coming to you in a consistent and timely basis. Your consideration is greatly appreciated. We at School Band & Orchestra wish nothing but the best for you, your school, your family and co-workers. We hope you continue to remain healthy during this most strenuous of times.
Disney songs are new songs written for a Disney project, such as a feature or short film, a Broadway musical, a TV special or show, a direct to video production, record, or a theme park.
Disney songs generally fall within a few musical genres: classical, Tin Pan Alley standards (show tunes), traditional folk songs, and popular songs. The subtitle of this article derives from a song from The Jungle Book. This article explains ways that music educators can use Disney songs in their classes, lessons and performance venues.
The Disney Song Encyclopedia (Hischak and Robinson, 2009) is a compendium of 940 songs in entries that outline songwriters, original singers, the source of the song and other venues where the song may have appeared. The entries most importantly feature a song description and what makes each memorable.
Songs have the potential to help students develop in a number of literacy needs. In early grades, simply listening to and performing songs can help students develop phonological awareness, the knowledge of sounds in language. Students can practice with stories and poems to develop fluency in later years. Still later, students can participate in literary analysis to build comprehension skills when they examine song lyrics.
Ask a reading teacher at any level and they can tell you that some students resist opportunities to read. Children develop a sense of “reader identity” and “writer identity” very early, and one of the ways that teachers can work to continue building connections to students is to reach outside of the school curriculum and pull in popular culture and media texts that appeal to young learners. One example of such texts that we explore in this article is the power of the Disney song. As Walt Disney suggested, “There’s a terrific power to music. You can run any of these pictures and they’d be dragging and boring, but the minute you put music behind them, they have life and vitality they don’t get any other way” (cited in Hischak and Robinson, 2009, p. vii).
These authors went on to emphasize the powerful role that musicals have exhibited as part of American culture, even suggesting that many of Disney lyrics have entered a “special place in our collective consciousness” (Hischak & Robinson, 2009, p. vii). What we offer in this article is a brief exploration of possible directions that elementary, middle and high school teachers can take when addressing continuing themes in literature. In this case, these themes are made evident in the rhyme and magic of Disney music.
Hischak & Robinson (2009, p. vii) highlighted that “Songs written for Disney productions over the decades have become a potent part of American popular culture. Since most Americans first discover these songs in their youth, they hold a special place in our collective consciousness.”
They also observed that Disney songs are famous for their “craftsmanship, ambitious goals, and generally optimistic view of life.” They convey a positive and hopeful outlook that affirms life (Hischak & Robinson, 2009, vi-viii).
The power of Disney songs in various forms “is a small musical affirmation of what makes life worth living” according to Hischak & Robinson, 2009, p. viii). The positive messages and reflections contained in these songs, which might be called lyrical texts, point out some of the broadest themes of life, including acceptance, friendship, and perservance. Many is the time even an older reader struggles to identify the theme of a given text – Disney songs expose these themes in memoral ways.
Furthermore, Hischak and Robinson (2009, p. xvii) explain that because of home video, Disney songs are made universally accessible. The have suggested that “The music heard in these productions has become a part of our everyday culture.” Just a film has shaped our society since the 1930s, so too does the musical film and presence of song shape thinking. One need only walk into an elementary classroom for a few moments to observe the powerful phonemic and literary work that is done through song, from establishing daily routines for accomplishing tasks to reinforcing positive social norms. Hischak and Robinson (2009) conclude “To have the Disney experience is to have a musical one” (p. xvii). We would add that a classroom that incorporates such music is its own kind of literacy-based experience.
In educational terms, Disney songs are ideal for teaching about characters, themes, powerful messages, social-emotional learning and Habits of Mind. Consider the following suggested lessons keeping in mind that these are only a mere fraction of the possibilities because there are more than 1000 songs within the Disney canon.
Now that we have rationalized the use of Disney songs, we will establish some practical steps for incorporating these texts.
It is essential that teachers decide how they will use a Disney song in instruction, as with any text. Without planning and forethought, the purpose of a text can be lost and students may be left to pick up the fragments of a piecemeal plan.
When using Disney songs, teachers can consider the following routines and concepts:
Songs as poetry
Because many songs have rhyme, song lyrics can easily be analyzed similar to poetry. We have experienced this kind of work in the classroom as the very same students who are reluctant to engage with a traditional poetic text readily embrace work with a song – and, moreover, this is work in the most positive sense.
Consider these songs:
Songs as singalong/playalongs
Because the lyrics and melodies found in Disney songs are powerful and catchy, they invite singalongs and playalongs.
Try these songs:
Songs as social emotional learning
While some songs are light and playful, other Disney songs often include powerful messages that invite social-emotional learning. These are titles to consider listening to with a box of tissues nearby: “When You Wish Upon a Star” from Pinocchio, “Baby Mine” from Dumbo, and “You’ll Be in My Heart” from Tarzan. Each of these songs creates a message that is woven through powerful words that can be explored for both mood and tone.
Also consider the positive messages portrayed in songs such as:
Songs as plot and character development
Many songs in Disney musicals help move the story along and define characters. In Joseph Campbell’s (2008) conception of the hero’s journey in his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, there must be challenges and problems, as well as mentors and guides, to bring the narrative full circle. A number of Disney songs encapsulate this complicated series of story steps with memorable lines.
Try using these songs:
Also consider:
The songs listed throughout this article derive mostly from the Disney Song Encyclopedia and cover 1937-2009. We conducted additional research to identify songs from 2010-2019 that are pedagogically useful in lessons and familiar to our younger learners. See the appendix for additional songs within various categories: I Am/Character Songs, Identity, Tributes, Self-Fulfillment, Racial and Cultural Tolerance, Nature, Love, Live and Let Live, Inspiration, Positivity and Dreams.
Disney songs can be powerful in the music curriculum. They are rich resources that can enliven learning, contain powerful messages and lessons and help engage students in an important part of popular culture. By using the Disney song ideas outlined here, teachers can account for the bare necessities.
Hischak, Thomas S. and Mark A. Robinson. 2009. The Disney Song Encyclopedia. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.
Piatek-Jiminez, Katrina & Christine M. Phelps. 2016. Using Disney’s Frozen to Motivate Mathematics: Bringing Fractals into the Classroom. Australian Primary Mathematics, 21, 2, 18-25.
I Am and Character Songs
Identity
Tributes
Self-Fulfillment
Nature
Love
Live and Let Live
Inspiration
Positivity
Dreams
Jason DeHart, Ph.D. taught middle school English for eight years and is currently a teacher educator. His research interests include using film and a variety of texts to build engagement for students.
Keith Mason, Ph.D. writes extensively about musicals in the curriculum and commemorates milestone anniversaries of musical theatre and film works.