Heroines and Princesses in Disney’s America
Music Assignment
As we have discussed in class, music plays a critical role in deepening our understanding of characters’ personalities, relationships and motives behind their behavior and choices. Music also creates and manipulates moods and lets the audience know when a scene or part of a scene has changed. Music often acts as a character in itself.
In this assignment, you will select a pair of songs from one of the categories below. View the video clips online, read the lyrics (see the link, below. If the lyrics are not at that link, then google them) and the appropriate chapters in Raustad in order to understand the film and characters. The youtube clips are about 3 minutes each. This is not a formal essay. Instead, answer the following questions in one to two complete sentences each (you will lose points if you use bullet points):
1. What category are these songs from? Describe the category and how it fits in the film’s plot.
2. Which characters are singing the songs?
3. What is the song about? What emotions and desires are the character(s) expressing?
4. What is the setting for the song? How does the setting contribute to the mood and topic?
5. In what ways are the songs different, such as how the character (s) express themselves, what they want, what obstacles they have encountered?
6. In what ways are the songs similar, such as how the character (s) express themselves, what they want, what obstacles they have encountered?
Lyrics: http://www.fpx.de/fp/Disney/Lyrics/
Gendered Songs: Women
1. I Wish/ I Want Songs
“When Will My Life Begin?” (Tangled) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=je4nDvNJXsg
“Reflection” (Mulan) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWooGBya_nk
“Part of Your World” (Little Mermaid) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXKlJuO07eM
“For the First Time in Forever” (Frozen) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgMN0Cfh-aQ
“Belle” (Beauty and the Beast) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx1MmY1Bb50
“Just Around the River Bend” (Pocahontas) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DE5a80I8EU
“Let It Go” (Frozen) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moSFlvxnbgk
“Almost There” (Princess and the Frog) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irEBOfv4Ug4
2. Falling in Love Songs
“Kiss the Girl” (Little Mermaid) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6lw6G373G8
“Once Upon a Dream” (Sleeping Beauty) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcEkAn-FI8M
“Colors of the Wind” (Pocahontas) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk33dTVHreQ
“A Whole New World” (Aladdin) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kl4hJ4j48s
“I See the Light” (Tangled) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyrYgCvxBUg
“Something That Wasn’t There Before” (Beauty and the Beast) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ysRm_C56UM
“So This is Love” (Cinderella) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lCzBAQ2PLk
Gendered Songs: Men
“A Girl Worth Fighting For” (Mulan) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I–C86ZkyXQ
“I’ll Make a Man Out of You” (Mulan) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XK7XwLbd-oI
“Gaston” (Beauty and the Beast) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuJTqmpBnI0
“Fixer Upper” (Frozen) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWtTdRmSrYQ
Villain Songs
“Poor Unfortunate Souls” (Little Mermaid) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfkkMHieqcI
“Mother Knows Best” (Tangled) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fi8kYcl2Y38
“Mine, Mine, Mine” (Pocahontas) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uIcaj3cUV0
“Gaston” (Beauty and the Beast) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuJTqmpBnI0
If you’re interested in the context in which the songs were sung, scripts for many of the films are available at: http://www.fpx.de/fp/Disney/Scripts/