Welcome back to the Oscar Songs Project, where Roommate Joe and I revisit every Oscar-nominated song from 1980-1990.
Today’s entry, hosted right here, is for 1989, when the script was flipped by a happy little crab.
(To see all the entries in the project, just go here.)
“Under the Sea” — The Little Mermaid [Music: Alan Menken; Lyrics: Howard Ashman] WINNER
Mark: Twenty years ago, who would’ve guessed that this slate foretold an, ahem, sea change in the Best Song category? In 1989, Disney’s animation department was almost moribund, as the studio had spent the decade churning out flops like The Black Cauldron and The Rescuers Down Under. What’s more, a Disney animated feature hadn’t gotten a Best Song nomination since 1973, when a tune from Robin Hood got tapped, so even when The Little Mermaid revitalized the studio with a flick of Ariel’s tail, there was no reason to assume its films would then dominate the song awards.
But lord have mercy, we can appreciate the significance of this ballot now. Since 1989, Disney animated features (including Pixar films) have received 22 Best Song nominations, and that doesn’t include the trio of nods for Enchanted. Ariel swam out of the water, got magical legs from Ursula, and then kicked the crap out of the next ten years.
Only it wasn’t Ariel. It was Sebastian the crab, the character who sings both of the nominated songs from this movie. Crazy, right? Wouldn’t you assume that “Part of Your World” won the Oscar? It’s always the big ballad from a Disney movie that takes the prize. Clearly, the Academy didn’t understand the new rules for this category, but I can’t hate on them too much, because even though “Part of Your World” is great, with its twenty thingamabobs and whozits and whatzits galore, “Under the Sea” is effing brilliant. The late Howard Ashman (who also wrote the score to Little Shop of Horrors with Alan Menken) crafts the hell out of the lyrics, making them playful and clever and surprising, and Menken’s Calypso party music is just as delightful. And dramaturgically, this song is tricky, because it has to be both conservative (“Don’t leave home! Ever!”) and enticing (“We’re having fun down here! Listen to the blowfish blooooow!”) And it totally succeeds. It’s a booty-shaking show tune with Creole soul that develops our sense of Sebastian’s character and gives the animators room to show Ariel’s pluck as she leaves home anyway. If you’re going to award a song like this, then it should be this good on this many levels.
Joe: Did you feel that, people? Y’all just got DRAMATURG’D! Seriously, though, that little history lesson up there is very important, because this indeed is where the ’90s era of Disney domination began. I’d like to say it got off to the strongest possible start, but I can’t. Quite simply, they nominated the wrong two songs from The Little Mermaid. I understand WHY “Under the Sea” was nominated (and ultimately won); it’s such a crowd-pleaser! Sebastian the crab was the breakout character! But with the gift of 20+ years of hindsight, it’s pretty clear to me that both “Part of Your World” (a stirring ballad of true longing) and “Poor Unfortunate Souls” (the unrivaled queen of Disney villains’ songs) are the standouts of the movie. That’s just the way it is.
“After All” — Chances Are [Music : Tom Snow; Lyrics: Dean Pitchford]
Mark: Here’s one reason I love the 80s: They produced so many movies like Chances Are, which stars Robert Downey, Jr. as the reincarnated husband of Cybill Shepherd. That’s, like, the decade’s billionth film about body swapping, time travel, and/or romance from beyond the grave, and because it was the 80s, that insane plot also got a love theme performed by Cher and Peter Cetera. Who no doubt wore matching pastel blazers to the studio, occasionally stopping their recording session to snort coke off each other’s feathered bangs. The result is a fantastic power ballad that refuses to apologize for saying the singers are “two angels who’ve been rescued from The Fall.” Because that’s what lovers were in the 80s, y’all. They were tacky and fucked up and oddly dressed, but they were sincere about it. But seriously: I love this song. If you ever see me cooling down on a treadmill, there’s a 5% chance I’m listening to it.
Joe: After nine entries in this series, y’all should know by now how I feel about a) power ballads, b) Peter Cetera, c) duets, and d) perfectly executed cheese. You also should have made an educated guess as to how I feel about Cher. Put it all together, and I just might die, get reincarnated as Robert Downey Jr., and romance Cybill Shepherd. When Cher does That Cher Thing on “it all comes down to me and you”? If your uvula doesn’t get chills, I don’t want to know you!
“Kiss the Girl” — The Little Mermaid [Music: Alan Menken; Lyrics: Howard Ashman]
Mark: Remember all that stuff I said about “Under The Sea?” Most of it applies here. Samuel E. Wright delivers another charming vocal as Sebastian, Menken and Ashman deliver another winning take on Calypso (this time in ballad form), and I get my pants charmed right off. I will always love this song for letting me see a group of bullfrogs provide harmony vocals… and for letting Sebastian evolve from a nervous homebody into a passionate supporter of Ariel’s new life on land, where she needs a man (and a voice) to be happy. That crab is more complex than any character Kevin James has ever played.
Joe: Yeah, like Mark, I’m going to ask you to refer to my above comments re: “Part of Your World” and “Poor Unfortunate Souls.” Which isn’t to say that “Kiss the Girl” is bad (truth bomb: The Little Mermaid has some really great songs). But what a missed opportunity. This was the 1989 Oscars, people! Anjelica Huston, Lena Olin, and Michelle Pfeiffer were all RIGHT THERE to perform the most sexily threatening sea-witch anthem ever!
“I Love To See You Smile” — Parenthood [Music and lyrics: Randy Neman]
Mark: Wow… Randy Newman’s been writing the same damn song for twenty years, hasn’t he? I’m all for an amiable jazz shuffle, but “I Love To See You Smile” is indistinguishable from “Almost There” (from The Princess and the Frog) and “You’ve Got a Friend In Me” (from Toy Story.) Shouldn’t the latter songs have been ineligible for Oscars, since they were basically nominated here?
Joe: Mark’s taking all my observations, but for the record, yes, I also think that Randy Newman’s been writing the same song in at least four decades now. Also, if you’ll allow me to hearken back to our “On the Road Again” discussion, doesn’t it seem like “I Love to See You Smile” has always existed, in toothpaste commercials and sensitive father/daughter scenes in film and television?
“The Girl Who Used to Be Me” — Shirley Valentine [Music: Marvin Hamlisch; Lyrics: Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman]
Mark: I’ve been meaning to see this movie, since it was based on a hit play and sounds uplifting in that manipulative, “sad housewife finds a new life on a Greek vacation” kind of way. But maybe I should just read the play, because then I wouldn’t have to face the return of the Motherfucking Bergmans. By now, I know I’m predisposed to dismiss them, but come on. This is some treacly-treek-treacle.
Joe: You know I will at least listen to a song that has the chutzpah to include the film’s title in its lyrics. And I do love Marvin Hamlisch! How could I begrudge the man who gave us “The Way We Were” (and won three separate Oscars in 1973) a nomination for anything? Of course, my affection for Mr. Hamlisch (A Chorus Line, for Pete’s sake!) runs directly into the brick wall of Alan and Marilyn Bergman AND the dread Patti Austin. Sorry, Marv.
Final Assessment:
Mark: I have mixed feelings about this year, since it features two low-rent songs from Oscar perennials and prefigures the end of of Oscar’s pop era. However, the Menken-Ashman songs are a joy, and “After All” is gooey enough to satisfy my schmaltz cravings. But I can’t fight the future, so I’m skipping Cher-tera and handing the prize to the fizzy achievement of “Under the Sea.”
Joe: Of the nominated songs, I’m actually going to go with “After All,” because I am such a stereotype. Of the songs that would have been nominated had The Little Mermaid been assessed correctly: “Poor Unfortunate Souls.” And as for what else was cruelly snubbed in ’89: Prince was shut out of this category AGAIN, this time for “Batdance” (yeah, yeah, but that movie made ALL THE MONEY in the summer of 1989), Bobby Brown’s song for Ghostbusters II failed to live up to the standard set by Ray Parker Jr., and while it’s a novelty, would you have turned up your nose at “Teenage Suicide (Don’t Do It)” from Heathers? On the serious, though: Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power” from Do the Right Thing kind of makes everybody look bad. Everybody. Yes, even you.
20 responses so far ↓
1 Michael // Jun 28, 2011 at 9:35 am
Here’s a Bergmans fun fact I discovered while channel-surfing last night. They wrote the lyrics to the “Good Times” theme song.
2 Nick Davis // Jun 28, 2011 at 9:56 am
So that we can all sleep at night, I think we should assume that the flotilla of samples in “Fight the Power” rendered it ineligible, Ã la “Gangsta’s Paradise.” Unless that just reminds us how backassward the Music Branch is, and then we still can’t sleep.
I don’t even like The Little Mermaid, but I’ll take “Under the Sea” narrowly over “After All.” Though I do still play my Heart of Stone cassette, in the first printing, where Cher is posed and drawn to look like the jaw of a skull in a staggering faux-neolithic trompe l’oeil. Seriously. Mark’s breakdown of “Under the Sea” is really brilliant, and I feel that one really can’t have too much dramaturging.
I don’t hate the Shirley Valentine song, but I thought the Bergmans did stronger work that year on “King of My Heart (Agincourt)” from Henry V.
Got you.
3 Hannah M // Jun 28, 2011 at 10:12 am
“Under the Sea” easily gets my vote on this one. I like all the songs from The Little Mermaid, but I think “Under the Sea” is possibly the best animated musical number of all time. It makes wonderful use of the vivid colors and is enormously over-the-top and fantastic. It brings all the excitement and energy of a truly great big Broadway show opener – but with cartoon characters. I’m a huge musical theater nerd, so I’m a bit biased toward flashy musical numbers, but every time I watch that sequence I’m amazed by how infectiously delightful it is. There’s something really special about it.
4 Angie // Jun 28, 2011 at 11:10 am
I’m not fighting the magic of The Little Mermaid, because I was seven in 1989 and I probably watched that movie a bajillion times and adore it. However, I have watched Chances Are a bajillion times as an adult and I love it too. (Could RDJ be any cuter in it? NO. Also: Shooter McGavin! Yay!) That song was my parent’s song, and even though they hate each other’s faces now, I adore it. Double Oscar!
5 Mark Blankenship // Jun 28, 2011 at 11:41 am
Michael — This Bergmans fact threatens my tenuous hold on sanity. How did they get so funky?
Angie — The phrase “Double Oscar” seems like it could be useful. Many thanks.
Nick — Can we talk about the song “Heart of Stone” and why it is so good? Because it is. “Don’t you sometimes! Wish you heart was! Made of stone!”
6 benvolio // Jun 28, 2011 at 12:12 pm
Reading this over, I am reminded about how much a loss it was when Howard Ashman died. No other lyricist with whom Menken has worked has half his inventive, clever, rhyming style or picture-setting. Although I think Beauty & the Beast is a better vehicle, that wasn’t 1989, so I have to go with Under the Sea.
Can’t endorse the Cher-tera; I think their voices are a poor, poor match for each other, and the car radio automatically switches channels if this song comes on (which it does at an alarming frequency, lo, these many years later).
As an aside, did we just learn that Joe is a viewer of L&O: CI, what with the Dramaturg! comment? If so, I bow. If not, do check out the Cynthia Nixon ep that aired last week.
7 Eric // Jun 28, 2011 at 12:12 pm
I’ve always enjoyed “Part of Your World” more than “Under the Sea.” I don’t see how it wasn’t nominated! I never cared for Newman’s song, or his other 20 that all sound the same…”The Girl Who Used to Be Me” is ok…nice little song…very unmemorable, though…
One song that ws overlooked and very underrated is “All for Love” from Say Anything, and sung by Heart’s Nancy Wilson…It’s not as grandiose in the film as the songs from The Little Mermaid (A few snippets are heard throughout the film, and it’s played over the end credits), but WOW what a song! I love Heart, and Nancy’s voice is fantastic…such a great love song…
I wish Starship’s “I’ll Be there for You” from the end credits of Gross Anatomy was more well -known…Idon’t know if it’s eligible or not because Starship’s album was released in the same year…The song is another underrated gem
My top 5:
1) All for Love
2) Part of Your World
3) After All
4) Kiss the Girl
5) I’ll Be There for You, if it’s eligible…if not Under the Sea
alt: Poor Unfortunate Souls
8 Kara // Jun 28, 2011 at 12:25 pm
My brother, who was five at the time, loved – LOVED – The Little Mermaid. Especially “Under the Sea.” He rewound and rewound and rewound. I remember we spent a week with my grandmother in Brooklyn, and he played it nonstop. She lived in a two-bedroom apartment so there was no escape from it, really.
But the thing is, I totally didn’t mind. (“Guess who gon’ be on de plate” was my favorite line.) The song is dope. Sebastian reminded us a lot of our West Indian relatives – I have a great-uncle from Trinidad that springs immediately to mind. (Except drunker, but that’s another story.) And the sequence itself, aside from the music, is gorgeous – all the colors, the motion. It just looks like fun! (My favorite song was “Poor Unfortunate Souls.” I’m not sure what that says about me.)
9 Green // Jun 28, 2011 at 12:43 pm
Wow. I’m glad I clicked on the youtube video to give “Under the Sea” another listen. It’s was overplayed at the time that I remember it as being annoying, and don’t remember such awesome lyrics as, “The fluke is the Duke of Sole…. yeah.”
Thanks for that.
10 Roommate Joe // Jun 28, 2011 at 12:55 pm
I have no idea about this “Law & Order: CI” connection, so I’ll have to check it out…
11 ferretrick // Jun 28, 2011 at 1:13 pm
Under the Sea by a mile, although I would be happy to see the whole category as just the four big numbers from Little Mermaid.
Randy Newman is the ONLY thing wrong with the Toy Story movies and I loathe him. That is all.
I can’t give Chances Are the nom, just because I own Cher’s greatest hits. I have listened to that song HUNDREDS of times. And until now I have never once been able to make out the “after all the stops and starts” lyric. Singers who can’t enunciate is a big pet peeve, so no love here.
12 jessica // Jun 28, 2011 at 1:15 pm
I actually think all the songs from The Little Mermaid should’ve been nominated, for they are spectacular (which I was reminded of during my recent Disney World honeymoon), but I have to go with Joe, sort of. I actually would give the Oscar to “Part of Your World” because I was 14 when this movie came out, and I felt all these things. Not the swimming, really, but all the other stuff. “Betcha on land, they understand – bet they don’t reprimand their daughters. Bright young women, sick of swimming, ready to stand …” Yeah, that still gets me.
13 Josh // Jun 28, 2011 at 1:34 pm
I remember being upset at the time that Under the Sea won because at 9, it was my least favorite song from the movie. But as an adult, I think Hannah M did a great job of describing why it was a great choice.
I’m sad that the series is over! Will we be treated to another decade retrospective?
14 Roommate Joe // Jun 28, 2011 at 5:20 pm
“Singers who can’t enunciate is a big pet peeve,” yet you own Cher’s Greatest Hits????
15 Mark Blankenship // Jun 28, 2011 at 5:47 pm
Okay, it’s a little off topic, but I have to talk about the dramaturg thing.
So… on that episode of L&O:CI, the murderer was a dramaturg who went to Yale School of Drama. And I also went to Yale School of Drama for dramaturgy, so as you can imagine, this was my favorite episode of any show, ever.
I believe—and correct me if I’m wrong—that Joe learned what a dramaturg was back when we were roommates… and I would call myself out for excessive dramaturgy of TV shows.
Ahem. Aside concluded.
16 Roommate Joe // Jun 28, 2011 at 6:31 pm
I kind of need to know WHY the Yale dramaturg comitted murder? And if it was because his roommate, on rare occasion, made GENTLE FUN of said dramaturgy. And if I need to go acquire myself a German shepherd.
17 Matt // Jun 29, 2011 at 1:42 am
I have to agree with Joe, Part of Your World may be my favorite Disney song of all time. Jodi Benson’s “I wanna be…where the people are” is so brilliantly sung that it gets me every time. On top of that, Poor Unfortunate Souls is almost as amazing, Pat Carroll’s voice work in the entire movie is amazing. “You’ll have your looks, your pretty face” is just perfection
18 benvolio // Jun 29, 2011 at 11:38 am
Because the dramaturg worked for Cynthia Nixon, hilariously chewing the scenery as “Shulie Shaymor,” of course! And yes, there was fun made of dramaturg-itude.
As for getting a dog, not unless the roommate is responsible for an expensive, failing Broadway show and an expensive, soused director.
I love how all the stage actors who routinely populate the casts of the L&O shows had such fun with the whole ‘stage actors are flipping nuts’ meta-plot.
But um, yeah: Under the Sea FTW!
19 katy // Jun 30, 2011 at 4:20 pm
Although I loved it in middle school when it came out, Little Mermaid just doesn’t hold up as a movie in this Pixar age. (Really. I’m sorry, but it doesn’t.) However, the songs are still amazing. One of them simply had to win this category.
This really was all about Howard Ashman, who was freaking brilliant. But his best lyrics were in Little Shop of Horrors. For example: “They say the meek shall inherit / you know the book doesn’t lie / it’s not a question of merit / it’s not demand and supply…”
20 Vira // Oct 2, 2011 at 1:02 pm
1) Re: Bergmans–They also wrote music and lyircs to the opening credits for Maude. Funkier than that they could not be.
2) WTF does the ‘dread’ Patti Austin mean? One of the greatest, most versatile singers and performers of the last 50 years. I’ve got a lot of strength stored up in my bitch slappin’ arm, so you better watch your step there.
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