Top 10 Opening Songs in Animated Movies That Didn't Have to Go THAT Hard 

I love all of them no joke

favorite animated opening song is The Lion King II Simba's Pride

Great spirits from brother bear

Herkules

Too strong for you? Very insulting to songwriters. Foolish list.

Yup, her name is Ofra Haza and she is so talented. I was shocked when I first learned that she managed to sing so perfectly in so many languages.

That a serious ear for tone and dialect especially while also remembering a tempo and lyrics for each song in that new language. I didn’t know this but it’s freaking impressive thanks for the knowledge share.

Ofra Haza only sang 18 out of up to 30 (No real info on how many dubs there were). There's video compilations of the dubs of the first bit of Yocheved with subtitles of the language and who sang it (Names of some of the singers couldn't be found anywhere despite the audio existing).

@Gi Gi They did! They thought she was so beautiful that they wanted to animate her into the movie

R.I.P. Ofra Haza. The greatest talent on this whole list.

Next year will be its 25th anniversary. I was 6 when it came out.

The opening still gives me chills every time.

Talking about a timeless masterpiece 😍

Makes me cry every time!

Through Heaven’s Eyes is the masterpiece in this film.

It's such an ear worm, thanks for that, now I have to go listen to it😘

I’ve been looking for this comment. Thank you!

I feel like Disney animated movies should've had their own list. Lots of great opening numbers. I love "Arabian Nights" and "Belle" from Beauty and the Beast and another great opening number is "The Family Madrigal" from Encanto, they should've at LEAST been honourable mentions.

Agree🐐🤎

I was gonna say the same thing. I was waiting for them to show Aladdin

I'm more into Prince of Egypt than the Lion King. Zimmer also did Road to El Dorado

so, I'm not the only one... lol

Hans Zimmer has done many films with great soundtracks, not just these two films

He also did Hunchback's soundtrack.

@@ADragonAmongRoses No he didn’t. That was Alan Menkin.

I get chills in every single song

Literary every song in the movie is a master piece. All I Wanted is one of my favorite songs of all time even though is super short. It's still so beautiful

Probably my favourite movie of all time, it's truly a work of art 👏👏👏

Playing With The Big Boys is such a bop ngl

@@Akat1997 have you seen the Jonathan Young version? It makes it seem that a villain is actually singing it unlike the original

Bruh who WOULDNT love that opening

Lol not sure what being an athiest has to do with liking a masterfully written song!

Same!

Yes! As a Wiccan I even think this movie is amazing! I've watched it over and over even as an adult

I'm raised Catholic and convinced my 13 yr old atheist son to watch it because of it's beautiful artistry. He now claims it's hands down his favorite movie and one of the most beautiful animated films he's ever seen.

Whoa, what?!

That just blew my mind

💯💯💯💯

@@olvialee7221 yup. Steven Schwartz also did Pocahontas with Allen Menkin

Not really if you know his history with the stage and Broadway shows. He is a talented composer that understands the formula to get it in your head. Wicked is just another hit under his belt.

Ofra Haza was an amazing singer with such a beautiful voice. immediately

They even drew the character to look like her, so sad she died in 2000, her voice was just magical.

RIP fora haza 😞 Loved her since childhood

Of course, being a Hebrew singer herself, she would have, of course, known Hebrew.

@@thomasecker9405 Yiddish is not Hebrew. Semitic never used the letters V or P. Not even Egyptians and Sumerians used those letters.

Plagues is even better than Deliver Us, and it's already really hard to top the line "Elohim, god on high, can you hear your people cry"

Literally my favorite animated movies. They're just both so gorgeous and moving.

Hellfire is on my regular playlist

@@desireedphelps mine too, its such a haunting and dark song, it gives me the creeps in all the best ways. frollo is one of the only disney villains i can say i truly hate

@@desireedphelps i always felt weird doing the same, glad to know i’m not alone! it’s such a great song LOL (obviously frollo is not great but. yknow)

I completely agree!

Yes I agree!

Yes!!! Very well deserved top 3 👏🏼

Definitely in animation, but not over all

I totally agree

Ikr Tarzan wasn’t even on the list though. It was just an honorable mention

@@taylorstyles7337 I feel like Tarzan should have been on there man

SAME I was like excuse you what is better than bells of notre dame and circle of life and then boom I basically facepalmed myself and was like.... aah well, naturally, of course, yes.

Watching that as a kid was pretty intense.

Tarzan still gets me

It's on there now! :)

I agree. I like their version but the movie version is so much more emotional and an million times better. Whitney and Mariah’s version is just too pop and doesn’t have that same emotion when listening to the song. Especially with all the runs they do which gets annoying as fuck at times the more I listen to the song. I especially love the part when the Hebrew chant comes in and the rest of the song after that. Hell, all the songs from the movie is epic. I don’t know if WatchMojo ever did a list of the top 10 Prince of Egypt songs(they probably did) but they should do a list with all the songs. I also want to see WatchMojo do a top 10 list of end songs from animated movies.

Prince of Egypt was also made into a stage musical.

I still called Prince Of Egypt one of the greatest movie in history, glad I was born in 1998 when the movie came out.

That’s weird, I’ve had access to the movie version on spotify for a few years at least. I’ve got both versions on my cartoon playlist.

The Shrek movies really knew how to use music.

Amen

Ikr ...

One of the best movies that retells the story of the Jewish peoples’ Exodus from Egypt.

Very happy to have grown up with this movie and now will forever be proud I did

And yes, it needed to go THAT hard

Apparently the studio changed the character's appearance because they thought the actress was so pretty, so they made it look more like her

It gets me so emotionally choked up I can't sing it. 😭 Definitely one of the most beautiful songs in any film, full stop.

Ofra Haza’s voice was so pure and chilling!!! RIP

Ofra Haza had such a beautiful voice… so sad how she died.

After having my son... I can't watch the opening without tearing up now. Such a beautiful and heartbreaking song❤️

I re-discovered as an adult (after loving it as a child) and cried after the first song. One of my favourite movies ever.

The movie makes my cry too 😢

Absolutely!

The movie doesn't let up after the beginning either. Just a masterpiece from top to bottom

@@B-Mag 100% true! I was focusing on the opening number because that's the topic of the video, but it's an incredible movie!

God help the outcasts is such a gorgeous song. I still listen to it sometimes and it is deeply stirring

Every single song from Hunchback packs such a strong emotional and musical punch, it's amazing. Can't get bored of them. Storytime: for a while I lived behind a big church, and the bell would ring on the hour according to the hour's number. One day I was coming home, listening to The Bells of Notre Dame with headphones. During the epic climax of the song I was looking up at the church, and suddenly the bell started ringing...the chills I got were indescribable. Somehow that song became even more powerful for me since then.

Sorry for the shameless plug, but I made a piano medley on my channel of Hunchback of Notre Dame and Les Miserables, because they're both based on Victor Hugo novels and both have great music. Anyway I agree it has great music and "Out There" was a perfect theme song for quarantine lol

Agreed! Love He mele no lilo

True!!

Yes!

Maybe because the film doesn't open with the song, it opens with the trial of Juumba and Stitch?

@@kimmccarthy7747 Anastasia doesnt open with the song either. It opens with Rasputin coming toAlexander Palace and speaking his curse, ending with most of the Romanows dying to the revolution and Anastasia getting lost when she tried to escape with her grandmother.

I was expecting Arabian Nights, myself, since it's in a lot of these vids. It's honestly one of my faves.

@@OverlordZeroULTIMA I rewatched it and could understand why it didn't make the cut, the opening alone isn't that epic, especially when compared to the 2019 remake (Also, I just now saw your name... *Mad Respect* )

Ur absolutely right

Where they cut off your ear if they don't like your face...

the point of this video is odd.

Lol that’s the point of the video

Deliver us and El dorado I still sing till this day!

Why do the Rio movies seem so underrated, tbh?? I love the songs in them! Frozen Heart is amazing, omg.

Right?! Like that song is so overshadowed!!!

Frozen Heart is my favorite song from that movie! A cappella harmonies give me the shivers! 💖🎶

Frozen Heart is the most underrated song in that whole movie. It's so good!

The top 2 no doubt, I listen to them back to back!

Stephen Schwartz

@@meltsarap he's got a thing for absolute banger openings (no one mourns the wicked, for example)

There’s a barbershop quartet from Sweden- The Ringmasters- and they have a Hunchback barbershop medley that is truly gorgeous! I get chills every time!

I was looking for this comment. That's crazy talent!

Literally I don’t know what I believe but it is an amazing movie and I love it.

I'm as atheist as you can get and I LOVE Prince of Egypt.

Honestly yeah. Don't have to belive in it to admit it's a good/interesting story, either.

@@Crouch_Gob I'd go as far as to say it's better than the source material

I mean, I don’t believe Ogres actually exist but think Shrek is a legendary movie…

It’s a tear jerker

True, so true! This is the best opening to any movie. Nuff said. Bye. Have a blessed day.

Of course the Bruno song gets all the recognition. I thought Surface Pressure was awesome too.

And then when Kala runs to Tarzan and the music gets more intense. Kala may just be an ape, but damn Disney nailed it with her. Kala is the personification of a mother.

Honestly thought this would not be an honorable mention and actually on the list, but at least it was acknowledged. I love this whole soundtrack tbh (on another note, Deliver Us ABSOLUTELY earns top spot as nothing was as epically powerful as that opening sequence)

I came to say this too!

I forgot about that one! Phil Collins did such a great job with the Tarzan and Brother Bear soundtracks. Also Aladdin should've been on there, but I guess they can only fit so many songs.

...except "The Ten Commandments" is even better and much more Biblically accurate.

Swan Princess is literally one of my favorite movies. Except the 3D animated ones.

@@edgydreamy681 I outgrew them after Princess Tomorrow Pirate Today

The swan princess is very good despite it being underrated

I love hunchback but I don’t think I’ve ever seen swan princess

Funny coincidence! I literally just watched The Swan Princess tonight and watched The Hunchback of Notre Dame last Thursday! Lol

I rediscovered it a few months ago

It’s a great film, but I am a little puzzled by the narrator’s reference to its “Eastern influence.”

@@toomanymonkeys21 Yeah and her comment about music rarely heard in the Western world. Does she, and the writers, believe the Americas are Eastern?

@@redfive5856 IDK if the writer of the VO text is aware of where EL DORADO is set? The film is mostly fantasy, sure, but still.

@@toomanymonkeys21 They clearly do not know.

That was Hewy Lewis

Oliver and Company is generally underrated.

Amazing opener....has to be one of my fav animation songs

I clicked on this video 100% assuming the Gospel Truth would be in it. 👏 Did miss "Belle" from Beauty and the Beast, although it didn't necessarily 'go hard', it's been stuck in my mind for years.

Yup. I love it🤗

I personally think that Prince Of Egypt is one of the greatest animated movies of all time.

You do have a point since there was a wedding at the end of that song

THISSSSSSSSSSSS

Yes! I need to get that movie again, I've always liked that one

❤ ugh! this movie! yes yes and yes! why is this not on DPlus yet?

Damn straight! The most underrated animated film out there. I remember seeing it in the theatre-and going again the following day because I loved it so much!

I ugly cry when I watch that opening. The kitten in the rain is too much for me!!! *sob* Great song though!

Yes! And that Deception song from Lion King 2 as well. Classic!

One of the best sequels is so underrated.

We Are One is my favorite

I love that Corpse Bride, Tarzan, and The Princess and the Frog are at least honorable mentions. They're a bit overlooked too.

I love the Price of Egypt omg

ANASTASIA IS THE MOST UNDERRATED MOVIE EVER! I LOVE IT!

I prefer the stage version of Anastasia over the movie

I personally didn’t like Anastasia that much. I love prince of Egypt, Hercules, and the Hunchback of Notre Dame

Her performance brings me to tears every time.

Love the Swan Princess opening!

I thought that too, but it's not technically an opening song. I wonder if that's why it was omitted.

I was surprised it wasn't at least an honorable mention

I came here looking for this comment. I for sure thought it was gonna be number one. I can’t believe it was nowhere on the list.

I think Arabian Nights was kept away from the list because the OG version says the lines "Where they cut off your ear, If they don’t like your face. It’s barbaric, but hey, it’s home." Yes, it was rewritten and re-released but if WatchMojo had it on the list than everyone who remembers the OJ lyrics would have given them flack for including a song so racist Disney had it changed before it got to VHS release.

Right?? I feel like it really got swept under the rug and I just enjoy it so much.

Yeah when I was little I never owned the movie but it was still my favorite movie cause I had a different Disney movie that had a commercial for Tarzan and I would rewind just to watch the commercial. To this day it's one of my favorite core memories.

@@nobody1747 I still try to find that commercial from the VHS it was soooo good! Man, I love Trazan so much

Yeah, "Two Worlds" deserved an actual spot in this list, not just an honorable mention.

Love Tarzan. "You'll Be In My Heart" was the song that my dad danced to with me for my 16th birthday and then again when I got married.

It isn’t a cartoon, it’s art

@@Synchronisedstumbling it’s not that deep lol but ok

@@nafiysamuhammad4208 and the only religious movie I know of where even atheists enjoy the movie.

I always thought Virginia Company was the opening

@@manuelorozco7760 technically thats the first half of the opening. Its Virginia Company/Steady. The two peices blend the opening credits together.

@@melissagray461 Oh

That is WHY it is on the list. It was a regular song that just fit so perfectly that now when you hear the regular song, you think of Shrek.

@@projectstart5522 Ok but how “hard” did smash mouth have to go at it? Unless they re-recorded it, not much. It works for the movie but not this list.

@@fsujavi16 The title is "Top 10 Opening SONGS in Animated Movies That Didn't Have to Go THAT Hard". Notice how it says "songs" and not "musicians" or "singers". So they went THAT hard and it was in an animated movie. It went THAT hard in it, the song become iconic to the film because the SONG went THAT hard in it. It doesn't matter how hard the artist went, it matters how hard it hit, and it hit THAT hard and it was in an animated movie. It definitely belongs on this list.

Always chills when that choir drops!

Hunchback is such an underrated movie that I was just hoping to see it on the list, was thrilled to see it up so high. I still remember going to see the movie at the cinema, seeing this opening sequence for the first time with cinema sound, my heart racing and shivers going down my spine. It's definitely helped set the standard for me.

It's the best music to describe what a cathedral feels like...

Hunchback isn’t my favourite Disney movie, but I will defend the soundtrack til the day I die. The soundtrack is top fucking tier. GOAT 🐐

i also love her for her march with AIDS

Whoa! That's fascinating. You found out that it's in that many movies!? :O

@@EpicRealistTV The line has been adapted many times to be in different keys, but it always follows the same formula. Sometimes, however, the fourth note will rise instead of fall. It makes the sound created a bit less uneasy but keeps the suspense of the note progression. It uses what we call “semitones” in music theory, basically two notes that are right next to each other. It uses this format and then jumps to a full tone difference and continues the line in a series following that. Once you hear it and identify it, you hear it in a lot of places. The Shining is a movie that was most well-known for using it in the main theme. A variation was used in The Conjuring, as well as The Nightmare Before Christmas. It was initially made as a Gregorian Chant, and is in a Dorian Minor Mode. It has been adapted by many films, as well as classical composers (most notably Giuseppe Verdi with his Masse de Requiem, and Wolfgang A. Mozart with his Symphone de Requiem) and was used during funeral masses. The title “Dies Irae” translates roughly to “Day of Wrath,” and the line “Dies Irae, Dies Illa” translates roughly to “Day of Wrath, that Day of Wrath.” The modern use of the pattern and sequence makes it one of the most recognizable patterns in music, and usually is put into pieces written in a minor key - though sometimes will appear in pieces written in a major key to creat suspended or diminished chords to add effect. The line, when sung initially, was done by a bass voice. It was later adapted to a SATB (Soprano-Alto-Tenor-Bass) format for use in larger compositions involving voices. It now serves primarily as a common “go-to” for creepy, suspenseful, or just flat out uneasy feelings in music.

@@Ember_Prime Amazing info!

I love this song, are songs from brother bear are just wonderful and relaxing. The atmosphere is unique

Idina Menzel has to cover it one day

@@kurikuri6683 I’m more a fan of the music more so than the story

Yes! I came to this video looking for this song to be on the list.

@@manuelorozco7760 honestly, I'd like to see Evanescence cover it too

I know right?! I still keep singing it out of nowhere sometimes. The extended version of the song in the album its great too

I LOVE The road to El Dorado. My sister got it for me when it came out for Christmas.

@@TherealDanielleNelson What’s your favorite song from it?

@@amayajones68 On the trail we blaze. You?

@@TherealDanielleNelson That’s a great one. I like “Tough to Be A God”.

Should be #2

Yeah, tossing in "Allstar" used in Shrek is a bit of a stretch. Should have been honorable mention, with "Two Worlds" in it's slot.

@@bethd.6670 yeah because All Star wasn’t written for Shreck

I think it should have taken place for Rio

Much much better than Allstar ffs

Also he did Road to El Dorado

I came to the comments just to talk about Hans Zimmer job in The lion king and The prince of Egypt, but I didn't know about El Dorado, that's 3 of 10 places in this top for him, so great!

YES HANS ZIMMER SUPREMACY!!

Dude I just remembered a couple days ago about the Swan Princesses credits song "Eternity", girl that hit my play list so fast! Lol

I haven’t seen Quest for Camelot since God knows when

"Quest for Camelot" was pretty lousy, not underrated at all. That's why you don't hear much about it.

I was moved to see Tarzan made it to the honorable list as well, despite being Disney. It doesn't find a place on most of those movies' tops.

Actually there are two stage adaptions of prince of egypt, the current adoption is currently playing right now in London and there’s plans to release on Broadway in US sometime later!

@@jacobkemezys3453 thank you it's about time they did that Im glad 👍❤️

@@jacobkemezys3453 Fingers crossed the NewYork transfer happens

@@manuelorozco7760 🤞🤞

@@jacobkemezys3453 I would 100% go to that!

Absolutely!

Me too

SAME HERE BRO :D

i was actually expecting it but it can never be compared with hunchback, moises etc

i was waiting for someone to mention it!

I knew the movie would be good. But didn’t expect it to be great. Anything Disney LMM touches turns to gold

Same! I love “Belle”. I was shocked it didn’t get a mention!

@@citizenerased1439 Perhaps for a Disney top maybe? Disney alone has some killer intros. Though as for this top, It's good to see unpopular movies recieve some love for a change 😊

I grew to like the Swan Princess a bit more in my teen years

"🎶 WHAT'S HIS NAME?? 🎵" If ever there was a definition of "going hard", it's a Tom Jones number. 😆