LDS Geeks Podcast #75: Disney Songs (6)

It's hard to believe that we've already been at this two years. To celebrate two years and seventy-five episodes, Russell and I decided to center this podcast episode on Disney songs you could use for mission preparation (because of the two years). We believe in the power of music. And we believe in over-analyzing every note of geekdown through a spiritual lens. Hopefully you get something enlightening from our Disney ramblings, whether you're a prospective missionary, returned missionary, or member missionary.

--Spencer

PS: Pardon our physical therapy metaphors.

Listen to Episode 75 on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube

Check out Spencer's recent content: click here

Check out Russell's recent content: click here

Show notes:

00:12 - Introductions
01:26 - Russell's Recommendation: "Healer" by McKenna Hixon
        Listen on YouTube
04:25 - Spencer's Recommendation: Hevy app
        Available on Google Play and App Store
05:51 - 75th Episode Stats
15:25 - Disney Mission Prep songs
19:05 - Honorable Mentions:
        "I'll Make a Man Out of You" (Mulan)
        "A Girl Worth Fighting For" (Mulan)
        "Go the Distance" (Hercules)
20:12 - "Zero to Hero" (Hercules)
24:28 - "Into the Unknown" (Frozen 2)
26:38 - "You'll Be in My Heart" (Tarzan)
28:48 - "Love Power" (Disenchanted)
30:27 - "Waiting on a Miracle" (Encanto)
35:28 - "Son of Man" (Tarzan)
41:33 - "Heigh-Ho" (Snow White)

Unpopular Opinions: Disney

Disney Plus has been out for two months, giving us all plenty of time to binge Disney classics, Disney Channel series, and some classic Marvel cartoons. Disney might have become the overlord of almost all popular media, now owning Fox, Marvel, and Star Wars (among other franchises), but at least they’re a benevolent overlord. That being said, I have some grievances about Disney (or at least about Disney fans). So here are a few of my thoughts.

Frozen Wasn’t Groundbreaking
Back in 2013 when Frozen was released, it became this big phenomenon seemingly overnight. I’m not going to bash on Frozen, because it was a genuinely good movie. However, it didn’t deserve the over-hype that it got… never mind how it’s basically become its own franchise in the 6 years since. I can think of countless Disney movies that are equal to Frozen or even better. Big Hero 6, Princess and the Frog, and Tangled are among the animated features that deserve more credit than they were given. To be fair, I could also just be really tired of “Let It Go”.

Tarzan is NOT Elsa's brother
After Frozen came out back in 2013, the internet began overthinking the movie and tying other Disney movies together with it. Part of it probably came from a shot of Rapunzel and Flynn on their way to Elsa’s coronation. So people started theorizing her relation to Anna and Elsa, that their parents shipwrecked on the way to Rapunzel’s wedding, and Ariel’s capsized boat is really the King and Queen’s ship. The icing on the cake was the theory that the king and queen survived and had a baby, Tarzan. Despite it being “confirmed” by a Disney writer, it doesn’t make any sense. Tarzan is from a completely different time period and his parents don’t look like Anna and Elsa’s parents. So I can’t accept it, no matter how popular the theory was.

Disney Princesses Aren’t Passive
A huge critique of Disney Princess movies is how passive they are. This is especially the case with older Disney Princesses, like Snow White and Cinderella. Yeah, they weren’t out there fighting sea demons (like Moana), shooting ice out of their hands (like Elsa), or swinging a sword or frying pan (like Mulan or Rapunzel), but they were tough. Snow White and Cinderella endured abuse from their step-mothers and even did it with optimism. Especially with the awareness brought to abuse nowadays, this is a big deal.

Too Much Live-Action Too Fast
To be clear, I have zero problem with Disney’s live-action remakes. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin (just to name a few). The problem is that instead of getting one remake every year or every other year, we’ve been getting them released faster than I can keep track. Just this year we had Aladdin, The Lion King, and Dumbo (not to mention Lady and the Tramp, if we include Disney Plus originals). They’re just losing their impact on me. Maybe if we could just slow it down a little?

Disney Didn’t Ruin Star Wars
I don’t understand the hate that the new Star Wars movies get. Maybe I’m not cinema savvy, but I’ve enjoyed the Star Wars movies I’ve seen thus far (I’ve yet to see Solo or The Rise of Skywalker). In my possibly uneducated opinion, I’m just glad there’s more Star Wars to be seen. If it weren’t for Disney “ruining” Star Wars, the last we’d have seen of Star Wars on the big screen would have been Revenge of the Sith. Instead, because of Disney, the legacy of Star Wars gets to continue for generations to come.

Check out some more unpopular opinions for Harry Potter

Top Ten most annoying Disney sidekicks

We haven't discussed Disney in a bit, let's try something a little controversial.
Contrary to popular belief, I don't love all Disney characters, particularly the side characters. Sadly, it's almost a requirement for every Disney movie to have a few talking clocks or thinking snowmen just to sell more toys and add some comic relief. But for me sometimes these characters aren't just annoying, they take away from the quality of the movie. So here's my list of the top ten most annoying Disney sidekicks, and this time they WILL be in order.

10. Cogsworth and Lumiere from Beauty and the Beast

These guys weren't so annoying until I saw a first cut for Beauty and the Beast where none of the furniture could talk. After that every time I saw these two eat up screen time bickering I just got increasingly angry. The only reason they land so low on my list is that "Be Our Guest" is a good song. 

9. Tantor from Tarzan

A scaredy-cat elephant voiced by Newman. He serves no purpose in the plot and that voice just grates on my nerves. Baby Tantor isn't any better, just a higher pitched annoying elephant. I'm just glad this guy didn't get popular, though I would've loved to see the thing get eaten by a Dilophosaurus. 

8. Skippy and his friends from Robin Hood

Here's a great idea: Let's take an awesome high-action idea like Robin Hood done with animals and waste 15-20 minutes messing around with annoying baby critters. All their scene with Maid Marian adds to our plot is that Maid Marian likes Robin Hood, something we could've figured out from knowing that the film was about Robin Hood. 

7. Owl from Winnie the Pooh

I know that his long-winded stories are played for laughs, but every time Owl's on screen I want to hit fast forward. When you have so many fun and high-energy characters bouncing around on screen, slowing down the story for this wind bag makes me want to mount him on my wall. 

6. Pegasus from Hercules

I feel like this character could've been beautiful and elegant like Aladdin's Carpet, but instead we get this weird bro-horse. Pegasus is always laughing or making a face or getting its butt jammed into things, which is supposed to come off as fun but for me it just comes off as Hercules's frat buddy. Maximus from Tangled could be funny without looking hideous. Zeus would've been better off just making Hercules a nice Ford rather than an annoying flying horse. 

5. Timon and Pumbaa from The Lion King

This is probably one of the more debatable choices on this list since so many people love these guys, but for me Timon and Pumbaa are just empty comic relief. Even their song that is so popular with the masses is the worst advice they could have given Simba. There's a story of a prince who was captured by criminals and denied earthly pleasures because of his princely heritage, and honestly these guys are the antithesis of that story. They take Simba away from his birthright and tell him to stop caring about anything that matters. That's a great message to teach kids. 

4. B.E.N. from Treasure Planet

Okay so not a lot of people have seen this movie, which is a shame because the animation, character designs and overall tone for me just seem to work perfectly together. However, the obnoxious robot we have to meet in the third act, B.E.N. is basically a delayed Jar Jar Binks. One of his character traits is that his memory board is missing so he constantly "Acts crazy" because he's malfunctioning, but even when they do find his hard drive or whatever he still acts like an imbecile. Just throw him off the boat and let the vacuum of space deal with him, please. 

3. All the mice in Cinderella

I know mice are part of the original Cinderella story, but Disney decided to take them one step further and give them songs and a major role in the film. Couple that with their high pitched voices and the fact that they devolve a large section of the movie into an episode of Tom and Jerry and you get some universally awful characters. What's sad is that we have a main character that is severely underdeveloped in this film, namely our nameless prince, who could have become a major piece in the story if the mice were dropped. The same thing happened with Snow White but the dwarfs are so entertaining they get a pass, but really, does anyone care about the plight of "Gus Gus"?

2. Dr. Jumba Jookiba from Lilo and Stitch

This guy is almost classified as a villain if the movie hadn't decided for us that he was too weak and replace him with that giant whale man. The problem with Jumba and his weird little buddy is that this film didn't need them to drive up tension. We already had a major obstacle to overcome in the form of Bubbles the social worker threatening to break up the family. Honestly we didn't even need to know that Stitch was a lab experiment and not just an alien. This film could've been like ET and just been about the development of relationship and the meaning of family, but Jumba just has to sit there with his forced conflict and get in the way of our favorite blue alien.

1. The gargoyles from The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Disney made a bold move in trying to adapt this Victor Hugo novel into a fun movie for the whole family, and while so many parts to this film work, the gargoyle sidekicks to Quasimodo do not in any way shape or form. First, they don't make sense in the context of their own reality. We don't see any other evidence of magic or talking things that aren't supposed to be talking in the entire movie, and while the film hints that they are figments of Quasimodo's imagination, in the final battle it's extremely clear that they are helping defend Notre Dame and are real. Second, they have arguably the worst song in a Disney film. Here we have our hero already established to have shame and sadness around his hideous appearance and these three sing a song about how he can get the girl despite being ugly, while still reminding him of how ugly he is. Not only is this incredibly mean spirited, but Quasimodo doesn't even get the girl in the end anyway. So the gargoyles from Hunchback get the worst Disney sidekick award by me for not only annoying me but by putting the final nails into the coffin of the film they were in. I hope that gives them a sense of accomplishment as they remember that people would rather hug a stuffed Quasimodo than any one of them anytime soon. 

-JOE