Disneyis known far and wide for the fun, family-friendly songs in their movies, but some of them are surprisingly dark. Thebest Disney songsteleport audiences of all ages to magical worlds of wonder far removed from the tedium of reality, making for an enchanting experience both visually and auditorily. However, some Disney songs go against the company’s typical reputation with some shockingly disturbing lyrics and themes.
Some of Disney’s more messed up tunes are, unsurprisingly, theme songs for the antagonists, with some of thebest Disney villain songsbeing particularly disturbing, even for the subject matter. Others are remnants of Disney’s past, reflecting the evolution of pop culture sensibilities with their outdated and often problematic humor or views. Regardless of the case, some Disney music is far from the idyllic upbeat ditties most people think of when bringing the subgenre to mind.
10The Happiest Home in These Hills
Pete’s Dragon
Despite its sunny title,The Happiest Home in These Hillsis one of the most threatening Disney villain songs ever recorded. The song is courtesy of little-known Disney classicPete’s Dragon,a hybrid animated and live-action picture about a young orphan boy named Pete who is purchased by a cruel farming family who abuse him for manual labor. Pete escapes with the help of his new friend Elliot, a fantastical dragon with the ability to turn invisible.
The abusive Gogans family sing a song during their search for their missing indentured servant, at first promising him a happy home as the track’s title suggests. However, it isn’t long before the lyrics devolve into depraved threats against Pete, including sawing him in half, shooting him, tying him to a railroad track, and roasting him alive and eating him. It’s quite a shock to hear such barbaric acts of violence being referenced in an upbeat Disney song of the 70s.
9One Jump Ahead
Aladdin
FromA Whole New WorldtoPrince Ali,Aladdinis one of the strongest Disney soundtracksof any animated feature, even all these years later. For the most part, the lyrics of each song remain fairly tame, staying well-within the expected boundaries of a family-friendly Disney picture. However, one glaring exception remains withOne Jump Ahead, a solo Aladdin song early on in the film.
Taking place during Aladdin’s time as a street ragamuffin,One Jump Aheadis a lively tune with a fast tempo that’s fun to bounce along to. However, its descriptions of poverty seem diametrically opposed to its upbeat melody, with Aladdin being called a “street rat” and being mocked for being an orphan. Even more disturbing, at one point, some guards threaten to slice open Aladdin’s belly and take back the small piece of food he stole.
8Hellfire
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
It’s fitting that one of the most disturbing villains in Disney history is also the subject of one of the franchise’s most disturbing villain songs of all time. In fact, it’s largely the sentiments he expresses inHellfirethat makes Minister Frollo such a twisted antagonist, particularly by the standards of a Disney movie. The song opens as Frollo contemplates on his shaken faith, being tempted by the beauty of Esmerelda.
Apallingly, his song goes on to explain that his sexual desire for the Romani woman is beginning to eclipse his commitment to God. Frollo confesses that his desires aren’t his fault, and blames his attraction on the object of his desire, promising to kill her if he can’t have her to himself. This misogyny and use of religion to justify violence present some of the most intense and adult themes to ever be featured in a Disney film, let alone in a powerful song.
7Pink Elephants On Parade
Dumbo
Another strangely terrifying song to introduce apoorly-aged Disney villain,Pink Elephants on Paradeis a bizarre reprieve from the story that interruptsDumbo.Beginning when Dumbo and his cute mouse sidekick accidentally get rip-roaring drunk, the hallucinatory sequence begins with the pair seeing an illusory group of pink pachyderms marching into their vision. Soon, the animals envelop the entire screen, resulting in a lengthy nonsensical musical number that goes on for far too long.
Unlike most disturbing Disney songs, which are made frightening by their lyrics,Pink Elephants on Paradeis disturbing solely for its visuals and unnerving rhythm. The maddening marching of the elephants, their frightening faces, tinny high-pitched voices, and the unrelenting tempo of the music all add up to a nerve-wracking experience. Nevermind the fact that the elephants are only manifested because the lovable Dumbo drinks way too much alcohol.
6Song Of The Roustabouts
It says a lot about the reputation ofDumbothat the morose film features not one, but two particularly disturbing Disney songs. But whilePink Elephants on Paradesticks out due to the absurdist terror of its visuals and hypnotically frightening composition,Song Of The Roustaboutsis messed up for a whole other reason. The song begins as the various workers that help set up and take down the carnival Dumbo performs in, the roustabouts, go about their back-breaking labor, singing a somber tune to accompany their work.
The song’s lyrics depict a brutal life of manual labor, done for little pay that is quickly thrown away according to the carnival’s staff. Adding to the dreariness is the fact that the working men depicted in the song are all African-American, which, when combined with the tune’s morose melody, paints an image of chattel slavery surviving into the 19th century. In truth, this is a faithful depiction of working conditions at the time, but it doesn’t make for any less of a strange choice for a song to accompany Dumbo’s cheerful high jinks while working.
5Savages
Pochahontas
Another Disney song made controversial over time thanks to the increased awareness of political topics in the modern day,Savagesis as harsh as Disney tracks come. As both the white settlers and Native Americans of Pocahontas' tribe prepare to war against one another, both factions of warriors join together in singing a war song that diminishes the human characteristics of their opponents. By dehumanizing their enemies, the armies present inPocahontasare able to justify their own evil actions, making for one ofDisney’s more controversial movies.
Savagesis easily one of the most racially-charged songs Disney has ever made, with references to the other side being “vermin” while directly pointing out their skin color. It’s quite a chilling track that nevertheless proves to be effective in establishing the role of xenophobia in warmongering, heavy topics indeed for a family-friendly Disney film. The company even wound up changing some of the lyrics to be less intense in later releases, turning the line “Let’s go kill a few, men!” to “Let’s go get a few, men!”.
4The Siamese Cat Song
Lady and the Tramp
It’s one thing for a Disney song to point to racism as a foul scourge upon what could otherwise be a peaceful society, as done with the ominousSavagesinPocahontas. But Disney themselves was not above using racist rhetoric to entertain in the not-too-distant past, as demonstrated most painfully byLady and the Tramp.At one point, Lady has to contend with a pair of Siamese cats that enter the household causing havoc, accompanied by their own hacky theme music.
Between the exaggerated features of the cats that resemble racist Asian caricatures to their over-the-top accents to the stereotypical Eastern refrains,The Siamese Cat Songhas not aged gracefully. The pair of feline villains are quite the sore spot in an otherwise charming animal movie. It’s no wonder the photorealistic animation of theLady and the Trampremake totallyreworked the Siamese cats' songinto something new.
3What Makes the Red Man Red?
Peter Pan
WhilePocahontaswalks a razor’s edge when it comes to Native American representation,Peter Panis a far more blatant example of Disney degrading the culture for low-brow entertainment value. The presence of Native Americans alone inPeter Pan’s Neverland, a magical realm populated by mermaids and 17th-century pirates, already mythologizes the group into a sort of gross fantasy status. But Disney goes full-tilt with the racism with the songWhat Makes The Red Man Red?
Here, the stereotypical tribe of Native Americans living in Neverland explain to Peter and company how they came to be. What follows is a shocking display of early Disney’s cultural ignorance. Between the sexism imposed on Wendy and the exaggerated red skin of the dancing tribe members, not to mention the oversimplified explanations for the most egregious of stereotypes, it’s easy to see why this song has aged poorly in the modern day.
2Everybody Wants To Be A Cat
The Aristocats
Strangely enough,Lady and the Trampwouldn’t be the only time that Disney used a cartoon Siamese cat as a mouthpiece to mock Asian stereotypes. The songEverybody Wants To Be A Catseems to be fairly charming, standard Disney affair at first, showing the bombastic Tom taking Duchess for a walk on the wild side with a rambunctious musical number courtesy of him and his friends. The fun comes to a screeching halt, however, when it’s the Siamese cat’s turn to sing.
Mashing on the piano with two pairs of chopsticks, the offensive Chinese accent of the character (voiced by a white actor, of course) belts out “Shanghai, Hong Kong, Egg Foo Young, Fortune cookie always wrong!”. As bad as the Siamese cats inLady and the Trampare, they at least have a certain level of mischievous charm to them. The racist humor ofThe Aristocats, by comparison, is just downright lazy and done in poor taste.
1Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah
Song of the South
Coming out way back in 1946,Song of the Southhas become Disney’s most infamous film partially for its usage of a carefree tune in the face of its concerning thesis statement. On paper,Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dahis a charming, unassuming song about a sunny, lovely day. Much of the controversy centers around the character Uncle Remus, the song’s singer, a former slave with some alarming things to say about his past experiences.
Uncle Remus exhibits an almost alarming amount of cheerfulness as he goes about the song, which gets put into a disturbing context when he reminisces about his time as a slave. Remus implies that life was better for him as a slave, owing to his sunny disposition, making the song one of Disney’s most disturbing by association. It’s no wonder thatSong of the Southwon’t be on Disney+ever, remaining an embarrassing skeleton inDisney’s closet.
