After deep thought and analysis of the Disney Movies from Little Mermaid (1989) to Princess and the Frog (2010), I’ve seen a sequence, or rather a pattern that repeats itself, sometimes obviously, and sometimes not. Lets begin.
The Sequence for Disney Movies
It all begins with the Hero. The Hero is usually the main character, and he has something that the other people don’t have. Or perhaps he doesn’t haves something that the other people have. On The Little Mermaid, Ariel is our hero. And on Hercules, well, its Hercules. Duh.
The Hero craves for something, his objective at life. The objective is, at the start of the movie, un-reachable, untill something happens that turns the objective possible. Generally, that includes a task. The objective of Alladin is to get Jasmine to love him, and his task is to recover the lamp and make her love him. On Princess and the Frog, Tiana, Naveen and Louis objective is to turn human, and their task is to reach Mama Odie.
Generally, the Hero has companions. It is the elderly figure and his friends. His friends or/and the elderly figure will lead the hero in the right direction to complete the task. In Hunchback of the Notre Dame, its the Gargolytes (is that right?) and on the Lion King, its Musafa and Zazu making an elderly figure and Timon and Pumbaa making the friends. On Beauty and the Beast, its the Beast’s servants, Lumiere, Mrs Potts and Clocksworth.
The Hero then notices that to complete his task he needs something, a necessary power or status or thing that will make that objective way more easier or even complete. On The Little Mermaid, Ariel must kiss Eric, a true love’s kiss, before the sunset of the third day, and they she will be human permanently- the power is the true love’s kiss. On Alladin, its the Genie and the lamp. They are the necessary power and the friend. On Hercules, it is Phil, the necessary power to achieve his task and his objective.
But on the way of the task there is the villain, who’s objective is to make the hero fail on the task and not achieve his objective. Generally, the villain has a relation with the elderly figure or/and the hero. In the Lion King, Scar is Musafa’s brother and Simba’s uncle. In Hunchback of Notre Dame, the villain is Quasimodo’s… uhm… caretaker? On Beauty and the Beast, its Gaston, who loves Belle and wants to marry her.
The Villain is always accompanied by two/three villain companions. They generally are the Stupid Villain Companion, the Smart Villain Companion and the Funny Villain Companion. In the Lion King, the Hyenas- Shenzi, Banzai and Ed- are, respectively, the Smart, Funny and Stupid Villain Companions. On Hercules, Pain and Panic are the Funny and the Smart Villain Companions.
After the Hero reaches its objective, the movie ends with an happy ending, which generally leads to the death of the villain and the villain companions or the villain companions escape. The film ends with the hero, friends/necessary power-status, generally with the elderly figure, and its love interest, with a reprise of the initial song. Talking about songs…
The Song Formula
The film generally starts with an Intro song. Or an History song. For example, in Hercules, the first part of the Gospel Truth tells what happens before we find Hercules on its journey to become a hero. And on The Lion King, we have the song Circle of Life, introducing us to the system that conducts life in the Pride Lands.
An objective song is generally sang by the hero. And it is an song about his objective, and how he will reach it. Or it could be the Hero song, talking about something the Hero likes. In Pocahontas, its the song “Just Around the Riverbend”, and on The Little Mermaid its “Part of Your World”. This is generally the song that represents the movie.
The following song is the Interlude song that is sang by an secondary character. On Beauty and the Beast, its “Human Again”, where the servants sing about how they want so much to become human again. On Mulan, it’s “I’ll Make a Man Out Of You”, although that can also be considered a Pre-Task Song. The Interlude song can also be a funny/comedic song like “Under the Sea”, or “Hakuna Matata”. Time passes on both the Interlude/Pre-Task song.
The Necessary Power song is actually not necessary. For Alladin, its “Friend Like Me.” And for Hercules, its “One Last Hope”. Generally in a movie where the Necessary Power song is not in, there is a Secondary Character song, like in the Lion King, where Zazu sings “The Morning Report.”
The next one is the Villain Song, in which generally the villain reveals its plot and how he will use the hero to do so. On The Lion King, its “Be Prepared”, one of the rarest occasions in which the villain companions also participate. On Pocahontas, its “Mine Mine Mine’, which is also a rare occasion, since the main male character also sings in this song, but about another thing. On Princess and the Frog, its friend of the other side.
The song before the ending song is the love song. This is generally one of the best moments on the movie. On The Little Mermaid its “Kiss the Girl”. On Beauty and the Beast, its the title song, “Beauty and the Beast”. And on Hercules its “I Won’t Say (I’m In Love)”. On Alladin, its a “Whole New World”. And a whole lot more.
The final song is either a reprise of the love song, or the hero song, or the objective song, or the intro song. In The Little Mermaid, it is a chorus reprise of the objective song. And on Beauty and the Beast, a chorus reprise of the love song. Finally, on The Lion King, its a chorus reprise of the intro song.
Although all Disney movies from Little Mermaid to Princess and the Frog follow (or almost follow) the same pattern, they are a jewel on itself.
I hope you enjoyed this post. And remember…
Wait. I forgot.
