Disney's 10 Best 'I Want' Songs, Ranked

Collider has ranked the 10 greatest Disney "I Want" songs. The piece defines an "I Want" song as the moment when protagonists explain the goal they aspire to achieve by the end of the story, often emotionally charged and wistful.

At No. 1 is "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid (1989); the article notes the scene was almost cut by then-studio head Jeffrey Katzenberg and highlights Jodi Benson's performance in tying Ariel's fascination with the surface world to the film's story and character progression. No. 2 is "Belle" from Beauty and the Beast (1991), presented as an opening number that establishes Belle's outsider status and desire for adventure, while No. 3 is "Out There" from The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1997), praised for Alan Menken's grand score and Quasimodo's shift from timid to hopeful.

The list also includes selections from Tangled, Hercules, Moana (2016), Cinderella, The Princess and the Frog, Mulan and The Lion King, and argues these examples show how malleable the "I Want" song can be and how the device helps keep audiences invested in a film's central goals.

Key Topics

Culture, Disney, I Want Song, Ariel, Belle, Lin-manuel Miranda