Growing up in the 90s, Disney was pretty much a shoo-in to win Best Song at the Oscars. They had a crazy winning streak that encompassed The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, and Pocahontas. As Disney animation thrives in its third Golden Age with another Best Song nomination looking likely for their new film Moana, I thought I would take a look back at their other animated movies that won Oscars for Best Song.

Just as a side note, this is for fully animated films from Disney only. The studio did win Best Song for the live-action/animation hybrids Song of the South (“Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah”) and Mary Poppins (“Chim Chim Cher-ee”) and Pixar picked up wins for Monsters, Inc. (“If I Didn’t Have You”) and Toy Story 3 (“We Belong Together”), but I’m only looking at films from Disney Animation.

8.) “You’ll Be in My Heart” from ‘Tarzan’

I mean, if you like Phil Collins, this is pretty much as Phil Collins as it gets. The problem with the song is that there’s nothing distinctive about it. You could drop this into pretty much any movie. It doesn’t say anything about the world of Tarzan or the characters or the story. It’s about people supporting each other, which is in the plot of just about everything. The song also pales in comparison to that year’s other nominees including “When She Loved Me” from Toy Story 2, “Save Me” from Magnolia, and “Blame Canada” from South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. However, South Park, as expected, did get the last laugh.

7.) “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” from ‘The Lion King’

It’s hard to say that this deserved “Best Song” when it’s not even the best song in The Lion King. Yes, it was the awkward slow dance anthem for every junior high kid in 1994, but it’s song that’s completely unearned by the two characters participating in it. Simba and Nala have just reunited, and while I would believe that they’ve rekindled their childhood friendship, I don’t believe that they’re in “love”. The song basically says, “These two characters are in love now; believe it because of the song, not because the characters have connected in any meaningful way.” I’m not saying The Lion King didn’t deserve an Oscar for Best Song, but it should have been for “Circle of Life” or “Be Prepared.”

6.) “Under the Sea” from ‘The Little Mermaid’

There’s nothing wrong with “Under the Sea”. It’s fun, it’s upbeat, it fits perfectly into the narrative, and yet, if I’m holding to the rule that the Best Song winner should be the Best Song in the movie it comes from, then I have to put “Under the Sea” here. Again, there’s nothing wrong with it, and it’s memorable and if someone thinks it should be higher on the list, I’d have a tough time arguing. But for me, “Part of Your World” is the Best Song from ‘The Little Mermaid’, and I’m shocked it wasn’t even nominated.

5.) “Colors of the Wind” from ‘Pocahontas’

This is a really good song in a really mediocre movie. It almost feels like at this point, Disney knew it had a reputation for always winning the Best Song category, so they poured all of their effort into this one number and kind of forgot everything else. I can’t even name another song from Pocahontas, but I definitely know “Colors of the Wind”, which felt like it had the Oscar win sewn up before the film even premiered. Again, it’s a good song; I just wish it were in a better film overall.

4.) “A Whole New World” from ‘Aladdin’

This song is so corny, and yet I absolutely love it. It’s so unflinchingly earnest that I can’t help but gets swept up in the romance and lovely melody. It’s also a top-notch song in a soundtrack full of winners that includes “One Jump Ahead”, “Friend Like Me”, and “Prince Ali”, but “A Whole New World” is pure Broadway love melody from start to finish, and yet the animation does the song justice (I haven’t seen the Aladdin stage show, so I don’t know how they approach the magic carpet ride). It just makes me smile to hear this song, and it fully deserved its Best Song Oscar.

3.) “Beauty and the Beast” from ‘Beauty and the Beast’

This one is tricky. On the one hand, “Beauty and the Beast” isn’t my personal favorite from the movie, and yet I can’t deny how powerful it is in the context of the film. Compare this with “Can You Feel the Love Tonight”, which is a love song trying to substitute emotion where it hasn’t been earned to “Beauty and the Beast”, which is where the two characters have basically fallen in love with each other but can’t quite admit it yet. If “Something There” is the two characters falling for each other, then “Beauty and the Beast” is where that love is displayed in a gentle song. While I’ve listened to “Belle”, “Gaston”, and “Be Our Guest” more than “Beauty and the Beast”, I can’t deny the power of the film’s title track.

2.) “Let It Go” from ‘Frozen’

Most of the Disney animation songs that have won Oscars are love songs. They’re about two characters confessing their love for each other in some way. “Let It Go” is about a character finally learning to love herself. While there are certainly countless parents who would prefer never to hear this song again due to their kids playing it on repeat, I just get swept up in it every time. That’s not to say that Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez are better songwriters than Alan Menken or Howard Ashman or Tim Rice. The body of work of those musicians speaks for it self. But when it comes to “Songs from Disney Animated Movies That Have Won Oscars”, I’d happily listen to “Let It Go” again and again.

1.) “When You Wish Upon a Star” from ‘Pinocchio’

I feel like I have to put this one here. How can you not? This is the song whose melody became synonymous with Disney. It is the studio’s title track, and it sums up what the studio, or at least the artists who populate the studio’s animation branch, would like to see themselves as—hopeless dreamers. “When You Wish Upon a Star” is old-fashioned, but it’s old-fashioned in the best way. It doesn’t have the most orchestration or the cleverest wordplay, and yet it cuts directly to the soul of not only what its protagonist wants, but also the very act of wanting. It’s gentle, it’s a little melancholy, and it’s the best of the Best Song winners.