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Song of the Day #1,092: ‘I Will Go Sailing No More’ – Randy Newman

All of the clips I’ve featured so far this week have been sung by somebody other than Randy Newman. And each of them should have been, in order to work best in the context of those films.

I can’t imagine ‘When She Loved Me‘ working better in the Jesse montage than it does with Sarah McLachlan’s haunting soprano. ‘Our Town‘ is perfect in the honey tones of James Taylor. ‘Almost There‘ obviously had to be sung by the lead actress of The Princess and the Frog, and the Monsters Inc. duet was written expressly for Billy Crystal and John Goodman.

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Song of the Day #1,091: ‘Our Town’ – James Taylor

Cars 2 is currently in theaters and receiving the first ever negative reviews for a Pixar film. It sits in the low 30s on Rotten Tomatoes, bucking the trend of Pixar films that flirt with 100% positive reviews.

I’ll get around to seeing it and finding out for myself if the bad reviews are warranted (I’m guessing they are, based on the uninspiring trailers).

But one thing that bothers me about the reviews I’ve read is the frequent dismissal of the first Cars as Pixar’s worst film prior to this one.

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Song of the Day #1,090: ‘Almost There’ – Anika Noni Rose

Today’s song is from the only non-Pixar film featured this week, and the only non-Pixar animated film Randy Newman has scored for Disney. For its hand-drawn animation, the studio has generally relied on Broadway composer Alan Menken, as well as pop artists such as Elton John and Phil Collins.

The Princess and the Frog was Disney’s first hand-drawn movie since its acquisition of Pixar and the relationship Pixar had with Randy Newman was a perfect fit for this New Orleans-based film.

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Song of the Day #1,089: ‘When She Loved Me’ – Sarah McLachlan

For 1999’s Toy Story 2, Randy Newman teamed up with Sarah McLachlan to deliver one of the most emotional moments in animated film history. Hell, film history, period.

Sitting on a windowsill, cowgirl doll Jessie confides in Woody that she is wary of child owners because of a bad experience she had with her owner, Emily. As Woody tries to explain what’s so great about Andy, she interrupts.

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Song of the Day #1,088: ‘If I Didn’t Have You’ – Billy Crystal & John Goodman

After my recent two weeks of Randy Newman posts, I had some requests for even more.

During those weeks, I focused on Newman’s sincere and sarcastic sides, but it occurred to me that I had a whole other facet of the man to explore: his wonderful work for the movies (especially Disney). Newman has been nominated for more than a dozen Oscars, winning twice.

This week I’ll feature five songs Newman wrote for animated Disney films. Most of these are sung by other people but all maintain his distinctive style.

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