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Song of the Day #6,001: ‘Once Upon a Dream’ – Mary Costa and Bill Shirley

Continuing my countdown of favorite Disney Animation movies following my marathon viewing of all 64…

My Top Ten Disney Animation Movies
#5 – Sleeping Beauty (1959)

My next pick is the greatest film of Disney’s first half century — Sleeping Beauty. This was Disney’s third princess film, and last until The Little Mermaid 40 years later.

To differentiate Aurora’s film from those of her predecessors Snow White and Cinderella, extra care was paid to the visuals, especially the painterly backgrounds that some execs worried were so impressive they would distract from the plot.

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Song of the Day #6,000: ‘I Know (Live)’ – Elvis Costello

With apologies to Duran Duran, whose ‘The Wild Boys‘ would have been today’s Throwback Weekend selection, I’m suspending my usual programming to acknowledge another milestone for the blog.

Today is my 6,000th post, a number that frankly feels a little obscene. Have I really been doing this every day for 16 1/2 years? Apparently so.

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Song of the Day #5,999: ‘Kung Fu Fighting’ – Carl Douglas

Throwing back to the week of December 7, 1974, we find Jamaican/British singer Carl Douglas atop the Billboard Hot 100 with a classic one-hit wonder, ‘Kung Fu Fighting.’

This disco ditty topped the charts in multiple countries and sold more than 11 million copies worldwide, tapping into growing fandom for both disco music and karate movies.

I guess it’s appropriate that today’s post follows one that mentioned offensive Asian caricatures in Disney movies, because, as The Big Lebowski‘s Walter Sobchak will tell you, “Chinaman is not the preferred nomenclature.”

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Song of the Day #5,998: ‘Bella Notte’ – George Givot

Continuing my countdown of favorite Disney Animation movies following my marathon viewing of all 64…

My Top Ten Disney Animation Movies
#6 – Lady and the Tramp (1955)

After several films from the modern era, we jump back four decades to Disney’s first golden age for my #6 pick. If the 90s are considered the studio’s strongest decade overall, the 50s are a close second.

I certainly prefer the animation style of those early years to anything the studio produced later. As much as I love the complexity and photorealistic detail of recent films, nothing tops the painterly work of the hand-drawn era.

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Song of the Day #5,997: ‘Colors of the Wind’ – Judy Kuhn

Continuing my countdown of favorite Disney Animation movies following my marathon viewing of all 64…

My Top Ten Disney Animation Movies
#7 – Pocahontas (1995)

The period from 1989 through 1999 is considered Disney’s Renaissance era, when the studio produced some of its most beloved and successful films. A renewed focus on the quality of storytelling, animation, and songwriting resulted in a run of undeniable classics.

Some of those movies made my list while others didn’t (sorry, The Lion King fans). But of all of them, I think the most underappreciated is 1995’s Pocahontas.

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