From ‘When You Wish Upon a Star’ to ‘Let It Go,’ Disney Has a History of Making Pop Culture Hits

variety.com:

Jon Burlingame When directors Dan Abraham and Trent Corey were preparing “Once Upon a Studio,” their animated tribute to 100 years of Disney animation, they knew they wanted two musical elements: Cliff Edwards, as Jiminy Cricket, singing “When You Wish Upon a Star,” and songwriter Richard Sherman playing piano for “Feed the Birds.” Those two songs are emblematic of Walt Disney’s commitment to memorable, meaningful tunes as part of every Disney project dating back to the early Mickey Mouse days and the “Silly Symphonies” cartoon series. “When You Wish Upon a Star,” the Oscar-winning song from 1940’s “Pinocchio,” has become the studio’s unofficial musical signature, and “Feed the Birds,” from 1964’s “Mary Poppins,” was Disney’s personal favorite.

Over the years, Disney tunes have become an indelible part of popular culture. “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf,” from 1933’s “The Three Little Pigs,” became an anthem for Americans determined to overcome the hardships of the Great Depression — as well as the first of the studio’s dozens of hit songs. (No other film studio boasts as many.) Frank Churchill, who wrote “Big Bad Wolf” and went on to write the songs for 1937’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” Disney’s first feature-length animated film, was just the first of many songwriters to call the Hyperion Avenue and Burbank studios home.

His “Heigh-Ho” and “Someday My Prince Will Come,” as well as the poignant “Baby Mine” from 1941’s “Dumbo,” are classics from that early era of Disney animation.

Disney’s fascination with music didn’t stop with songs. His 1940 masterpiece “Fantasia,” the culmination of a three-year collaboration with conductor Leopold Stokowski, combined animation with classical music, including pieces by.