Nate Mitchell

#DisneySongsRanked 1. Mother Knows Best (Tangled) Score: 500/500 Rapunzel asks her “mother” if she can leave her tower. Mother Gothel responds. – Have you ever had somebody in your life who is supposed to love you, but can’t stop critiquing you? Somebody who seems almost excited by your inadequacies? And when you criticize them, they immediately wither and ask how you could be so mean, weaponizing their own fragility. Mother Gothel is not Disney’s scariest villain. She’s not the most evil. She’s not even the most realistic. And yet, she finds herself at the top of this ranking, above juggernauts like “Part of Your World,” “Colors of the Wind,” “When You Wish Upon a Star,” and every other song by any other villain. I’m well aware that my opinion on this number is an outlier: “Mother Knows Best” doesn’t typically rank in the top 30 of most folk’s favorite Disney songs, and even in villain song rankings, it’s consistently placed below famous works like “Poor Unfortunate Souls” and “Be Prepared.” I’ll do my best to justify why, for weeks now, I have been 100% confident in my placing of “Mother Knows Best” at the top of this ranking. Donna Murphy is a revelation as the haughty, saccharine, critical, and defensive Mother Gothel. Her entire performance is done with a sublime Transatlantic accent, which gives her character the appearance of something from a time capsule, belonging to an era much, much earlier than the one the rest of the characters inhabit. That’s perfect, given the plot of the movie, which involves Mother Gothel using Rapunzel’s magical hair to artificially extend her lifespan and preserve her youthful beauty. This woman really is from a different time. For the first iteration of “Mother Knows Best” (I’ll get to the reprise), Murphy is perfect down to the syllable in her delivery, expertly balancing interspersions of comedic quasi-spoken delivery with a conventional singing style. Her voice, lightly nasal and haughty, is perfect for the character: beautiful, pleasant, but with just the slightest bit of edge. Her vibrato and expression are to die for. As she croons to Rapunzel, you feel as if you’re witnessing a live theater performance–and that’s because, diegetically, Gothel is giving a performance of sorts in order to keep her captive “daughter” hidden. Menken’s music, and the orchestration, are perfect: restrained, with comedic interjections from muted trumpets and an excellent bass clarinetist, the number hums along perfectly as Murphy delivers some truly fantastic lyrics, like this triple-feature rhyme: "Mother knows best Take it from your mumsy On your own, you won't survive Sloppy, under-dressed Immature, clumsy Please, they'll eat you up alive!" The first iteration of “Mother Knows Best” is really quite silly in its delivery: Gothel is listing all the reasons why Rapunzel can never leave the tower, including things like “men with sharp teeth” and “the plague.” It isn’t until the final moments of the number that the mask slips, ever so briefly, as Gothel tells Rapunzel through gritted teeth: “Don’t ever ask to leave this tower again.” Then, the moment’s gone: A quick smooch on the head and an “I love you,” and it’s like it never happened. The reprise of “Mother Knows Best” is a different beast entirely: Mother Gothel tracks down a recently escaped Rapunzel, and begs her to come back to her tower. Their dialogue gradually becomes verse, so subtly that you don’t realize it’s happening until it’s done: -- Rapunzel: But Mother, I - Mother Gothel: This is why you never should have left! Dear, this whole romance that you've invented, Just proves, you're too naive to be here Why would he like you? Come on now really! Look at you! You think that he's impressed? Don't be a dummy Come with Mummy Mother... Rapunzel: No! Mother Gothel: No? Oh. -- After that rhymed “No? Oh” moment, the real Mother Gothel shows herself: Vindictive and cruel, willing to exploit any insecurity of her “daughter” if it’s in her own best interest, even if it grinds Rapunzel’s spirit into dust. The reprise of “Mother Knows Best” is hardly the same song as the first, as it’s set in a grinding minor mode with shuddering, low orchestral accompaniment. Murphy’s delivery makes a glorious shift in the reprise, as she contemptuously spits the lyrics out, still sublimely rhymed by lyricist Glenn Slater: "Rapunzel knows best Rapunzel's so mature now Such a clever grown up miss Rapunzel knows best Fine, if you're so sure now Go ahead, then give him this!" Murphy’s performance reaches an apex when she shouts “I won’t say I told you so,” and delivers the line with such theatrical hatred that my blood runs cold. The final cadence, in which Mother Gothel sings “Mother knows best” a final time, is perfect in every sense, but her borderline operatic vibrato in this moment is organic and incredible. In Disney animated musicals, there have been a few perfect songs. There have been a few perfectly-acted villains. There have been incredible lyrics, gorgeous orchestrations, sublime recording and production. There have been songs that tie in perfectly with the story being told, moving the plot forward in a meaningful way. And, of course, Disney has been lucky enough to hire several singers who I would consider perfect. In my opinion, though, there is no song that more exemplifies the convergence of all of these features as “Mother Knows Best.” It’s an exemplary number that is an astonishing demonstration of craft at the highest level, with no flaws on a technical or expressive level. It is the song that I view to be most well-executed on every level, and for that reason, it’s at the top of my list. Thanks for reading! – Endnotes on controversy surrounding Gothel character: I should end by acknowledging that the character Mother Gothel has appeared to some folks to be an antisemitic stereotype. The olive-skinned, curly-haired Gothel steals the blonde baby Rapunzel away from her family. Some have said that this character, and others like her, is connected all the way back to the concept of “blood libel.” And it’s true that historically, many Disney villains have been marked by having some features that have been historically associated with Jewishness. It doesn’t really matter that Mother Gothel never came off as an antisemitic stereotype to me. It doesn’t really matter that her appearance was based on actress Donna Murphy and Cher, neither of whom were Jewish. It also doesn’t necessarily matter that a number of Jews were involved in the creation of the character and of Tangled–because if that’s how this character came across to you, my own experience doesn’t invalidate yours. But I’m here talking about my own experience, and when I watch Mother Gothel, I see a stereotype of a critical German mother, from the unwarranted mocking, to the “oh stop being so sensitive, I was only joking,” to the dramatic talk of “you’ll be sorry when I’m dead!”

#DisneySongsRanked 57. Let it Go (Frozen) Score: 439/500 Is this Disney's most financially profitable song of all time? It's gotta be, right? Love it or hate it, there's no denying the iconic cultural impact of "Let it Go," Elsa's song of self-assurance--or, as it was called in early story outlines of the plot given to the writing crew, "Elsa's Badass Song." My favorite critical reaction to this song comes from the Boston Globe, which referred to it as "musical crack" for kids. Apt description! "Let it Go" is an uptempo power ballad, and you can tell it was written to showcase Idina Menzel's vocal range, especially her renowned belting abilities. I've heard all sorts of whispers about what Idina Menzel is or isn't able to do in live performances after so many years in Wicked, but for this ranking I'm just focused on the recordings we have, which are solid. The best part of "Let it Go," for me, is the bridge. Menzel really steps into her own in this section, and the lyrics are lovely: "My power flurries through the air into the ground My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around! And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast! I'm never going back, the past is in the past!" "Let it Go" is not without its problems. The character Elsa, a 21-year-old, is played by Idina Menzel, who at the time of recording was in her early 40s. Menzel has a lovely, expressive voice, but for me, it too often sounds like a more mature woman's voice, not a great fit for the character. I also think that this song should've been taken down at least a half step, because the final belt on E♭5 is just... a lot. Also, for what it's worth, the drumset/guitar power ballad just doesn't do it for me here, and I would've preferred a more traditional orchestral accompaniment, or at least something that doesn't sound like it's coming from a bored drumset player camped out in the pit who's played this tune 9 times a week for the past year.