The Disney Song Encyclopedia - fieldi

“Zero to Hero” is the pulsating mock rhythm-and-blues song by Alan
Menken (music) and David Zippel (lyric) that is used to chronicle the young
athlete’s rise to fame in the animated movie Hercules (1997). The six Greek
Muses (voices of Lilias White, Tawatha Agee, Cheryl Freeman, La Chanze,
Roz Ryan, and Vanessa Thomas) sing the comic tribute filled with anachronistic
slang, outrageous puns, and a slick Motown sound.
“Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” is the Oscar-winning song of contentment by Allie
Wrubel (music) and Ray Gilbert (lyric) that is featured in the groundbreaking
film Song of the South (1946), which mixed animation and live action
so effectively. As storyteller Uncle Remus (James Baskett) begins to relate
the first story to the youth Johnny (Bobby Driscoll), the movie moves into
animation for the first time with a live-action Uncle Remus walking along
a road singing to and being joined by cartoon animals. At the end of the
film, Johnny and Ginny (Luana Patten) reprise the happy number with a
soundtrack chorus as they walk into the sunset. While the song has a lazy
Southern flavor to it, the number moves along both musically and lyrically.
Johnny Mercer’s recording with the Pied Pipers was a best seller, and there
were also successful records by Sammy Kaye and His Orchestra and the
Modernaires with Paula Kelly. The song remained popular in the 1950s because
it was heard on the Disney television show, then it was on the charts
again in 1962 with a best-selling record by Bob B. Sox and the Blue Jeans.
242
Z