Princesses Disney Article: My ranking of DP chant Voices

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posted by manu962

I meant to do this article is quite a long time but I just couldn't agree with myself. Some parts of this liste are probably going to change after a time. I tried not to be influenced par what the voice actrices did outside of those DP films but I couldn't really do that, still here is my list.

11.Snow White - Adriana Caselotti
I feel guilty for putting poor sweet Snow in the end of my liste but... We all know that they choose Adriana Caselotti to voice Snow White because of her sweet, innocent and childish voice. Disney also didn't want Adriana to be in any other movie because her voice was unique and they felt that it should belong only to Snow White. Yes, her voice is unique and she does hit some pretty high notes but she doesn't seem to me as vocally trained as the others. I wasn't sure I wanted to put her in the end of my liste because she sure is talented but I feel like I like the other voices more.
I saw a video of her chant before she died and she sounds really amazing there.

The sweet, unique and adorable but pitchy, a bit weird and not so trained voice.

10.Rapunzel- Mandy Moore
Awww, I really wish it could be higher but... Her voice is quite pop-ish and not really classical at all and sometimes is sounds even plus fragile than Anna's.

The sweet but pop-ish and fragile voice.

9.Anna - Kristen cloche, bell
Kristen has one of the warmest and sweetest voices ever and it does montrer quite a lot of emotion but it's not really that special and not really that trained, even though I know she's been in Broadway. I used to think Rapunzel's voice is better and that Anna's voice is a rip-off of Rapunzel's voice but now I think I like her voice a bit more.
It's a bit too thin and childlike and I'm just not a fan of those kind of voices.

The sweet and warm but too thin and childlike voice.

7 and 8. Aurora - Mary Costa, Cinderella- Illene Woods
Yeah, most of toi are probably shocked to see Aurora so low. Her voice is feminine and sassy but I just don't find it that special. I can't decide if I like her ou Illene's voice plus so they are tied for me right now.
Illene has a great voice and it really fits Cinderella. It's warm, classic and dreamy but sometimes may sound plain because she doesn't really hit many different notes and I've her voices that are like hers so I don't find her that special.

The warm, dreamy and classic but simple voice; The feminine, dreamy and sassy but not that special voice.

6.Belle-Paige O'Hara
Her voice really is really amazing. It's sweet and quite special. It definitely has lots of emotion. I listened to Paige sing other songs and she was really awesome and really seemed to have talent. It makes me wonder what happened to her voice when she got older. How did her voice age so much? She probably didn't take time to practice chant which is such a shame for a talented singer like she is, but it could probably be that her voice really aged itself. Sometimes I prefer Susan Egan as Belle, even thought whenever I hear her I think of Megara.

The sweet and quite special voice but a bit too mature and, apparently fast aging voice.

5.Ariel- Jodi Benson
Will her voice ever age?I used to l’amour her voice and I still do but I find some other voices to be better. Jodi's voice is so clear and innocent and has lots of emotion. I loved her voice as Asenath in Joseph:King of Dreams but I didn't really enjoy her as Thumbelina. I have mixed feelings for her voice. Sometimes I find it to be the most sweet and angelic voice and sometimes I find it just too fragile and that her vocal range is not that wide. To be honest sometimes I like Sierra Boggess plus but she doesn't have the sweetness than Jodi has.

The clear, innocent and unagable but a bit too fragile and childlike voice.

My haut, retour au début 4 are the most amazing Broadway Divas:

3 and 4. Tiana- Anika Noni Rose, Pocahontas- Judy Kuhn
Both of them have strong and inspiring voices and I couldn't choose between them. I don't have must to say about them. Their voices give me chills.

I'm just going to say that I was surprised that Judy Kuhn played Cosette from Les Miserables since Cosette is supposed to be a soprano and Pocahontas is clearly not a soprano but she handled it quite good.

The strong and powerful voices.

1 and 2. Elsa- Idina Menzel, Jasmine/Mulan- Les Salonga.

These two ladies have the most gorgeous voices ever.
Idina Menzel is a strong belter with a surprisingly wide vocal range and Let It Go didn't even do her talent justice. It's a shame many think she is a bad singer because of what happened at the Oscars that night.
I could go on forever écriture about her but let's just say everyword she says carries so much emotion and it's so special. The way she connect her voice with a character is extraordinary. She can make her voice sounds really different when she wants. Circe sounded nothing like Elsa (Yes, I'm a proud fanzel).
Lea Salonga has an amazingly wide vocal range. Her lower notes are warm and strong and her high notes are angelic and delicate. I feel like she is quite underrated here. I used to think her voice was kinda pop-ish too but not anymore. It's just amazingly special. Her voice gives me chills.

It's a shame that both of these amazingly talented ladies didn't have the chance to really montrer their talent in those movie. Let it go doesn't really suit Idina, and that unfortunately made many think she was auto-tuned there. She clearly wasn't.
As about Lea, well she sounds much better than she did in "Reflection" and "A Whole New World".

The clear, warm, and angelic voice; The strong, passionate and emotional voice

There were many a few that sounded better than Idina and Lea in the films but I had to choose them because I know that they can do much much better and I couldn't put them lower.

Genevievebarbie, Renegade1765 and 5 others like this

MalloMar Wonderful list! I love and agree with what you said about your top 4.

manu962 Thanks. :)

Asabala1 Great list I agree with the most in your top 5 Ariel- Jodi Benson

misscindyspice I have Idina and Lea in my top 5 as well. :) Wonderful list!

324anna Great list! I agree with many things and I love the descriptions. :)

BelleRose829 Nice, love it! :3 great article I agree with what you said about Anna and Mandy Moore!

manu962 Thank you all.

CRaZy_rawR I disagree, good article.

iwasneverhere I liked some of what you said about Jodi Benson and Lea Salonga. I could do without Idina, but that's because I wasn't impressed with her in Wicked, and Frozen felt like Disney doing Wicked. Anyhow. This was a good article.

manu962 ^ May I ask you why weren't you impressed with her in Wicked? Not that I mind it, I'm just curious. BTW Thanks.

iwasneverhere Well, it's not that I don't consider Idina having the range. She does. But I found that some of the songs in Wicked were just...boring. In particular the song, "For Good." That song (and its lyrics) just didn't do anything for me except make me wish the singers stopped singing. I just didn't like the lyrics in Wicked. The only song I could stand in Frozen, originally, was 'Let It Go," as the rest were just very inferior in terms of lyrics and song composition. ( I had classical piano training in my youth, and listened to live orchestras for years). As for my dislike of "Let It Go" now, it is because of the endless playing of it over and over. The piano structure of the song itself is quite choppy, and the smooth/softer bits ( musically called "dynamics") jar with the louder chorus, with its pounding, insistent rhythm. I'm sorry, but Claude Debussy did both loud and soft dynamics in the same song FAR BETTER than the Lopezs'. As for Idina herself, I'll not dispute that she has vocal range. But "Let It Go" keeps going up octave after octave, resulting in higher and higher notes--- which I felt were rather uncomfortable for a singer to sing, and for me to listen to. I was disappointed, kinda, when Idina couldn't hit the notes at the Oscars performance, but I BLAMED THAT on the LOPEZS' for making a song that could no longer be sung, but must be shrieked, instead. When Idina felt her voice beginning to fail, she pushed past her vocal range, and had to shriek the last set of notes-- that come before the spoken "the cold never bothered me anyway." I blame the Lopezs' for this. Sure they won an Oscar by popular demand, but musically, from the view of a person who had classical training...they are not the best in the business of creating singable works of art. Idina has a strong voice--- in the lower ranges. Her voice starts to crack in the upper ranges, because she is no longer depending on her lungs as much, and she sounds nasally to me. Maybe, that's a technique she used while being trained to sing at her conservatory ( music school). But I guess, Idina does not have the sweet, softer notes of Jodi Benson, or Lea Salonga, when she hits higher notes. Idina's higher notes have a very sharp quality, like a punch, which just doesn't suit my eardrums.

manu962 ^Oh, I see. So you actually have a problem with the songs in Wicked. I still don't get what happened with that high note in Let it Go. She herself admitted it was too high for her but we all know that she can hit so pretty high notes. As about "For Good" that songs is supposed to be quiet and sad so you can feel the pain of both friends. In that song I think the lyrics are more important. Idina to me seems to have the sweetest and thinnest of the Elphaba voices. That's why unfortunately some people think her voice is weak and she is the worst Elphaba. Most Elphabas have really think voices with make them sound more "strong" to some people. But a thick voice does not equal a strong voice. Idina has a really strong voice too. Her being nasal doesn't bother me at all. I've heard many other great singers who have nasal voices. I hate to admit that sometimes in Wicked she seems to breathe a lot. I'm not sure if she had a bad technique there or that her breath are naturally loud. But she doesn't see to have that problem anymore and even in Wicked she didn't always have that problem.

iwasneverhere I can't say much about breathing technique, but one of my friends was a voice major at his conservatory. He was taught how to breathe correctly while singing, to make notes robust. He has no trouble hitting high notes. Perhaps, somewhere along the line, Idina sought to correct her breathing problems, but sometimes under pressure and stage fright, one reverts to practiced habits. I know this from having played in front of large audiences during competitions. Anyhow, I do think Idina has a nice voice at lower ranges. I believe the orchestration of the song ( by the Lopezs') was at fault for causing her to sound nasally. But Idina is clearly not the powerhouse that Judy Kuhn is. That lady sang opera for a living, while Idina has sung just Broadway. There's a difference. I still prefer Judy Kuhn for loud, masterful ballad songs, and Jodi Benson and Lea Salonga for sweeter, quieter notes in a ballad. But Judy Kuhn is so versatile. If you ever hear her duet with Mel Gibson in Pocahontas ( If I Never Knew You) you would see that Judy can not only sing loud and extremely high notes, she can also sing soft sweet notes, too. Half of the reason Pocahontas is 4th on my princess favorites list is not only for the animation, but for the sheer beauty of Judy's voice.

manu962 ^ She's been in opera? Well, I value both Broadway and Opera. Just because Idina isn't a saprano and doesn't have an operatic voice it doesn't mean she's worse than Judy Kuhn. What amazes me about Idina is her ability to change her voice. If you listed to her as as Mauree, Elphaba and Circe in the Hercules TV series you can see she changes her voice a lot. The same happens with Elizabeth in If/Then too. Though I agree that Judy Kuhn sounds more trained.

Annabethandco I really liked this :)

ApplesauceDoctr I really like your list! We have some similar placements, and I agree with many things you stated. :)