Localized Disney Songs Tier List
@earlgraytay made a big shout and now here we are. It was never going to take much to get me to start this project. We'll see if it goes anywhere.
There's really nothing quite like a villain song. It's musical, it's lyrical, it's a platform for colorful character acting; it's usually the best song in the movie. Only the most boring villains don't get a song. And unlike what's-his-name from Frozen, Dr. Facilier aka the Shadow Man is a fantastic character. It's too bad that he does practically nothing memorable in the movie besides singing this song, killing a supporting character, and dying horribly. He deserved more, but at least we got this song.
Sung by Keith David, no less!
Here's the original, in case you need a refresher.
That deep bass is addictive. He could be anyone's bisexual awakening. It's even got a whole character arc. Starting off as a fast-talking salesman/hustler before moving into a more intimate soothesayer/oracle. Then in an instant he switches on the cruelty in an amazing musical climactic sequence with beautiful and haunting imagery.
So with all of that going on to the original, how come I rated all three localizations in A-tier?
To be clear, C-tier means that it's just not as good. B-tier means that it is as good. A-tier means that not only is it as good as the original, but it adds a little something extra. S-tier is incredibly rare, because it improves on the original so vastly that it becomes the definitive version.
Freunde im Schattenreich (lit. Friends in the Shadow Realm) is more than just a straight conversion. The actor simply cannot reach the same levels of incredible vocal bass as Keith David. But he makes up for it by adding extra character. He plays up the huckster angle so much that I completely believe these guys would fall for the sales pitch. I would too! But I still can't give it a full A, because I just miss that deep, sinister voice.
Fortunately, we're about to get plenty.
ファシリアの企み (Facilier no Takurami, lit. Facilier's scheme) is pure anime. It's so villainous. No subtlety, no tricks, this man is evil and he wants your soul. But it's great. I didn't realize that DIO would actually be perfect in this, perhaps every, Disney movie until this song. Also, at 1:10 he starts saying カード (kaado) over and over and I feel like I'm watching Yu-Gi-Oh. Very entertaining.
But the most entertaining of all is the Spanish.
Influencia en el más allá is peak. It's like this guy was watching the German actor in the recording booth adding extra salesmanship in his rendition, said „lleva mi cerveza” and gave us the best performance yet. It's dynamic, it's fast talking, and it has all the depth and richness of the original. He's funny, too! The way he rolls his r for extra time at 1:26. But he loses none of the menace either. That deep Sí at 2:45 is better than anyone else does it.
There's also this very cool pun in the translation. The original had a line "it's the green you need and in your future it's the green that I see". Money is green but so are frogs, so it's not technically a lie. But money isn't green in Latin America so the pun doesn't work, right? Instead, they say „plata es, eso es, quieres tú, lo sé. Y cuando veo el futuro ese plato se ve." Plata means silver, but he subtly changes it to plato when saying what's in the future. Plato means plate. In your future you look like a plate of food. This is the kind of wordplay that I live for here.
I was very tempted to put this song in S-tier. But... I need to set a higher standard. It's not overwhelmingly better than the original the same way Seid Bereit 2019 is. There will not be many S's on this journey, but I do know a few.
What do you want to see next?
