Inspired by the Disney Animated Movie Madness Final Round thread , I am soliciting candidates for the best singing performance in a Disney animated film.
My entry: Samuel E. Wright in The Little Mermaid.
Here is another sample
In the original thread, Pochacco responded with the formidable Louis Prima in The Jungle Book.
Any other entries? My daughter is four years old now, so I need to start steering here towards shows with some good music.
RR
I’ll have to think about this for a while, but barring coming up with a better answer, I’ll throw a provisional vote in with Pochacco - I Wanna Be Like You is damn good.
We are fond of “I Won’t Say I’m in Love” from Hercules.
It’s a little dated now, and it’s not from a feature film, but “Who’s Afraid of The Big Bad Wolf” from The Three Little Pigs was pretty amazing for 1933. It’s probably the most famous song ever written for any Disney film and was quite a technical achievement for its day. The quality of The Three Little Pigs is impressive, considering that the talkies had only debuted six years earlier. Pinto Colvig, Mary Moder and Dorothy Compton provided the voices of the pigs.
Also from Jungle Book is Phil Harris performing “The Bare Necessities”. Not quite as good as “I Wanna Be Like You”, but still a great song.
If you include live-action films with animated bits almost every song from Mary Poppins is a masterpiece. “Feed the Birds” was reportedly Walt’s favorite song from any of his films. Even the songs without Julie Andrews’ prodigious vocal talent are great. Here’s Glynis Johns singing “Sister Suffragette”.
And, I agree with Helena. Susan Egan’s performance in *Hercules * is great too.
That was amazing.
I wasn’t as taken by the Hercules piece, but that may be because I have never seen it in context.
I did remember, though, enjoying Robin Williams’ frenetic version of Never Had A Friend Like Me
RR
I started to list far too many Disney songs before I took another look at the OP and saw it was best performances, not just best song. In that case, I’d have to agree with I Wanna Be Like You and Never Had a Friend Like Me, which I give the advantage to because it’s actually Robin Williams himself singing, and he does it so well.
Another one for consideration is Mulan’s I’ll Make A Man Out Of You. Strong performance by Donny Osmond, but the real jewel is the Mandarin version, sung by Jackie Chan. Just stellar. The English and Mandarin versions on the soundtrack match so perfectly that I’ve been able to start both at the same time and listen to Donny and Jackie sing in concert. It’s really, really cool. 
Ruminating through a few that pop into my head: (in addition to the aforementioned Phil Harris, Louis Prima, and Robin Williams)
Richard White as Gaston in Beauty and the Beast: Sure he plays an asshole, but when he sings he’s got such a powerful voice it’s hard not to enjoy it.
Mary Costa as Briar Rose/Aurora in Sleeping Beauty: “I Wonder” I’m still not sure how Walt was able to hire an angel to voice Aurora.
Jodi Benson as Ariel in The Little Mermaid: “Part of Your World” I find it hard to separate the performance from the perfection of the song itself, but I think the acting and the perfectly-timed vibrato is wonderful.
Pat Carroll as Ursula in the same: “Poor Unfortunate Souls” I’ve been working on my Ursula impression for quite a few years and I still don’t have it.
and just for the fun of it, Tom Jones singing Kuzco’s Theme Song in The Emperor’s New Groove.
For non-singing performance, Robby Benson works wonders as Beast, and Eleanor Audley as Maleficent.
Ooh, another awesome one: Be Prepared from Lion King. Jeremy Irons never fails to give me chills. Great voice.
Wow. That was an astounding performance. Thank you for that one.
And, Bosstone, I enjoyed watching that clip, too. Irons did a terrific job there.
RR
Scatman Crothers in The Aristocats gets my vote.
No love for the crows singing “When Elephants Fly!” from Dumbo? Plus, you get to point out the overt racism in the portrayal of the crows at the same time.
I’m gonna third (or fourth?) Louis Prima in The Jungle Book, and also Phil Harris in both TJB and Robin Hood (especially the latter’s “Prince John, the Phony King of England.”
Also must echo Mary Costa’s Rose/Aurora, though my favorite song in that is of course “Once Upon a Dream.” Man, Disney films could really break out the heartstrings, couldn’t they?
Speaking of angels, and heartstrings, and dreams for that matter: whoever sang Cinderella’s “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes” makes me cry. Helps that this is one of Disney’s most gorgeous songs.
And despite – or really, because of – her weaker voice as she’s aged, I must give props to Angela Lansbury’s version of “Beauty and the Beast.” So tender, fragile, and lovely. The slight flaws in her vocals add to the charm.
Finally, I may be a big ol’ sap, but c’mon folks: give it up for Cliff Edwards as a certain little insect with an ethereal voice and tearjerking song. (Unfortunately, this is not the original recording, but I can’t find the full version on YouTube. Still, that last note is a killer… sob!)
There’s a lot to dislike about Hunchback of Notre Dame, but Tony Jay’s performance of the song Hellfire is just astonishing. Video clip here.
RiverRunner, might I suggest Pocahantas…“Colors of the Wind.” http://youtube.com/watch?v=TkV-of_eN2w
Your daughter might be enchanted if you allow her to watch the you-tube video, and both my daughters (ages 14 & 8, granted, older than your child) loved the song & movie.
Love, Phil
I don’t know who sang “Baby Mine” in “Dumbo,” but anyone who doesn’t cry when that song plays and Dumbo’s mother is cradling him in her trunk is NOT HUMAN!!!
That is so cool.
[sub]Man, I love the internet.[/sub]
Another vote for “I wonder” here. That entire movie is perfection!
Although I’m hard-pressed to name second place, because there are so many great Disney songs.
Alison Krauss does that song on her CD A Hundred Miles or More. She does a good job with it.
RR
And Bonnie Raitt on the Disney compilation Stay Awake.
And joyful. Second this nomination.
Also, from the same film, Jerry Orbach singing “Be Our Guest.”
Lea Salonga’s half of “A Whole New World” in Aladdin is extremely well sung. And “Friend Like Me” is awfully good.
Really, it would be easier, and take less time, to make a list of bad vocal performances in Disney films.