"Happy Working Song" is a song written by composer Alan Menken and lyricist

Stephen Schwartz Stephen Lawrence Schwartz (born March 6, 1948) is an American musical theatre lyricist and composer. In a career spanning over five decades, Schwartz has written such hit musicals as ''Godspell'' (1971), ''Pippin'' (1972), and ''Wicked'' (20 ...

for

Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Pictures is an American film production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. The studio is the flagship producer of live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Studios unit ...

' musical film '' Enchanted'' (2007). Recorded by American actress

Amy Adams Amy Lou Adams (born August 20, 1974) is an American actress. Known for both her comedic and dramatic roles, she has been featured three times in annual rankings of the world's highest-paid actresses. She has received various accolades, incl ...

in her starring role as Giselle, the uptempo pop song both parodies and pays homage to a variety of songs from several Disney animated feature films, particularly "

Whistle While You Work "Whistle While You Work" is a song with music written by Frank Churchill and lyrics written by Larry Morey for the 1937 animated Disney film '' Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs''. It was performed in the film by voice actress Adriana Caselotti. ...

" from ''

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as T ...

'' (1937). Produced by Menken, Schwartz and

Danny Troob Daniel Troob (born February 28, 1949, in Forest Hills, New York) is an American arranger and orchestrator best known for his contributions to the Disney blockbusters of the 1990s & 2000s. He won Drama Desk awards for '' Big River'' (1985) and Rodge ...

, the song appears on the film's soundtrack '' Enchanted: Original Soundtrack.'' "Happy Working Song" takes place in Robert's untidy apartment in

Manhattan, New York Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, in which Giselle spends her first night in the city after having been magically transported there from the fictional Andalasia. The next morning, Giselle awakens to find the apartment in a state of neglect and decides to clean it, summoning several animals to her aid. Additionally, the musical number references similar scenes from Disney's ''

''and ''

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

''(1950). Based on 1950s music, "Happy Working Song"'s bridge deliberately references the song " Belle" from Disney's ''

Beauty and the Beast ''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' (''The Young American and Marine ...

''(1991). Musically, "Happy Working Song" shares similarities with the songs "

Heigh-Ho "Heigh-Ho" is a song from Walt Disney's 1937 animated film ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'', written by Frank Churchill (music) and Larry Morey (lyrics). It is sung by the group of Seven Dwarfs as they work at a mine with diamonds and rubi ...

" from ''

'', " The Work Song" from ''

'' and " Something There" from ''

''. The song has garnered vastly positive reviews, with both film and music critics praising its humorous, witty lyrics, allusions and references to previous Disney films and songs, as well as Adams' performance. "Happy Working Song" was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the

80th Academy Awards The 80th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2007. The award ceremony took place on February 24, 2008, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During t ...

in 2008 alongside '' Enchanted''s own " That's How You Know" and " So Close", making the film'' ''one of only four to achieve this feat. Ultimately, the song lost to "

Falling Slowly "Falling Slowly" is a song in the indie folk and indie rock genres that was written, composed and performed by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová. The song was featured on the soundtrack of the 2007 Irish musical romance film ''Once'', which starre ...

" from '' Once ''(2007), while the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...

subsequently decided to limit the total number of Best Original Song nominations to only two per film.

Background, writing and references

Veteran Disney composer, Alan Menken, became actively creatively involved with '' Enchanted'' in 2006, subsequently inviting his longtime collaborator, lyricist

, with whom Menken had previously worked on Disney's ''

Pocahontas Pocahontas (, ; born Amonute, known as Matoaka, 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman, belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of ...

'' (1995) and ''

The Hunchback of Notre Dame ''The Hunchback of Notre-Dame'' (french: Notre-Dame de Paris, translation=''Our Lady of Paris'', originally titled ''Notre-Dame de Paris. 1482'') is a French Gothic novel by Victor Hugo, published in 1831. It focuses on the unfortunate story ...

''(1996), to co-write the songs and

musical numbers In music, number refers to an individual song, dance, or instrumental piece which is part of a larger work of musical theatre, opera, or oratorio. It can also refer either to an individual song in a published collection or an individual song or d ...

for '' Enchanted'' alongside him. Menken said of the general songwriting process, "the first challenge for us was finding that musical palette and lyrical palette and performance palette that really spoke to everybody and said that we are in the world of early

Walt Walt is a masculine given name, generally a short form of Walter, and occasionally a surname. Notable people with the name include: People Given name * Walt Arfons (1916-2013), American drag racer and competition land speed record racer * Walt B ...

and to have that place to start." Amy Adams (actress)

When it came to writing "Happy Working Song", Menken and Schwartz were directly influenced by the song "

" from Disney's first full-length animated feature film ''

''(1937), with Schwartz describing "Happy Working Song" as a "

spoof Spoof, spoofs, spoofer, or spoofing may refer to: * Forgery of goods or documents * Semen, in Australian slang * Spoof (game), a guessing game * Spoofing (finance), a disruptive algorithmic-trading tactic designed to manipulate markets __NOTOC__ ...

" and "one of the funniest sequences of the film". According to Schwartz, "Happy Working Song" was written rather quickly, having come " o the songwritersreally fast". Schwartz elaborated, "'Happy Working Song' is ... pretty much out of ''

Snow White "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection '' Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as T ...

'' and '

' and that little thing where they do the dishes and Dopey with the soap bubbles and everything." In addition to this, "Happy Working Song" features references to both the musical number " The Work Song" and " the busy little mice" from Disney's ''

'' (1950), but to a significantly lesser extent. Lyrically, Schwartz decided to approach the song comically as demonstrated by its phrase "Even though you are

vermin Vermin ( colloquially varmint(s) or varmit(s)) are pests or nuisance animals that spread diseases or destroy crops or livestock. Since the term is defined in relation to human activities, which species are included vary by region and enterp ...

." Conceptually, Menken explained that "As the characters become sort of

three dimensional Three-dimensional space (also: 3D space, 3-space or, rarely, tri-dimensional space) is a geometric setting in which three values (called ''parameters'') are required to determine the position of an element (i.e., point). This is the informa ...

, songs become more

contemporary Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...

." Ultimately, Menken believes that, melodically, "Happy Working Song" is very much similar to the songs " Belle" and " Something There" from ''

''. Additionally, orchestrator and arranger

revealed the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

of "Happy Working Song" is directly based on the bridge of " Belle", particularly serving as "a deliberate reference on he songwriters'part." Addressing the musical similarities between "Happy Working Song" and " Something There", Troob explained that the former occupies a different "drive" and "attitude", additionally sounding "a little bit more brisk ... because iselle isworking." Troob elaborated, "''

'' was, for its time, very forward-looking, and 'Happy Working Song' is deliberately

retro Retro style is imitative or consciously derivative of lifestyles, trends, or art forms from history, including in music, modes, fashions, or attitudes. In popular culture, the "nostalgia cycle" is typically for the two decades that begin 20–30 ...

." Troob decided to alter and deliberately steer the song away from Menken and Schwartz's original 1970s-inspired musical arrangement in an attempt to "make it feel like the 1950s" by "manipulating instruments 'sic''.html" ;"title="sic.html" ;"title="'sic">'sic''">sic.html" ;"title="'sic">'sic''textures." American actress,

, who portrays Giselle, had previously "worked in

musical theater Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

before hemoved to Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles" in order to pursue a career as a film actress, and was therefore "very comfortable with the idea of singing". Citing both actress and singer Julie Andrews and several Disney Princesses as musical inspiration, Adams decided to perform the film's first song, "True Love's Kiss", in the style of an operetta before eventually replacing this with a more

Broadway musical Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...

-style voice for "Happy Working Song".

Context, scene and analysis

Having just recently arrived in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

after having been magically transported there from her fantastical world of Andalasia, a lost and hopelessly confused Giselle is discovered wandering around by Robert, a single father and divorce attorney, and his daughter Morgan. Robert decides to offer his assistance to Giselle by inviting her to spend a night's shelter in the safety of their apartment. The following morning, Giselle awakens to find Robert's apartment in a complete state of disarray. During the "Happy Working Song" musical sequence, described as one of the film's "large scale production numbers", Giselle, who is very much appalled by the untidy state of Robert's

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

apartment, decides to "repay ... the favour" by taking the liberty of confronting and cleaning up the apartment's mess herself. By performing a brief

aria In music, an aria ( Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompa ...

and "utilizing her animal-charming abilities", Giselle musically "summons the city's animals" in order "to help her tidy it up". This gesture and scene serves as a reference to similar scenes and musical sequences from preceding Disney animated fairy tale films such as ''

''(1937) and ''

'' (1950). Demonstrating and suggesting "that Giselle really does have some magical power, even in he real world, – according to Sean Axmaker of the ''

Seattle Post-Intelligencer The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington, United States. The newspaper was f ...

'','' ''"When she breaks into song ... sewer rats and cockroaches arrive to help with the housework" – the aria is immediately responded to by several animals, creatures and "

" typically associated with New York City, including

rats Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include ''Neotoma'' ( pack rats), ''Bandicota'' (bandicoot ...

pigeons Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

, roaches, and flies – visually meant to represent "makeshift 'forest friends'" – "as opposed to the woodland critters of the movie's opening animated segment." According to film critic Brent Simon of ''Shared Darkness'', the comedic gag serves as one of the film's "amusing ways to contrast the two worlds" of Giselle's fictional Andalasia and the real-life New York City. Several professional film critics have allotted a variety of different terms and nicknames to the animals who appear during the "Happy Working Song" sequence. Neil Smith of

BBC Online BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and BBC Sport, Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, t ...

described the animals who appear during the scene as "a grotesque menagerie of CG vermin", while the ''

Orlando Sentinel The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is the primary newspaper of Orlando, Florida, and the Central Florida region. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company. The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by parent company, '' Tribune P ...

''s Roger Moore jokingly referred to them as New York's own "woodland creatures", writing, "the rats and pigeons are merely the cuddlier ones".

Manohla Dargis Manohla June Dargis () is an American film critic. She is one of the chief film critics for ''The New York Times''. She is a five-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. Career Before being a film critic for ''The New York Times'', ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''coined the creatures "urban critters."

Composition and inspiration

"Happy Working Song" is a "vibrant", uptempo pop song. Reminiscent of and influenced by a variety of "

archetypal The concept of an archetype (; ) appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychology, and literary analysis. An archetype can be any of the following: # a statement, pattern of behavior, prototype, "first" form, or a main model that o ...

Disney" and " classical-sounding" musical numbers, the

-inspired song runs a total length of two minutes and nine seconds. Incorporating into its lyrical structure a variety of "clever" words including "toilet", "hairball" and "vermin", while rhyming humorous terms such as "hum" and "scum" with "dum dum dum" and "vacu-um", "Happy Working Song"'s use of "comical", "

tongue-in-cheek The idiom tongue-in-cheek refers to a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a serious manner. History The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning. Early users of the phrase include Sir Walter Scot ...

lyrics", according to

Filmtracks.com Filmtracks.com is a modern film score review website created and maintained by its sole reviewer, Christian Clemmensen. Since the launch of Filmtracks in 1996, the website has reviewed nearly two-thousand soundtracks dating as far back as 1954, t ...

, both describe and add narration to Giselle's "attempts to conjure an ultra happy tune while scrubbing floors and toilets in the real world" upon deciding "to clean her new home with the help of ... cockroaches and flies". Its musical instrumentation is heavily reliant on the use of the harpsichord, with Filmtracks.com additionally describing "Happy Working Song" as a "harpsichord-laced" song. Troob purposefully included the harpsichord in the song's instrumentation and orchestration in order to provide it with a more accurate "period setting". According to

Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.

, "Happy Working Song" shares similarities with and is also inspired by "

" from ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'', in addition to "

" from ''

'' and "The Work Song" from ''

''. Additionally, the song is reminiscent of " Belle" and " Something There" from ''

'', specifically when it comes to its

and " staccato quality". Written in the key of

D major D major (or the key of D) is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative minor is B minor and its parallel minor is D minor. The D major scale is: : Ch ...

in alla breve cut common time, "Happy Working Song" is structured around a "lilting",

-inspired melody. According to the song's official sheet music, published at Musicnotes.com by

Walt Disney Music Publishing Disney Music Group (DMG) is the music recording arm of Disney Platform Distribution, a division of The Walt Disney Company. It is located at the studio's headquarters in Burbank, California. The division's subsidiaries consist of two owned record ...

, "Happy Working Song" follows an

upbeat Up beat may refer to: *Upbeat, in music, the last beat in the previous bar which immediately precedes the downbeat *Anacrusis, a note (or sequence of notes) which precedes the first downbeat in a bar in a musical phrase * ''Upbeat'' (album), by t ...

, "perky and live"

tempo In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...

of 88

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ...

. In portrayal of Giselle, Adams performs the song using an "earnest", "tart ... soprano voice". Her high soprano

vocal range Vocal range is the range of pitches that a human voice can phonate. A common application is within the context of singing, where it is used as a defining characteristic for classifying singing voices into voice types. It is also a topic of st ...

spans approximately two octaves, from the low note of G₃ to the high note of D₅. The song's lyrics begin, "Come, my little friends, as we all sing a happy little working song, merry little voices clear and strong."

Reception

Critical reviews

"Happy Working Song" has garnered widespread critical acclaim.

hailed "Happy Working Song" as Menken and Schwartz's "best work together in ''Enchanted''" Describing "Happy Working Song" as a "loving, well-crafted homage ... to Disney classics", Elisabeth Vincentelli of

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential econo ...

wrote, "tellingly, the lovely 'Happy Working Song' ... sounds like it could have been lifted from any number of Disney movies—and that's meant as a compliment." Drawing similarities between the song and "Heigh-Ho", Jacqueline Rupp of

Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.

commented, "the 'Hi-Ho' 'sic''.html" ;"title="sic.html" ;"title="'sic">'sic''">sic.html" ;"title="'sic">'sic''inspired 'Happy Working Song' will have kids giggling and dancing." Jeff Swindoll of Monsters and Critics wrote that "Happy Working Song" successfully "ap[es]'Whistle While You Work' most amusingly." ''

called "Happy Working Song" "brilliantly

surrealistic Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...

Lisa Schwarzbaum Lisa Schwarzbaum (born July 5, 1952) is an American film critic. She joined ''Entertainment Weekly'' as a film critic in the 1990s and remained there until February 2013. Career She has been featured on CNN, co-hosted '' Siskel & Ebert at the Mov ...

of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

''described "Happy Working Song" as a "hilarious ... production number" that successfully "encapsulates the joys of ''Enchanted''". ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

''s

Joe Morgenstern Joe Morgenstern (born October 3, 1932) is an American writer and retired film critic. He wrote for ''Newsweek'' from 1965 to 1983, and then for ''The Wall Street Journal'' from 1995 to 2022. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 2005. Morgen ...

enthusiastically praised both the song and the sequence, hailing the latter as "magical" while describing "Happy Working Song" as a "gleeful variation on theme of 'Whistle While You Work'". Similarly,

Todd McCarthy Todd McCarthy (born February 16, 1950) is an American film critic and author. He wrote for '' Variety'' for 31 years as its chief film critic until 2010. In October of that year, he joined ''The Hollywood Reporter'', where he subsequently served ...

of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

''called "Happy Working Song" "a hilarious variation on 'Whistle While You Work'". Sun Media's Kevin Williamson hailed the musical number as one of the film's "stand-outs", elaborating, " appy Working Song isa crowd-pleaser." The ''

Mountain Xpress The ''Mountain Xpress'' is an alternative newspaper covering news, arts, local politics, and events in Asheville and western North Carolina, USA. Published each Wednesday in print and online, it has a print circulation of about 29,000. The Mounta ...

'' Ken Hanke allotted particular praise to Adams', writing that when the actress is "singing her 'Happy Working Song' with her makeshift 'forest friends' ... she is the perfect cartoon heroine made flesh". Kerry Lengel of ''

The Arizona Republic ''The Arizona Republic'' is an American daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. Copies are sold at $2 daily or at $3 ...

''jokingly lauded "Happy Working Song" as "the funniest - and grossest - set piece in the film." Calling the sequence the "film's highlight",

Carrie Rickey Carrie Rickey (born November 26, 1952) is a feminist American art and film critic. Rickey is the film critic at ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' and often contributes to ''The New York Times'', ''San Francisco Chronicle'' and ''Village Voice''. Her e ...

of ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

''commented, "The song, like the movie, is cheerfully gross enough to get boys - and their fathers - into theater seats for a story every tween and her mother will love." Film critics who generally disliked ''Enchanted'' tended to have mostly positive things to report about "Happy Working Song".

Peter Bradshaw Peter Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire''. Early life and education Bradshaw was educated at Haberdasher ...

of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', who assigned the film a negative score of two out of five stars, in contrast gave "Happy Working Song" a positive review, describing it as "a funny opening song". Additionally, Bradshaw drew similarities between the musical number and scenes from ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ''and Disney's ''

Mary Poppins It may refer to: * ''Mary Poppins'' (book series), the original 1934–1988 children's fantasy novels that introduced the character. * Mary Poppins (character), the nanny with magical powers. * ''Mary Poppins'' (film), a 1964 Disney film sta ...

''(1964). One of the song's few negative reviews was written by Mary F. Pols of the ''

Contra Costa Times The ''East Bay Times'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Walnut Creek, California, United States, owned by the Bay Area News Group (BANG), a subsidiary of Media News Group, that serves Contra Costa and Alameda counties, in the East ...

'', who opined, "a cleaning crew of vermin and cockroaches is just real enough to be crass rather than funny". ''

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

''ranked "Happy Working Song" third on its list of the "10 Great Musical Numbers" of the decade, writing that although "''

Shrek ''Shrek'' is a 2001 American computer-animated comedy film loosely based on the 1990 book of the same name by William Steig. It is the first installment in the ''Shrek'' franchise. The film was directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jen ...

'' set the benchmark for Disney song parodies at Everest levels ... it's Amy Adams calling on New York's creatures of the forest to tidy up Patrick Dempsey's apartment that pulls it off to perfection."

Academy Award nomination and aftermath

"Happy Working Song" was nominated for the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for

Best Original Song This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

at the

in 2008 alongside ''Enchanted ''songs " That's How You Know" and " So Close", ultimately dominating the category. However, the song was generally not favored to win by the

media Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass e ...

in spite of the fact that it was vastly a critical success. According to a poll conducted by '' Billboard ''in anticipation of the ceremony, when the magazine asked 155 of its readers "Who gets your vote for best original song in a motion picture at the Academy Awards?"; only 5% of them voted in favor of "Happy Working Song" winning the award while 10% voted for "So Close" and 24% voted for "That's How You Know". In addition to this, 6% of readers voted for ''

August Rush ''August Rush'' is a 2007 musical drama film directed by Kirsten Sheridan and produced by Richard Barton Lewis. The screenplay is by Nick Castle and James V. Hart, with a story by Paul Castro and Castle. A co-production between the United State ...

''s " Raise It Up" and 22% voted for

Glen Hansard Glen Hansard (born 21 April 1970) is an Irish singer-songwriter, musician and actor. Since 1990, he has been the frontman of the Irish rock band The Frames, with whom he has released six studio albums, four of which have charted in the top te ...

and Marketa Irglova's "

" from '' Once ''(2007). Ultimately, "Happy Working Song" lost to "Falling Slowly". Menken believes that his compositions did not win the Best Original Song award because three of them had been nominated at once. Famously, '' Enchanted'' became the fourth out of only four films in the history of the Academy Awards to receive three separate Academy Award nominations in the Best Original Song category, having been preceded by Disney's own ''Beauty and the Beast ''and ''

The Lion King ''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 32nd Disney animated feature film and the fifth produced during the Disney Renaissance ...

''(1994) at the 64th and 67th Academy Awards in 1992 and 1995, respectively, and ''

Dreamgirls ''Dreamgirls'' is a Broadway musical, with music by Henry Krieger and lyrics and book by Tom Eyen. Based on the show business aspirations and successes of R&B acts such as The Supremes, The Shirelles, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, and others,G ...

''(2006) at the 79th Academy Awards in 2007. In anticipation of the

81st Academy Awards The 81st Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2008 and took place on February 22, 2009, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 ...

occurring the following year in 2009, the

ultimately decided to prohibit and prevent this rare feat from reoccurring at upcoming ceremonies by limiting the maximum number of Best Original Song nominations from any one film to a total of only two per film.

Live performance and Kristin Chenoweth controversy

Adams' first live performance of "Happy Working Song" was at the 80th Academy Awards ceremony in 2008. Performing at approximately 6:01 pm

local time Local time is the time observed in a specific locality. There is no canonical definition. Originally it was mean solar time, but since the introduction of time zones it is generally the time as determined by the time zone in effect, with daylight s ...

, Adams was reportedly very nervous during and after her performance, revealing to ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

'', "I don't know how I did that. It's the thing that was the most terrifying that I've ever done, and the thing I'm most proud of in my career." Subsequently, Adams told Vulture.com that she would likely perform at the Academy Awards again "As long as hewasn't doing it by erelf". Adams' live rendition of "Happy Working Song" was generally well-received by critics. George Lang of ''

The Oklahoman ''The Oklahoman'' is the largest daily newspaper in Oklahoma, United States, and is the only regional daily that covers the Greater Oklahoma City area. The Alliance for Audited Media (formerly Audit Bureau Circulation) lists it as the 59th large ...

''described it as a "perky" performance, additionally commenting, " dams isgreat ... and she should have already racked up her first Oscar for acting by now." ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

''s

Wesley Morris Wesley Morris (born 1975) is an American film critic and podcast host. He is currently critic-at-large for ''The New York Times'', as well as co-host, with Jenna Wortham, of the ''New York Times'' podcast '' Still Processing.'' Previously, Mor ...

wrote, "Watching Amy Adams sing ... makes you appreciated 'sic''the magic of the movies." However, the performance generated some mild controversy revolving around the fact that while Adams was selected to perform "Happy Working Song", Broadway actress and singer

Kristin Chenoweth Kristin Dawn Chenoweth (; born Kristi Dawn Chenoweth; July 24, 1968)Kristin Cheno ...

was hired to sing "That's How You Know" live at the ceremony. When questioned about this, Disney executives told the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

''that "it's best

dams A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

sing 'Happy Working Song' because it has so many parallels to Julie Andrews in ''Mary Poppins''". However, some critics and journalists have argued that the decision stemmed from Disney and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' belief that Adams, predominantly a film actress, would ultimately not be able to perform "That's How You Know" as adequately as the more experienced Chenoweth. Additionally, critics noted that while Chenoweth's Academy Award performance was staged and choreographed as a large, extravagant number featuring "dozens of colorfully costumed dancers", Adams performed by herself on a mostly barren stage highlighted by a "single spotlight". Vulture.com commented about the performance, "Adams didn't do terribly, but she's no Broadway star, and we felt kind of awful for her." During an interview, Adams told the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

''that she was not upset by the Academy's decision, instead feeling that "That's How You Know" was "perfect" for Chenoweth to perform.

References

External links

Official video
on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

{{authority control Songs about labor 2007 songs Songs from Enchanted (film) Songs with music by Alan Menken Songs written by Stephen Schwartz (composer) Song recordings produced by Alan Menken