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Hello! I was just curious what everyone's favourite Disney songs are. I really like the melody of When You Wish Upon a Star from Pinocchio. For lyrics I like Colors of the Wind from Pocahontas, and Circle of Life from The Lion King. I like All In The Golden Afternoon from Alice In Wonderland because it is just a happy song. And then I like A Whole New World and You've Got A Friend In Me. Oh, I just found out that Nightmare Before Christmas was made with Disney so I'll say What's This? too. Ahhhhhh, there's so many! I like these songs because they are optimistic and full of wonder. I couldn't think of a better diet for a child's heart and imagination. But I want to know what Disney songs I might have missed that are really good, because there are so many. So let me know your favorites and why! Thanks

A lot of the answer to you question will depend on what kind of surface style you intend to write in. I don't think you can really seperate deep-level structure from what happens 'on top' of the music. Some composers deliberately choose a style in which the sections, be that a melody, a chord, a texture, are very clear (Poulenc, mid-baroque, some minimalists, film scores) whereas at the opposite extreme some write their music as what seems like an endless transition from start to finish (Wagner, Sibelius, contemporary spectralist and other schools of minimalism). So the terms of what constitutes 'logical' structure and development will depend on what your long-range goal of the piece is. As you seem to be just starting out learning to compose, I would guess that you're probably experimenting more with the former style, which is fine. You might want to plan out different sections for a piece based on forms you've already encountered (things like minuet and trio movements or variations) and then come up with related ideas for the surface material, which you can then work out what goes where. You could alternatively take a single idea or process and follow it through. Some good examples of this appear in contemporary music, such as Arvo Pärt's Cantus in Memorium Benjamin Britten, which uses just a descending scale played at different speeds in the string orchestra. Or the minimalist works by Steve Reich and others where two versions of the same thing are played with one slightly faster than the other and the piece ends when they coincide again. A simple canon is another example of this.

I would have to say The Happy Working Song from Enchanted. Also, I've Got a Dream from Tangled. I also love all the music from the classics like The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. (Note...all of these movies were done by the same composer. Alan Meiken)

I disagree. An "artificial roadmap" is absolutely vital to understanding. With the aid of a standard model, we are able to assess and gain an understanding of the benefits and drawbacks of sticking to or deviating from the model. What you are advocating is just shooting in the dark. You can look at as many scores of classical sonatas as you like and you'll probably eventually notice a pattern that resembles sonata form, or you can read about sonata form which will allow you to look at scores with an improved understanding. More fool you if you won't take advantage of 200 years worth of academic leg work that has already been done for you but the rest of us are just going to read the book. Also, music isn't language; the analogies don't work.

If you can not act like a mature adult here, then this is not the place for you. :)