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"Happy Working Song" is a song written by composer
Alan Menken Alan Irwin Menken (born July 22, 1949) is an American composer and conductor. Over his career he has received List of awards and nominations received by Alan Menken, numerous accolades including winning eight Academy Awards, a Tony Awards, Tony ...
and lyricist
Stephen Schwartz Stephen Lawrence Schwartz (born March 6, 1948) is an American musical theatre composer and lyricist. In a career spanning over five decades, Schwartz has written hit musicals such as ''Godspell'' (1971), ''Pippin (musical), Pippin'' (1972), and ...
for
Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Pictures is an American film Film production company, production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios (division), the Walt Disney Studios, a division of Disney Entertainment, which is owned by the Walt Disney Company. The st ...
'
musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serv ...
'' 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 List of awards and nom ...
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" from ''
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs "Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...
'' (1937). Produced by Menken, Schwartz and Danny Troob, the song appears on the film's soundtrack, '' Enchanted (Soundtrack from the Motion Picture).'' "Happy Working Song" takes place in Robert's untidy apartment in
Manhattan, New York Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
, 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 ''
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs "Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...
''and ''
Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...
''(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" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...
''(1991). Musically, "Happy Working Song" shares similarities with the songs " Heigh-Ho" from ''
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs "Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...
'', " The Work Song" from ''
Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...
'' and " Something There" from ''
Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...
''. 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 The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the Film industry, motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the ''songwriters'' who h ...
at the 80th Academy Awards 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" 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 in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...
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 Alan Irwin Menken (born July 22, 1949) is an American composer and conductor. Over his career he has received List of awards and nominations received by Alan Menken, numerous accolades including winning eight Academy Awards, a Tony Awards, Tony ...
, became actively creatively involved with '' Enchanted'' in 2006, subsequently inviting his longtime collaborator, lyricist
Stephen Schwartz Stephen Lawrence Schwartz (born March 6, 1948) is an American musical theatre composer and lyricist. In a career spanning over five decades, Schwartz has written hit musicals such as ''Godspell'' (1971), ''Pippin (musical), Pippin'' (1972), and ...
, with whom Menken had previously worked on Disney's ''
Pocahontas Pocahontas (, ; born Amonute, also known as Matoaka and Rebecca Rolfe; 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. S ...
'' (1995) and '' The Hunchback of Notre Dame ''(1996), to co-write the songs and musical numbers 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 (name), Walter, and occasionally a surname. Notable people with the name include: People Given name * Walt Anderson (American football) (born 1952), American football official * Walt ...
and to have that place to start." When it came to writing "Happy Working Song", Menken and Schwartz were directly influenced by the song " Whistle While You Work" from Disney's first full-length animated feature film ''
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs "Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...
''(1937), with Schwartz describing "Happy Working Song" as a " spoof" 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" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...
'' and ' Whistle While You Work' 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 ''
Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...
'' (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 and destroy crops, livestock, and property. Since the term is defined in relation to human activities, which species are included vary by regi ...
." Conceptually, Menken explained that "As the characters become sort of
three dimensional In geometry, a three-dimensional space (3D space, 3-space or, rarely, tri-dimensional space) is a mathematical space in which three values ('' coordinates'') are required to determine the position of a point. Most commonly, it is the three- ...
, songs become more contemporary." Ultimately, Menken believes that, melodically, "Happy Working Song" is very much similar to the songs " Belle" and " Something There" from ''
Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...
''. Additionally, orchestrator and arranger Danny Troob revealed the
bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...
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, "''
Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...
'' was, for its time, very forward-looking, and 'Happy Working Song' is deliberately retro." 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''">sic.html" ;"title="'sic">'sic''textures." 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 List of awards and nom ...
, 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, moveme ...
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 Dame Julie Andrews (born Julia Elizabeth Wells; 1 October 1935) is an English actress, singer, and author. She has garnered numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over eight decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Fi ...
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 Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...
before eventually replacing this with a more Broadway musical-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 (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
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 ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
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 (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air (music), air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrument (music), instrumental or orchestral accompan ...
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 ''
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs "Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...
''(1937) and ''
Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...
'' (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 (state), Washington, United States. Th ...
'','' ''"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 "
vermin Vermin (colloquially varmint(s) or varmit(s)) are pests or nuisance animals that spread diseases and destroy crops, livestock, and property. Since the term is defined in relation to human activities, which species are included vary by regi ...
" 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, 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, in the United States. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company. The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by pare ...
''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 of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''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, History of psychology#Emergence of German experimental psychology, historical psychology, philosophy and literary analysis. An archetype can be any of the following: # a stat ...
Disney" and " classical-sounding" musical numbers, the
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, moveme ...
-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 lyrics", according to Filmtracks.com, 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 A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...
, 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 American nonprofit 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 " Heigh-Ho" from ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'', in addition to " Whistle While You Work" from ''
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs "Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...
'' and "The Work Song" from ''
Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...
''. Additionally, the song is reminiscent of " Belle" and " Something There" from ''
Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...
'', specifically when it comes to its
bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...
and "
staccato Staccato (; Italian for "detached") is a form of Articulation (music), musical articulation. In modern notation, it signifies a note of shortened duration, separated from the note that may follow by silence. It has been described by theorists and ...
quality". Written in the key of
D major D major is a major scale based on D (musical note), D, consisting of the pitches D, E (musical note), E, F♯ (musical note), F, G (musical note), G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, and C♯ (musical note), C. Its key signature has two S ...
in alla breve cut common time, "Happy Working Song" is structured around a "lilting", Broadway musical-inspired melody. According to the song's official
sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chords of a song or instrumental musical piece. Like its analogs – printed Book, books or Pamphlet, pamphlets ...
, published at Musicnotes.com by Walt Disney Music Publishing, "Happy Working Song" follows an upbeat, "perky and live"
tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...
of 88
beats per minute Beat, beats, or beating may refer to: Common uses * Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact * Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact * Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of in ...
. In portrayal of Giselle, Adams performs the song using an "earnest", "tart ... soprano voice". Her high
soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...
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 stud ...
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. Filmtracks.com 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 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 American nonprofit 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''">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." ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' Manohla Dargis called "Happy Working Song" "brilliantly
surrealistic Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...
".
Lisa Schwarzbaum Lisa Schwarzbaum (born July 5, 1952) is an American film critic. She joined ''Entertainment Weekly'' as a senior writer in 1991, working as a film critic for the magazine alongside Owen Gleiberman from 1995 to 2013. Early life Lisa Schwarzbaum w ...
of ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
''described "Happy Working Song" as a "hilarious ... production number" that successfully "encapsulates the joys of ''Enchanted''". ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
''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. Morge ...
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 ''called "Happy Working Song" "a hilarious variation on 'Whistle While You Work'".
Sun Media Sun Media Corporation was the owner of several tabloid and broadsheet newspapers in Canada and the 49% owner of the now defunct Sun News Network. It was a subsidiary of Quebecor Media. On October 6, 2014, Quebecor Media announced the sale of ...
'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'' 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. History Early years The newspap ...
''jokingly lauded "Happy Working Song" as "the funniest - and grossest - set piece in the film." Calling the sequence the "film's highlight", Carrie Rickey of ''
The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...
''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 of ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', 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 Mary Poppins may refer to: * Mary Poppins (character), a nanny with magical powers * Mary Poppins (franchise), based on the fictional nanny ** Mary Poppins (book series), ''Mary Poppins'' (book series), the original 1934–1988 children's fanta ...
''(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, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...
''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 animated fantasy comedy film directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, and written by Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Joe Stillman, and Roger S. H. Schulman, loosely based on the 1990 children's picture boo ...
'' 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, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
for Best Original Song at the 80th Academy Awards 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 * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...
in spite of the fact that it was vastly a critical success. According to a poll conducted by ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
''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 Drama (film and television), musical drama directed by Kirsten Sheridan & produced by Richard Barton Lewis. The screenplay is by Nick Castle and James V. Hart, with a story by Paul Castro and Castle. It involves an 11-ye ...
''s " Raise It Up" and 22% voted for
Glen Hansard Glen James Hansard (born 21 April 1970) is an Irish singer-songwriter and musician. 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 ten o ...
and Marketa Irglova's " Falling Slowly" 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 coming-of-age drama film directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff, produced by Don Hahn, and written by Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, and Linda Woolverton. Produced by Walt Disney ...
''(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. It is based on the show business aspirations and successes of R&B acts such as The Shirelles, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, and others, and p ...
''(2006) at the
79th Academy Awards The 79th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2006 and took place February 25, 2007, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m ...
in 2007. In anticipation of the 81st Academy Awards occurring the following year in 2009, 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 in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...
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, Adams was reportedly very nervous during and after her performance, revealing to ''
The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...
'', "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 Oklahoma City metropolitan area, Greater Oklahoma City area. The Alliance for Audited Media (formerly Audit Bureau Circul ...
''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,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...
''s Wesley Morris 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 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'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
''that "it's best damssing '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 an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...
''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
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{{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