Kiss The Girl
Encyclopedia
"Kiss the Girl" is a calypso
song from Disney's 1989 animated film The Little Mermaid
, composed by Alan Menken
with lyrics by Howard Ashman
. In the film, the song was performed by Samuel E. Wright
. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song simultaneously with another song from the film, "Under the Sea
", which eventually won the award.
At the point in the film where this song is sung, Ariel has already been turned into a human by Ursula, but can no longer speak. Unless Ariel can get her true love, Prince Eric, to kiss her before three days have passed, she will turn back into a mermaid and Ursula will own her. While Ariel and Eric sit in a rowboat in a lagoon, Sebastian, Flounder, and Scuttle try to get Eric to kiss Ariel so she will become human permanently. Sebastian suggests that Eric wants to kiss Ariel but he is too shy to do so, and that he should just go ahead and "kiss the girl" to see if she likes him too.
did a updated version of
the song in the album Simply Mad About the Mouse: A Musical Celebration of Imagination
.
recorded a version with The Chipettes
singing background vocals for the 1995 album When You Wish Upon a Chipmunk
. In this version, Simon sings the lead vocals to persuade a disgusted Alvin to kiss a girl named Vanessa.
recorded a version on the 1996 album The Best of Country Sing the Best of Disney
. This rendition peaked at number 52 on the Hot Country Songs
charts.
recorded a version of the song, which reached #9 on the UK Singles Chart
. This version was later included on the Japanese issue of his third studio album, Time
.
CD2
Cassette / 7" Vinyl
. The song was first heard on Radio Disney on September 4, 2006 and the music video premiered on September 6, 2006 on Disney Channel
, immediately following an episode of the sitcom The Suite Life of Zack & Cody. It was included on the re-release of the film's soundtrack
on October 3, 2006. It was later included on DisneyMania 5
on March 27, 2007.
included the song in one of their products. The music video is included as a bonus feature on the 2006 Platinum Edition release of the film.
at #16 (which is equivalent to #116). One week later, the song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100
at #81.
recorded a version of the song that was featured on DisneyMania 6
(track 4).
covered "Kiss the Girl" on his album In the Key of Disney, which was released on October 25, 2011.
released a parody of the song called Kiss the Girl...Continued. Both the video and the song are a spoof of the original scenario in the movie, where the couple on a rowboat (presumably versions of Ariel and Prince Eric) not only successfully kiss, but also begin to engage in sexual intercourse. In one of the scenes, after an "indecent proposal" by Eric, Ariel is annoyed and an awkward situation unfolds. Aside from the human characters, the video features a lagoon setting similar to the original with a vast repertoire of puppets resembling various creatures such as an obvious parody of Sebastian the crab.
Calypso music
Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
song from Disney's 1989 animated film The Little Mermaid
The Little Mermaid (1989 film)
The Little Mermaid is a 1989 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale of the same name. Distributed by Walt Disney Pictures, the film was originally released to theaters on November 14, 1989 and is the twenty-eighth film in...
, composed by Alan Menken
Alan Menken
Alan Menken is an American musical theatre and film composer and pianist.Menken is best known for his numerous scores for films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. His scores for The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and Pocahontas have each won him two Academy Awards...
with lyrics by Howard Ashman
Howard Ashman
Howard Elliott Ashman was an American playwright and lyricist. Ashman first studied at Boston University and Goddard College and then went on to achieve his master's degree from Indiana University in 1974...
. In the film, the song was performed by Samuel E. Wright
Samuel E. Wright
Samuel E. Wright is an American film and theater actor and singer who is best known as the voice of Sebastian in Disney's The Little Mermaid, for which he provided the main vocals to "Under the Sea", which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. He also voiced Kron in Disney's CGI film...
. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song simultaneously with another song from the film, "Under the Sea
Under the Sea
-Parodies:In 1991, this song was parodied by musician Tom Smith with his song, "On The PC". This song was re-written in 1999 as "PC99".The song was parodied on the TV show Kappa Mikey where Mikey tries to convince a squid to live on land with him....
", which eventually won the award.
At the point in the film where this song is sung, Ariel has already been turned into a human by Ursula, but can no longer speak. Unless Ariel can get her true love, Prince Eric, to kiss her before three days have passed, she will turn back into a mermaid and Ursula will own her. While Ariel and Eric sit in a rowboat in a lagoon, Sebastian, Flounder, and Scuttle try to get Eric to kiss Ariel so she will become human permanently. Sebastian suggests that Eric wants to kiss Ariel but he is too shy to do so, and that he should just go ahead and "kiss the girl" to see if she likes him too.
Simply Mad About the Mouse
In 1991, The rhythm and blues groups called Soul II SoulSoul II Soul
Soul II Soul are a British group that was created in London in 1988. They are best known for their 1989 UK chart-topper and U.S. Top 5 hit, "Back to Life ".-Career:...
did a updated version of
the song in the album Simply Mad About the Mouse: A Musical Celebration of Imagination
Simply Mad About the Mouse: A Musical Celebration of Imagination
Simply Mad About the Mouse: A Musical Celebration of Imagination is an 1991 direct-to-video release featuring top contemporary singers performing "classic Disney songs". Released 27 September 1991, the 35-minute-long series of music videos was released on VHS, LaserDisc, and 8mm video...
.
The Chipmunks and The Chipettes
The ChipmunksThe Chipmunks
Alvin and the Chipmunks is an American animated music group created by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. in 1958. The group consists of three singing animated anthropomorphic chipmunks: Alvin, the mischievous troublemaker, who quickly became the star of the group; Simon, the tall, bespectacled intellectual;...
recorded a version with The Chipettes
The Chipettes
The Chipettes are a fictional group of anthropomorphic chipmunk singers first appearing on the cartoon series Alvin and the Chipmunks in 1983. In this and related materials, the Chipettes served as female featured characters in their own right, starring in numerous episodes...
singing background vocals for the 1995 album When You Wish Upon a Chipmunk
When You Wish Upon A Chipmunk
When You Wish Upon a Chipmunk is a 1995 music album by Alvin and the Chipmunks, released by Sony Wonder, and contains 10 tracks.The album features the Chipmunks singing songs from Disney's full-length animated feature films. The Walt Disney Company neither sponsored nor endorsed the album...
. In this version, Simon sings the lead vocals to persuade a disgusted Alvin to kiss a girl named Vanessa.
Little Texas
Country music band Little TexasLittle Texas
Little Texas is an American country music band founded in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1988 by Tim Rushlow , Brady Seals , Del Gray , Porter Howell , Dwayne O'Brien , and Duane Propes . Signed to Warner Bros...
recorded a version on the 1996 album The Best of Country Sing the Best of Disney
The Best of Country Sing the Best of Disney
-Chart performance:...
. This rendition peaked at number 52 on the Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
charts.
Peter André
When The Little Mermaid was re-released in cinemas, Peter AndréPeter André
Peter James Andrea , better known by the stage name as Peter Andre, is an English-born Australian musician, singer-songwriter, television personality and businessman. As a recording artist, he has achieving four top 10 UK albums and ten top 10 singles.-Early life:Andre was born at Northwick Park...
recorded a version of the song, which reached #9 on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. This version was later included on the Japanese issue of his third studio album, Time
Time (Peter Andre album)
Time is the third album released by Australian singer-songwriter Peter Andre.-Background:Following the success of his previous album, Mushroom Records offered Andre an extended record deal, allowing him to record another album on the label...
.
Music Video
The video shows Andre performing the song in a recording studio. Scenes from the film are intercut with the video or shown on a backdrop behind Andre and the backing singers. There are slight references to water and the undersea world in the video. As Andre performs a beautiful girl comes in carrying water. Andre sees her and is immediately taken with her. He helps her clean up the water as she spills it and follows her into the next room where they gaze at each other through a fishtank. Andre tries to kiss the girl but she backs away. He follows her again as she goes outside and they share a kiss.Tracklisting
CD1- "Kiss The Girl" - 2:52
- "Mysterious Girl (1998)" (Feat. ShaggyShaggyShaggy may refer to:*Shaggy Rogers, a fictional character from the Scooby-Doo series*Shaggy , Jamaican American reggae rapper & singer*Shaggy , radio personality and producer of 2 Live Stews...
) - 4:14 - "Just For You" - 5:02
CD2
- "Kiss The Girl" - 2:52
- "Kiss The Girl" (Original Disney Version) - 2:49
- "Best Of Me" - 4:03
Cassette / 7" Vinyl
- "Kiss The Girl" - 2:52
- "Mysterious Girl (1998)" (Feat. ShaggyShaggyShaggy may refer to:*Shaggy Rogers, a fictional character from the Scooby-Doo series*Shaggy , Jamaican American reggae rapper & singer*Shaggy , radio personality and producer of 2 Live Stews...
) - 4:14
Ashley Tisdale
In 2006, when The Little Mermaid was re-released on DVD as a 2-Disc Platinum Edition, another rendition of the song was recorded by Ashley TisdaleAshley Tisdale
Ashley Michelle Tisdale is an American actress and singer who rose to prominence portraying the candy-counter girl Maddie Fitzpatrick in Disney Channel's The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and the female antagonist Sharpay Evans in the High School Musical film series...
. The song was first heard on Radio Disney on September 4, 2006 and the music video premiered on September 6, 2006 on Disney Channel
Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. It is under the direction of Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney. The channel's headquarters is located on West Alameda Ave. in...
, immediately following an episode of the sitcom The Suite Life of Zack & Cody. It was included on the re-release of the film's soundtrack
The Little Mermaid (soundtrack)
- Unreleased Songs/Score :Several pieces of music from the movie remain unreleased in any format from Disney. The most important and most puzzling is a short reprise of Ursula's song Poor Unfortunate Souls which appears in the movie right before Eric and Vanessa's wedding. This song has been...
on October 3, 2006. It was later included on DisneyMania 5
DisneyMania 5
Disneymania 5 is the 5th installment in the Disneymania series. Its was released on March 27, 2007. The album features 4 of the stars from High School Musical: Vanessa Hudgens, Lucas Grabeel, Ashley Tisdale, Corbin Bleu and from High School Musical: The Concert, Drew Seeley among others. The album...
on March 27, 2007.
Music video
The song's music video consists of a girl at a school dance. As she hangs out with her friends, she notices a boy repeatedly glancing at her. The boy's friend encourages him to talk to Tisdale, but every time he gets close, she goes somewhere else. The video ends with Tisdale asking him to dance, and then at the end she kisses him on the cheek. Tooth TunesTooth Tunes
Tooth Tunes is a children's toothbrush released by the Tiger Electronics division of Hasbro in 2007. A single toothbrush has a manufacturer's suggested price of USD$9.99. Each brush plays a two-minute song clip from a particular artist to encourage a child to brush their teeth for the...
included the song in one of their products. The music video is included as a bonus feature on the 2006 Platinum Edition release of the film.
Charts
In the first week of April 2007, Tisdale's version of "Kiss the Girl" managed to debut on the Billboard's Bubbling Under Hot 100 SinglesBubbling Under Hot 100 Singles
The Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It lists the top 25 singles below number 100 that have not yet charted on the Billboard Hot 100. Sometimes, however, singles halt their progress on this chart, and never appear on the Hot 100...
at #16 (which is equivalent to #116). One week later, the song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
at #81.
| Chart (2007) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... Hot 100 |
81 |
| U.S. Billboard Pop 100 Pop 100 The Pop 100 was a songs chart that debuted in February 2005 and was released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States until its discontinuation in 2009... |
74 |
| U.S. Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... Hot Digital Songs Hot Digital Songs The Hot Digital Songs chart ranks the best-selling digital singles in the United States, according to Billboard.Beginning in February 2005, digital sales have been incorporated into many of Billboards music single charts. It was decided to do so mainly because of the dramatic rise in popularity of... |
68 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
86 |
Colbie Caillat
Colbie CaillatColbie Caillat
Colbie Marie Caillat is an American pop singer-songwriter and guitarist from Malibu, California. She debuted in 2007 with Coco, which included hit singles "Bubbly", "Realize", and "The Little Things". In 2008, she recorded a duet with Jason Mraz, "Lucky", which won a Grammy. Caillat released her...
recorded a version of the song that was featured on DisneyMania 6
DisneyMania 6
Disneymania 6 is the sixth installment in the Disneymania series. It features contemporary performers' takes on classic Disney songs. It was released on May 20, 2008.-Track listing:...
(track 4).
Logan Kendell
In 2010 Logan Kendell released a cover of the song on his album "One Man Band of Gypsies".Brian Wilson
Brian WilsonBrian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...
covered "Kiss the Girl" on his album In the Key of Disney, which was released on October 25, 2011.
DisneyMania
- No SecretsNo Secrets (girl group)No Secrets was an American girl group with five members: Angel Faith, Carly Lewis, Erin Tanner, Jessica Fried and Jade Ryusaki. The group debuted in the United States in 2002 with their single "Kids in America".-Debut album:...
' version of this song was featured on the original DisneyManiaDisneyManiaDisneymania is the first of a series of albums released by Walt Disney Records featuring various musical artists performing Disney songs. The original album, released on September 17, 2002, featured contemporary Disney classics...
, released on September 17, 2002. - Vitamin CVitamin C (artist)Colleen Ann Fitzpatrick is an American pop music singer, songwriter, dancer, and actress better known by her stage name, Vitamin C. Her singles include "Graduation ", "As Long As You're Loving Me", "The Itch", and her most successful hit the Top 20 Gold certified "Smile"...
's version was featured on DisneyMania 3DisneyMania 3-Track listing:# Raven-Symoné - "Under the Sea" - 3:15# Jump5 - "Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride" - 3:04# Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson - "A Whole New World" - 4:11...
, released February 15, 2005. - Ashley Tisdale'sAshley TisdaleAshley Michelle Tisdale is an American actress and singer who rose to prominence portraying the candy-counter girl Maddie Fitzpatrick in Disney Channel's The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and the female antagonist Sharpay Evans in the High School Musical film series...
version was included on DisneyMania 5DisneyMania 5Disneymania 5 is the 5th installment in the Disneymania series. Its was released on March 27, 2007. The album features 4 of the stars from High School Musical: Vanessa Hudgens, Lucas Grabeel, Ashley Tisdale, Corbin Bleu and from High School Musical: The Concert, Drew Seeley among others. The album...
, released on March 27, 2007. - Colbie CaillatColbie CaillatColbie Marie Caillat is an American pop singer-songwriter and guitarist from Malibu, California. She debuted in 2007 with Coco, which included hit singles "Bubbly", "Realize", and "The Little Things". In 2008, she recorded a duet with Jason Mraz, "Lucky", which won a Grammy. Caillat released her...
covered this song for DisneyMania 6DisneyMania 6Disneymania 6 is the sixth installment in the Disneymania series. It features contemporary performers' takes on classic Disney songs. It was released on May 20, 2008.-Track listing:...
.
Kiss the Girl...Continued
The comedy website CollegeHumorCollegeHumor
CollegeHumor is a comedy website owned by InterActiveCorp and based in New York City. The site features daily original comedy videos and articles created by its in-house writing and production team, in addition to user-submitted videos, pictures, articles and links. In early 2009, CollegeHumor's...
released a parody of the song called Kiss the Girl...Continued. Both the video and the song are a spoof of the original scenario in the movie, where the couple on a rowboat (presumably versions of Ariel and Prince Eric) not only successfully kiss, but also begin to engage in sexual intercourse. In one of the scenes, after an "indecent proposal" by Eric, Ariel is annoyed and an awkward situation unfolds. Aside from the human characters, the video features a lagoon setting similar to the original with a vast repertoire of puppets resembling various creatures such as an obvious parody of Sebastian the crab.