For the past two decades animation has dominated the Academy Awards’ Best Song category, racking up eight wins out of 26 nominations since 1989. At the height of the feature “toon boom,” a song score by an A-list songwriter was considered as vital an element for the creation of an animated feature as having a villain. But these days, original songs are in short supply. Filmmakers instead tend to rely on familiar songs to underscore or comment on the action.

Richard M. Sherman & his brother Robert

This phenomenon is not endemic to animation. “I’m surprised when I come across a movie soundtrack album that’s actually music composed for the film and not a greatest hits collection,” says animation and music scholar Will Friedwald.

“There has been a big push to do a lot of licensing of songs,” concurs Bruce Broughton, chair of the Academy’s music branch, and a past Oscar nominee (Silverado) and multiple Emmy winner. “That’s an annoyance to the songwriters and composers, but what the film companies get out of it is what they hope is the benefit of a sure thing, because the songs are often well-known. The down side is that perhaps they are well known for associations other than those in the film.”

For two-time Oscar-winning songwriter and composer Richard M. Sherman, who with his brother Robert has been nominated for a total of nine Academy Awards, there is a definite creative line between a song that comes from the POV of the character on screen, and one that merely comments on the action. “Maybe [the filmmakers] intend not to have the character in the story being the one who’s doing the number, but have some outside personality telling you what the person is thinking,” Sherman says, “but to me, that’s doing it backwards.”

Ponyo

So, how does the song situation in 2009 stack up? There are some high-profile songs coming out of this year’s slate of toon features, but in number they cannot compare to the animated films of the 1990s. For its part, Sony Pictures is so proud of Miranda Cosgrove’s (today’s Annette Funicello) recording of Mark Mothersbaugh’s “Raining Sunshine,” from Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, that it has hyped the song in ads for the film. Hayao Miyazaki’s Ponyo also has a notable theme song, albeit one that inspired a teapot controversy. In the original Japanese version, the song is winsome and sitcomish, and sung by a child and an adult. Disney’s American translation features a driving, techno-rap cover by Noah Cyrus and Frankie Jonas that has some Japanimaniacs up in arms.

The Fantastic Mr. Fox

Former Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker contributed a tune called “Petey’s Song” to The Fantastic Mr. Fox, from 20th Century (wait for it...) Fox, and he also voices Petey, but the bulk of the soundtrack is filled by the likes of The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys and Burl Ives. For Focus Features’ Coraline, the pop rock band They Might Be Giants might have been giant contributors to the film as well, had not all but one of the songs they wrote been cut from the release version. Only a sprightly piano-backed ditty called “The Other Father Song” remains within the orchestral score by Bruno Coulais.

Disney/Pixar’s Up, which is expected to do very well in some of the big Oscar categories this year, showcases a remarkable score by Michael Giacchinio but doesn’t offer any original songs. And for Chipmunk fans (you know who you are) Fox’s Alvin and the Chipmunks: the Squeakuel features not only Ross Bagdasarian standards, but has the singing Chipettes covering Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies (Put A Ring on It).” The fact that it’s not eligible, having come in pre-existing form, means Kanye West can skip attending the Oscars this year.

Ice Age Dawn of the Dinosaurs, also from Fox, appears to be out of the running in terms of Best Song, since those that break through John Powell’s score are a couple of chestnuts that escaped even Skrat’s attention: Lou Rawls’ “You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine” and a tweaked version of Gilbert O’Sullivan’s “Alone Again (Naturally).” DreamWorks’ Monsters vs. Aliens similarly relies on oldies such as “Wooly Bully” and “Purple People Eater,” as does New Line’s Planet 51, which puts its nickel in the jukebox and presses “Mr. Sandman,” “Be Bop a Lula” and “Unchained Melody.” Fox’s Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel features not only Ross Bagdasarian standards, but has the singing Chipettes covering Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies (Put A Ring on It).” The fact that it’s not eligible, having come in pre-existing form, means Kanye West can skip attending the Oscars this year.

Broughton

Broughton admits that the music branch has parried a lot of complaints over past rules and selections, as do most such competitions, but there is method to the apple-and-orange salad. One key criterion for judging songs is how well the song advances the story and reflects the characters, something to which Dick Sherman can attest. “Walt Disney used to say, ‘Personality, personality, get to that personality,’ and that’s what we learned to do,” he says. “You’d go into the colloquialism of that person, whether that person was an animated snake or whatever. You had to have the song in there or you couldn’t tell the story.”

The Princess and the Frog

Therefore, anyone handicapping the Best Song race has to hold the door open for Disney’s The Princess and the Frog, which among animated films this year single-handedly holds up tradition on all fronts, including music. Oscar-winner Randy Newman has written seven original songs, though because of another rule change this year that restricts eligibility to two songs from the same film, only two could see a nomination. Even so, Princess appears to be the only major Hollywood release out there that potentially qualifies for the rarely-presented Best Original Musical award, the last recipient of which was 1996’s Pocahontas.

Newman

Ironically, changes in this year's Academy rules governing the music categories have actually brought them closer in line with the animation categories on a procedural basis. The award for Best Animated Feature is given only if its committee feels there are enough worthy films, and Broughton says the song committee now has the same option. “Unless a song comes up to 8.5 [out of a possible 10 rating], it will not be considered,” he explains. “This year, if no song reaches up to an 8.5, there will be no song category at all, but it would frankly surprise me if we got to that.”

Randy Newman and Mark Mothersbaugh would likely be surprised as well.

Michael Mallory is an award-winning journalist and author whose recent books include Universal Studio Monsters, Iwao Takamoto: My Life with a Thousand Characters and Marvel: The Expanding Universe Wall Chart.