Can You Feel the Love Tonight

Single infobox
Name = Can You Feel the Love Tonight


Artist = Elton John
from Album = The Lion King
Released = 1994
Genre = Pop
Classical
Length = 3:59
Writer = Elton John (music)
Tim Rice (lyrics)
Label = Walt Disney Records Hollywood Records
Certification =
Chart position = * #4 (U.S. Pop)
* #14 (U.K)
Last single = "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing"
(1994)
This single = "Can You Feel the Love Tonight"
(1994)
Next single = "Circle of Life"
(1994)Extra tracklisting
Album = The Lion King (soundtrack)
Type = soundtrack
prev_track = "I Just Can't Wait to Be King"
prev_no = 11
this_track = "Can You Feel the Love Tonight"
track_no = 12
next_track =
next_no =

"Can You Feel the Love Tonight" is an Academy Award-winning song from Disney's 1994 animated film "The Lion King", composed by Elton John with lyrics by Tim Rice. It was described by Don Hahn (the film's producer), Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff (the film's directors) as having "the most diverse history" in the film.cite video|title=The Lion King: Platinum Edition, Disc 1, Director's Commentary|publisher=Disney|location=Los Angeles, California|people=Roger Allers (director), Rob Minkoff (director)|medium=DVD|date2=2003-10-07] While only a minor hit in the UK, peaking at #14 on the UK Singles Chart, the song reached a peak of #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US.

The song was performed in the film by Kristle Edwards, Joseph Williams, Sally Dworsky, Nathan Lane, and Ernie Sabella, while the end title version was performed by Elton John. It won the 1994 Academy Award for Best Original Song and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. It also earned Elton John the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

In 2003, a remixed version of the song was included in the Special Edition soundtrack of "The Lion King", again sung by Elton John.

In the midquel "The Lion King 1½", the romantic scene where the song was originally featured also had the song playing, but with a difference: interspersed with the romantic scenes were short comedic shots of Timon and Pumbaa trying to disrupt Simba and Nala's night out.

Early production

The song was once planned to be sung only by Timon and Pumbaa, but Elton John disliked the comical nature of the concept, as he had wanted to make a wholly romantic Disney song. It is possible that this version of the song was the one used for "The Lion King 1½".Later, the song was planned to be sung this time only by Simba and Nala but in the end the idea was scrapped again and the final result was the song mainly sung by an off-screen voice (Kristle Edwards) with short lines from Simba (Joseph Williams) and Nala (Sally Dworsky), and the beginning and end parts by Timon (Nathan Lane) and Pumbaa (Ernie Sabella).

Covers

* In 1995 a techno dance version of the song was released by Russian techno group Harajuku. They also released a techno dance version of "Colors of the Wind" the same year.
* In 2002 the song was covered by the British pop group S Club for the first "DisneyMania".
* In 2004 the song was covered by a American Idol contestant William Hung on his debut album. [citeweb|url=http://www.williamhung.net/clips.cfm|title=William Hung|publisher=Demand Entertainment|accessdate=2008-05-05]
*In 2005 a version of this song was performed by Bill Thompson using the music from Elton John's version.
* In 2006 the song was covered by Sara Paxton for "DisneyMania 4".
* In 2006 Czech singer Zbyněk Drda sang the version of Elton John in Czech Idol and up to this date he is identified with it. After his victory it became a part of his concert repertoire.
* In 2008 the song was covered by American Idol finalist Elliott Yamin for DisneyMania 6. [citeweb|url=http://www.amazon.com/Disneymania-Vol-6-Various-Artists/dp/B0015HZAPC/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1207241940&sr=1-5|title=Amazon.com: Disneymania, Vol. 6: Various Artists: Music|publisher=Amazon.com|accessdate=2008-05-05]
* In 2008 the song was covered by Choo Choo Soul from the Playhouse Disney for the album, Disney Music Block Party.
* In 2008 the song was covered and released as a single by Pop / Americana artist Billy Jon Coogan [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001DSWBAU [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001DSWBAU] ] .
* In 2008 the song was covered by Phil Stacey for "Country Sings Disney".

References