Question

after watching soem animated movies this week i was lioke 'woah, it just hit me that the only studio that makes animated movies where the characters burst out in song and its NORMAL is Disney. in any other movie bursting out in song would be used for comedic effect.'

Answer 1

That’s a keen observation — and mostly sensible. A few points that explain why Disney feels like the “default” studio where characters bursting into song is normal:

Why Disney feels like the musical home
- Historical roots: Disney’s feature-animation tradition began when animated films were often musicals (Snow White, 1937). That set expectations early and the studio kept developing that format.
- Storytelling tool: Disney integrates songs to advance plot and show character emotion quickly — they treat songs as part of the narrative language, not just an aside.
- Family-friendly convention: In kids’ animation, stylization is accepted, so switching to a musical mode feels natural to audiences of all ages.
- Institutional experience and resources: Disney hires Broadway-style composers/lyricists and has a business model that supports soundtracks, theme-park crossovers, Broadway adaptations, etc., so musicals are a natural fit.

Why other studios often use songs for comedy or differently
- Realism vs stylization: In live-action or more grounded stories, breaking into song is jarring unless the film positions itself as a musical. Other studios often use singing for satire, parody, or diegetic moments (a character performing onstage) to avoid that jolt.
- Different traditions and risks: Many studios don’t have the same musical-theater pipelines or brand expectation, so a full musical is riskier. When they do use songs, it’s often for humor or to highlight a scene.
- Examples of non-Disney serious animated musicals: DreamWorks’ The Prince of Egypt (1998) and 20th Century Fox’s Anastasia (1997) are full, earnest musicals. Pixar’s Coco (2017) uses music centrally (mostly diegetic and culturally rooted). Illumination’s Sing (2016) is built around singing performances. Studio Ghibli tends to use songs sparingly or diegetically rather than full musical numbers.

Also, diegetic vs non-diegetic matters: Disney often uses non-diegetic numbers (characters suddenly sing as part of storytelling), whereas other studios may prefer diegetic singing (characters singing because they’re actually performing in the story) or comedic subversion.

So your gut reaction is right in spirit: Disney normalized that kind of musical storytelling in animation, which shapes our expectation that a character casually bursting into song is “normal” there — elsewhere it’s more often a deliberate joke, parody, or a diegetic performance. If you want, I can list more examples of non-Disney animated musicals or explain diegetic vs non-diegetic musical choices with clips you might know.