Video Spotlight: ACA Top 10 Disney Hero Songs by VoicePlay featuring J. None

Layne with his beatbox and soaring high Earl notes

Slick runs by Eli with Geoff's super low tones

Counting down music we all like to sing

ACA Top 10's are my favorite things

Broadway with Tony, Chris Rupp singing country

Video games, rapping and summer pop medleys

Now Disney with J. None makes me shout yippee

ACA Top 10's are my favorite things

That's right. The men of VoicePlay are back with a brand new ACA Top 10! It's been over a year since the last one and I'll admit that I was getting a little concerned since it's been so long. I love everything they do, but their ACA Top 10's really are my favorite. I'm going to bet that I'm not alone in feeling that way. But if there's one thing I should have drilled in my head after this year, it's that the men of VoicePlay always come through for their fans. Not only do we get the pleasure of an ACA Top 10, we got what has probably been their most requested kind of ACA Top 10. What is that you ask? Well, if you read the title you already know.

It's Disney, y'all. And may all the people rejoice! Unless I'm mistaken, this is their 7th ACA Top 10 and I'd put this one in my top three. Easily. I mean, if there's anything I love almost as much as I love the ACA Top 10's, it's whenever VoicePlay sings Disney. So combine those two things and I'm very, very happy. It really was only a matter of time before they did one of these, I think.

Of course, the tricky thing about people requesting a Disney ACA Top 10 is that there's a bunch of different ways they could've taken it. You have hero songs, princess songs, villain songs and sidekick songs. You know what I think would make for a really fun Disney ACA Top 10? Classic Disney TV cartoon show theme songs. Granted, it would need a shorter title. Thinking more of the shows that I grew up watching just because those are the ones I know: Duck Tales, TaleSpin, Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers, Gummi Bears, and Darkwing Duck to name some examples. Then there was the Winnie the Pooh show and the movie inspired ones, like Aladdin. Just throwing that suggestion out into the universe. If not a Top 10, maybe they'd grace us with a medley at some point. 

That said, I'm super thrilled that we got a Disney themed one at all. If it's the only one we ever get, I'm still good because this is pretty wonderful. Out of all the directions they could have gone, they decided to go with the heroes. And because I can already anticipate this possible criticism because I know people can get nitpicky about their Disney songs. If we're going to be super technical about it, this is an ACA Top 10 of hero and princess songs. I realize that; they realize that. But that would have made for a crazy long title. So if you get super picky about your Disney song classifications, just take hero to mean main protaganist. And heed the advice of the #1 one song. Alright? Alright.

Let's get to the countdown. 

Oh where to begin? There's so many things to love about this and it seems only right to start off with their guest. If you're thinking that he looks familiar, you have either A) seen him fill in at a VoicePlay show at some point or B) seen one or both of the other two videos he's done with them. I'm of course talking about Jessie aka J. None. Who my autocorrect still wants to keep turning into J. Nonetheless. Sigh. From here on out, I shall refer to him as J.

K? K.

They say that the third time is the charm and in this case, I agree. This is indeed J's third video with VoicePlay. Earlier this year we got the fabulous "Scars to Your Beautiful / All Time Low" mashup. I still believe that that's one of their best mashups to date. Maybe their best; at least among their two song mashups. You can read my write-up of that one right here; the video is in there. Then he joined them again for another great cover, this time it was "Something Just Like This". I really liked that one too and if you missed it, you can watch it here. I've been impressed by how well he fit in with the rest of the guys in both of their previous videos together, but this one took it to another level. The ACA Top 10's are such a classic VoicePlay thing. I've always felt like these are where you really get to see how talented these guys are individually and how strong they are as a group. I think it takes a special kind of person to be able to come in and pull their weight and that's exactly what J did. 

After watching this the first time, I concluded that J is a gem and this seems to become more true every time. He absolutely shines in this. One thing about this one is that it allowed us to see a side of his personality that we didn't get to see in both of his other collaborations. Not because there was anything wrong with his performance in either of those because there wasn't. It's just that this one let him showcase his humor while the others really didn't. You know what, y'all? It would appear that J is a kind of a goofball and I find him super entertaining. There's several things he does in this that get me giggling. Him and Earl are comedy gold together. Their antics are so much fun to watch. One of the most amusing bits was during "Reflection" when they were being silly and I thought that Eli was the only one not being a total (albeit loveable) goofball.

Twelve(ish) seconds later.

...nevermind. 

You know what though? I'm always a fan of Eli's vocal runs. Even when they're completely over the top and out of place. The reactions from the others? Perfect. Along with his "what?" It did take me way too long to make the connection to what Xtina for life meant. It just did not compute for me until a few watches later for whatever reason. If that stumped you too, he was referring to Christina Aguilera who sang that song in the credits of Mulan. The back row boys, as I'm now calling them, were so entertaining in this one. And what makes it work is how great they sound together.  Silliness backed up with this kind of talent is my very favorite. J's vocals on "Go the Distance" and "You'll Be In My Heart" may have catapulted him into my people I could listen to sing anything club. I like his voice a lot; great tone. As far as Earl is concerned, vocally my favorites were "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" and "Let It Go". Earlsa lives! I had some serious Sing Off Tour flashbacks during that and that was great. And Eli singing Moana? Win. 

Incidentally, VoicePlay did a Moana medley with the very talented Rachel Potter recently and it's absolutely fantastic. It's gotten an insane amount of views in a pretty short time and I think it's one of the best things they've ever done. You can watch the video here. 

One of the other stars of this ACA Top 10? Layne's expressions. His reactions are some of the best. His face during "Go the Distance" makes me laugh every time. I've always said it, but these are the videos that I think show off his vocal percussion skills the best. Him and Geoff retain their title as my favorite rhythm section. I don't think they're losing that title anytime soon. Geoff's voice on "Colors of the Wind" though. If I could pick one song from this that I'd love to hear a full version of, it might just be that one. "You'll Be In My Heart" would be a close second. 

Yup. I love this one. After watching it a few more times while writing this, forget this being in my top three favorite ACA Top 10s. This is definitely in the top two and vying for the number 1 spot. Bonus points to anyone who can guess what its main competition is; it's one I've written about. It's the one that made me fall in love with them initially. But ACA Top 10 Disney Heroes might end up becoming my new number 1. It really might. I can't even imagine how they were able to narrow it down to ten. There's so many great Disney songs they could've chosen! I'd say they got it right. For me, it was a mix of songs from some of my all time favorite Disney movies and more recent hits. It was a great blend, I think.

I said it earlier this year, but we've really entered into a golden age as far as VoicePlay is concerned. Everything that they've done this year has been on another level and I love that. It makes me so excited to think what else they might have in store down the road. I'm personally hoping to see others with J because he fits in so well. If you're not already keeping up to date with them, you're probably going to want to start.

Stay in touch with VoicePlay below:
Website
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
YouTube
Patreon

And here's where you can keep up with J. None:
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
YouTube