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When Frozen‘s big musical number took the world by storm earlier this year, it was impossible not to hear “Let It Go” — or to get it out of your head. By the time Frozen star Idina Menzel sang the tune at the Oscars, the same night the song earned co-composer Robert Lopez (who wrote it with his wife, Kristen Anderson-Lopez) a coveted EGOT, the song had fully entered the American consciousness, with a multitude of YouTube covers (and parodies) that helped propel the song to the top of the Billboard charts. While it works as a power-pop single, something almost unheard of these days for a song so reminiscent of a showtune, I couldn’t help but think that there would be no “Let It Go” without the musical theater-inspired song from the film that revolutionized Disney’s animation department when it was released 25 years ago this week: “Part of Your World” from The Little Mermaid.

Written by Broadway veterans Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, “Part of Your World” is the perfect “I want” song, a musical theater staple that represents a protagonist’s hopes and desires (which they should be pursuing by the end of the first act). Because the emotions in a musical are so overblown and exaggerated, it’s important for the main character to express his or her dreams early in the story; the rest of the action depends on it. While not all pieces of musical theater follow this formula, one can’t deny its power and, because of how often it’s employed, how successful it is.

“Part of Your World” is like being hit over the head with an “I want” song. After all, Ariel sings it pretty explicitly in the beginning of the second verse: “I want to be where the people are.” What makes it transcend the formula is that it’s smart as hell, with lyrical twist and turns throughout.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BZp2dxpwF8]

“Let It Go” is the opposite of an “I want” song. It’s essentially a “fuck you,” delivered by Elsa in a moment of vulnerability and embarrassment as she enters a self-imposed exile. But even though the songs don’t share the same formula, and “Let It Go” veers heavily into power ballad area (I could go on about how that is indicative of a major shift in American musical theater in the last two decades), there’s something incredibly reminiscent of Ariel’s first song in “Let It Go.”

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moSFlvxnbgk]

Thematically, the songs are incredibly similar. They’re both songs about empowerment delivered by young women who feel like they are outsiders and don’t belong in the world in which they were raised. But the songs placement in their respective movies are part of the reason they stand apart. “Part of Your World” is the second song in The Little Mermaid, taking place before most of the film’s action. It sets up Ariel’s conflict as much as it does the essential point of the movie: she wants to be human.

“Let It Go,” on the other hand, takes place in the middle of Frozen, as Elsa rushes off from her home to create an icy sanctuary for herself. Whereas Ariel’s song expresses a wish for a new life and experiences, “Let It Go” allows Elsa to find empowerment within, to accept her fate and flaws and, well, deal with it. While Ariel feels repressed, Elsa uses her song to find the power within herself and achieve self-acceptance. She doesn’t want to be a part of anyone else’s world, because she can make — and be the queen — of her own.

While the composition of “Let It Go” and “Part of Your World” are very different, and they work in incredibly different ways in their respective films, it’s not too far-fetched to surmise that the former would not exist if it were not for the latter. While I’m more of a “Part of Your World” kind of guy, there’s enough of Ariel in Elsa that keeps me from writing off “Let It Go” — as catchy and overplayed it may be.

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