'' Empire '' ranked " Happy Working Song " third on its list of the " 10 Great Musical Numbers " of the decade , writing that although " '' Shrek '' set the benchmark for Disney song parodies at Everest levels ... it 's Amy Adams calling on New York 's creatures of the forest to tidy up Patrick Dempsey 's apartment that pulls it off to perfection . " " Happy Working Song " was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 80th Academy Awards in 2008 alongside '' Enchanted '' songs " That 's How You Know " and " So Close " , ultimately dominating the category . However , the song was generally not favored to win by the media in spite of the fact that it was vastly a critical success . According to a poll conducted by '' Billboard '' in anticipation of the ceremony , when the magazine asked 155 of its readers " Who gets your vote for best original song in a motion picture at the Academy Awards ? " ; only 5 % of them voted in favor of " Happy Working Song " winning the award while 10 % voted for " So Close " and 24 % voted for " That 's How You Know " . In addition to this , 6 % of readers voted for '' August Rush '' s " Raise It Up " and 22 % voted for Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova 's " Falling Slowly " from '' Once '' ( 2007 ) . Ultimately , " Happy Working Song " lost to " Falling Slowly " . Menken believes that his compositions did not win the Best Original Song award because of the fact that three of them had been nominated at once
80th Academy Awards
80th Academy Awards
Happy Working Song