Published on May 23, 1999
Chances are, if you have kids, you’ve purchased at least one
volume in the
Classic Disney series. Compiling both the best-of and
little-heard music from 60 years of “musical magic”, the discs
literally have something for everyone.
Now, I’m at a bit of a disadvantage. Having only the latest
volume,
Classic Disney Volume 5, in my collection – and not having
the courage to ask my friends at Disney for the other volumes (hey,
I’ve got to buy
some of the music I review) – I’m behind the times regarding
what to include or exclude. All told, the previous four volumes
compile 100 songs from Disney’s history, and breezing through some
of the titles on CDNow, it looks like they’ve done their
homework.
Volume 5 is a disc that draws about 40 percent of its
content from recent releases from the Disney film vaults. Movies
like
Mulan (“I’ll Make A Man Out Of You”),
Hercules (“I Won’t Say I’m In Love”) and
The Hunchback Of Notre Dame (“God Help The Outcasts”) all
get their fair turn in the spotlight – though I’ll be honest, I’m
surprised that “Reflection” from
Mulan wasn’t included. (Maybe in
Volume 6, perhaps?)
There are guaranteed to be some songs in here that will be new
to some people. Unless you had the Burl Ives re-issue from about a
year ago, chances are you’ve not heard his take on “Lavender Blue
(Dilly Dilly)” (from 1949’s
So Dear To My Heart), and “Humphrey Hop” (from 1956’s
In The Bag) was a new one to me. Discs like this one are
literally treasure chests, both for our kids and the inner child in
all of us.
This isn’t to say that I liked every song on the disc. The
selection from 1977’s
Pete’s Dragon, “Boo Bop Bopbop Bop (I Love You Too)”, was
one I could have easily gone the rest of my life without hearing
again. (It struck me as cornball when I was six, and not much has
changed.) And while I absolutely love Winnie-The-Pooh (possibly
because I’ve now seen the movie some 20 times, thanks to my
daughter), there’s something not right about this version of “The
Rain Rain Rain Came Down Down Down” – it sounds too new, not like
the version in the film.
Still, these all are small points to make about a volume that is
otherwise well thought out and documented. Even if
Classic Disney Volume 5 is the first of the discs you pick
up, it’s not a bad place to start – at least the kids will have a
modern reference point with the newer movies. But to be fair, this
one belongs nestled next to the other four volumes in the
series.