Published on May 15, 1999
It’s been scientifically proven that children learn best through
repetition. On the positive side, that’s why shows like
Sesame Street keep hammering in only certain letters and
numbers each show, and why
Blue’s Clues only broadcast one show each week. (I don’t
know if they still do that; I prefer to watch
Bear In The Big Blue House.) On the negative side, the
toymakers know if they hawk their tawdry wares enough during the
cartoons, the kids will learn that the toy equals happiness, and
will pester Mom and Dad for it.
For kids, repetition can be a good thing. But when I was
listening to
Disney’s Jungle Boogie recently, I found myself saying out
loud, “I’ve heard most of this before.” A compilation of songs all
related to movies or shows with a jungle theme, this disc combines
what we’ve heard on a couple other soundtracks and samplers into
one package. It’s fun to listen to, but if you’ve bought anything
like
Radio Disney: Kid Jams or
Disney’s Princess Collection Volume 2 recently, both you and
your kids are going to experience deja vu.
Now, it’s not that I’m against hearing some of these songs more
than once. Tracks like “The Bare Necessities” and “I Wan’na Be Like
You” (both on
The Jungle Book soundtrack) are always welcome additions;
indeed, I’ve found that my daughter and I are watching
The Jungle Book more often these days because of this.
Likewise, tracks like “Circle Of Life” (the original version from
The Lion King) have a charm about them that cannot be easily
erased.
And there are some additions to
Disney’s Jungle Boogie that make it worth the experience.
“Jungle Book Groove” is a dance mix of some of the previously
mentioned tracks that is a lot of fun to listen to; next up, I need
to put this one on and see what my daughter does to the music.
Likewise, doctored versions of “Stand By Me” and “Yummy Yummy
Yummy” (both from
Timon And Pumbaa), albeit corny, are still kind of fun to
listen to. Frankly, I’d rather listen to this version of “Yummy
Yummy Yummy” than the original by Ohio Express.
There are a couple of tracks on
Disney’s Jungle Boogie that make me wonder why they were
included. Songs like “Warthog Rhapsody” and “Alone Together” don’t
really seem to fit the mood of the disc – then again, neither does
“Circle Of Life” – as “swinging, jiving, toe-tapping” numbers. And
while “Colonel Hathi’s March” does have a beat to it, I’m sorry,
this just is not one of my favorite Disney tracks ever made.
My biggest concern, though, was that these tracks are starting
to get a little overused. I mean, if it was a matter that they had
been on just the albums they were pulled from, no problem. But it’s
almost getting to the point where you can’t pick up a Disney album
without a few of these tracks – like the version of “Can You Feel
The Love Tonight” from
The Lion King (read: without Elton John singing) that I’m
really getting sick of. If you’re going to continue to release
compilation albums, fine – just start using a bigger variety of
songs.
Of course, this is an adult talking, and we all know by now that
adults are not the target audience for this music. That role is
filled by the kids, and if they’ve ever gotten a rise out of any of
these songs, then this collection is sure to go over like
gangbusters. And in the end, isn’t that what’s really
important?