111 Awesome Disney Songs, Part 4

Ryan Dosier - Hello, Disney fans! First off, an apology for the lack of updates to this series lately. I just moved across the country, so my life has been hectic as all get out. But I've found some time to settle in and listen to some of my favorite Disney music and continue 111 Awesome Disney Songs! Here's Part 4...

34.)   "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo" from Cinderella
Of all the magic numbers produced by Disney animated films, the incredibly hard to spell "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo" may just be the finest. The Fairy Godmother bounces and bobs her way through this delightful ditty, with some nonsensical lyrics and joyful fun. Though the Fairy Godmother's appearance is incredibly brief, the song makes it endlessly memorable. Favorite Lyrics: "Salagadoola mechicka boola bibbidi-bobbidi-boo/Put 'em together and what have you got/Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo/Salagadoola mechicka boola bibbidi-bobbidi-boo/It'll do magic believe it or not/Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo."

35.)   "The Phony King of England" from Robin Hood
One of the major highlights of Robin Hood is its delightful soundtrack. Most of the songs are handled by the rooster minstrel Alan-A-Dale, but the best song in the film is absolutely the jazzy tune performed by Little John. Phil Harris, who did the voice of Baloo in The Jungle Book and Thomas O'Malley in The Aristocats returns for his third Disney animated feature in a row as Little John and delivers this deliciously silly and fun tune. Favorite Lyrics: "He sits alone on a giant throne/Pretending he's the king/A little tyke who's rather like a puppet on a string."

36.)   "A Guy Like You" from The Hunchback of Notre Dame
This song, performed by the three gargoyles of the film, Hugo, Victor, and Laverne, is vastly different than any other song in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Yet, it still fits (in my opinion). It provides a moment of levity in the middle of some pretty hefty darkness. The gargoyles are fun and bouncing and the song is the same. I adore this number so much. Favorite Lyrics: "Paris, the city of lovers, is glowing this evening... True! That's because it's on fire, but still, there's l'amore."

37.)   "Sugar Rush" from Wreck-It Ralph
Ah, Wreck-It Ralph, how I adore thee. Absolutely one of my favorite Disney animated features. Wreck-It Ralph has so much fun going on per second that it's incredible. The theme song to the candy-coated kart racer "Sugar Rush" is a blast. It's clearly influenced by many factors, including 8-bit music, Japanese anime themes, and pop music. I love it. Favorite Lyrics: "S-U-G-A-R, jump into your racing car, it's Sugar Rush! Sugar Rush!"

38.)   "When I See an Elephant Fly" from Dumbo
Perhaps one of the most racially divisive moments in any Disney animated film, but it really isn't bad as many casual fans assume it is. The Crows in the film are all voiced by an actual African American scat band and are portrayed as heroes of the film. They raise Dumbo up and allow him to fly. The song they sing pokes fun at poor Dumbo, but it's so fun that it's hard to be too upset. Favorite Lyrics: "I seen a peanut stand/I heard a rubber band/ I seen a needle that winked its eye/But I be done seen about everything when I see an elephant fly!"

39.)   "Ev'rybody Wants to Be a Cat" from The Aristocats
Although Disney animation took awhile to find its foothold again after the passing of Walt Disney, this moment in The Aristocats, the first animated film released without Walt's input, showed signs that things would be okay. This jazzy classic song is a perennial favorite for many folks who grew up loving The Aristocats--including myself. Favorite Lyrics: "Ev'rybody's pickin' up on that feline beat/'cause ev'rythin' else is obsolete/A square with a horn makes you wish you weren't born/Ev'ry time he plays/With a square in the act, you can set music back/To the caveman days."

40.)   "Under the Sea" from The Little Mermaid
"Ariel, listen to me. The human world? It's a mess!" Darn right, Sebastian. I don't think there was anyone, young or old, who has seen The Little Mermaid and who didn't immediately want to jump ship and go live under the water after seeing this Oscar-winning song performed. Simply one of the finest musical numbers ever put on film, with color and charm, an endlessly catchy tune, and insane lyrics, "Under the Sea" is the best of the best. Favorite Lyrics: "Darling it's better, down where it's wetter/Take it from me!/Up on the shore, they work all day/Out in the sun, they slave away/While we're devoting, full time to floating/Under the sea!"

41.)   "Kiss the Girl" from The Little Mermaid
Sebastian's two songs from The Little Mermaid right in a row? Yup. Blame iTunes shuffle. Anyway! "Kiss the Girl" is one of the most soulful and wonderful Disney love songs there is. The slow Caribbean beat and Samuel E. Wright's vocal work as Sebastian is astounding. Plus, it's a great motivator for taking a chance with that girl (or guy or sandwich) you really like. Favorite Lyrics: "Now's your moment/Floating in a blue lagoon/Boy, you better do it soon/No time will be better."

42.)   "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes" from Cinderella
Probably the most famous song from Cinderella, which marked a major turning point for Disney animation, saving the studio after World War II ravaged the funds. This little song is what opened this great film and set a tone for the rest of the film and the rest of Walt Disney's career in feature animation. It's beautiful. Favorite Lyrics: "A dream is is a wish your heart makes/When you're fast asleep/In dream, you will lose your heartache/Whatever you wish for, you keep."

43.)   "Circle of Life" from The Lion King
Is there any better opening to a film than "Circle of Life" in The Lion King? No. No there isn't. The stunning animation, the impeccable Swahili vocals, and every element adds together for something that will never be repeated. Perfection. Favorite Lyrics: From the day we arrive on the planet/And blinking step into the sun/There is more to see/Than can ever be seen/More to do than can ever be done."

44.)   "Gitchee Gitchee Goo" from Phineas and Ferb
I love Phineas and Ferb, unashamedly. It's so delightfully fun and inventive and bountiful. The music in every episode is flawless, and this early rock and roll ditty that Phineas performed is phenomenal. I could listen to it forever. Favorite Lyrics: My baby's got her own way of talking/Whenever she says something sweet/And she knows its my world she's a-rockin'/Though my vocabulary's incomplete/I know it may sound confusing/Sometimes I wish she'd give it to me straight/But I never feel like I'm losin' it/When I take the time to translate."

Why Aren't Classic Disney Channel Shows on DVD?

Michael Wermuth-I didn’t have The Disney Channel until it switched from premium to basic cable in 1997, but I did get to watch the channel often before then, at my babysitter’s house and on special weeks when The Disney Channel was available for free. And I must say, the channel was a lot better back then than it is now (not that I watch the channel voluntarily very often now). It had a wide variety of non-Tween programming, lots of classic Disney shorts aired, the channel’s Vault Disney block contained stuff like Disney’s classic anthology show (the channel always listed it as “Walt Disney Presents”, even though it had other titles), and the original Mickey Mouse Club (as well as The New Mickey Mouse Club), the channel aired a lot of non-Disney programming (and maybe that’s still true now, but back in the past Disney aired various Jim Henson productions long before buying the Muppets, lots of Peanuts specials and movies, and even some of the Looney Tunes compilation films, among other properties), and of course original programming. And in an age where all kinds of retro shows have been released on DVD, I must ask this: How come none of the classic Disney Channel shows have been on DVD? 

 Why do classic shows from the early years of The Disney Channel need to be released on DVD? Well, technically, they don’t need to be available on DVD, and I’d much rather have most of The Disney Afternoon shows be completed, but it’d still be nice to see these old shows on DVD. But what were the most memorable original Disney Channel shows of the 1980s and 1990s?

 Well, there’s Dumbo’s Circus. That was a decent show. It used puppet and costume versions of Dumbo, plus a variety of characters not from the classic animated movie. I don’t really remember the names of the other characters, and there’s really only one episode I remember, but it had quite a catchy theme song. For some reason, Timothy Mouse wasn’t on the show, though there was a Koala who resembled the character a bit. It would have been nice if at least one episode had been on the Blu-ray of Dumbo (well there’s always the next release…). 

 Perhaps a better-known show with costumed and puppet versions of classic Disney characters was Welcome to Pooh Corner, featuring the Winnie the Pooh characters. This show featured an on-screen narrator, a story involving the characters, a song segment (I think these were repeated in multiple episodes, much like the various segments from Sesame Street), and another segment with the narrator talking to one of the characters. This series also spawned a fairly infamous PSA special called Too Smart for Strangers (I actually don’t remember seeing that show). Out of all the shows I’m mentioning in this article, I am most surprised that this show hasn’t had a DVD release, especially considering how much of a cash chow franchise Winnie the Pooh has been in the past decades. I heard a rumor that when the 2011 Winnie the Pooh movie was released that Disney wasn’t releasing any new Pooh DVDs out of fear that consumers would confuse them for the movie, but how could anybody confuse Welcome to Pooh Corner for the 2011 film? I especially liked the songs that appeared on the show. It’d be great to hear Pooh and Piglet’s “Please is a Good Word”, Eeyore’s “Yes I Can”, or Piglet’s “Say Hello” songs again.  

 Another show on the channel is it’s own version of The Mickey Mouse Club, commonly referred to as MMC. This version didn’t really interest me as a kid (I was expecting animated segments, which were not included, plus other elements of the original series which this show avoided). This show was pretty much a teen variety show. Many of this show’s Mouse-Kateers would go on to be famous pop stars in their own right, including Brittany Spears, Christina Agulerro, and N*sync’s Justin Timberlake and JC Chasez. So maybe it’s not pop artists I’m interested in, but that fact alone should have gotten this series a DVD release by now. 

 The final series I’m going to talk about is Adventures in Wonderland, based on Alice in Wonderland. Each series was bookened by scenes of Alice in her room in the real world. The structure would be: Alice would talk to her cat about some sort of problem she’s having, she enters Wonderland through her mirror, the plot would somehow be related to her problem, and she’d talk to her cat about the experience and have learned a solution to her problem. So a lot of characters were different from their animated Disney counterparts, and the Queen was a lot nicer (not the kind of person who’d shout “OFF WITH HER HEAD!”), but they pretty much got The Chesire Cat right. It’s especially puzzling that this series didn’t get a DVD release when Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland got released.

Maybe those shows will get released on DVD someday, but only time will tell. I should point out one show I am aware I didn’t talk about: Kids Incorporated. I didn’t talk about that show because Disney doesn’t own the rights to it (though Disney does have the master tapes in its vaults).

What's your favorite retro Disney Channel TV show? Which show do you want to be released to DVD most? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below! 

The Mickey Mindset: mickeymindset@gmail.com

Disney Animation Reviews #4 - Dumbo

Disney Animation Reviews 4/53 - Dumbo

Ryan Dosier - Dumbo (1941) is one of the shortest Disney animated features, and also one of the most undeniably charming. This small movie about a little elephant who could lacks the flash and the big budget of the more popular Disney classics, but Dumbo is a beautiful tale of friendship and being yourself despite the odds.

The biggest thing that strikes me about Dumbo is the story. As an aspiring screenwriter, story is what I look to first, and Dumbo has story by the ton. The film takes Dumbo, a silent character (the only silent lead character in Disney animated history), and gives him an optimistic and triumphant victory. Dumbo is pure cute and goes through an amazing cycle in 63 minutes. He starts off a purely innocent babe, suffers total heartbreak when his mother is taken from him, finds a friend in Timothy Mouse, gets drunk (yup), and finally finds triumph when he soars through the sky.

Timothy Q. Mouse, Dumbo’s loyal (and only) friend, is the film’s Jiminy Cricket. Timothy is Dumbo’s conscience, promoter, manager, ardent supporter, and undying friend. Without Timothy, Dumbo’s tale is tragic. Timothy cares about Dumbo so much that he takes the brokenhearted pachyderm to see his mother. Timothy even sheds a tear for him. Their friendship is beautiful and doesn’t get as much attention as it should.

My other favorite characters are the wisecracking crows Dumbo and Timothy encounter near the end. Yes, these characters get pinned as racist portrayals, but I disagree with that. The crows are in no way oppressed and they fly free, answering to no one. The song “When I See an Elephant Fly” is a major highlight of the film and a great entry in the Disney songbook. The song is actually led by Cliff Edwards, who previously voiced Jiminy Cricket (trivia!), with the other crows performed by the fantastic Hall Johnson Choir. Sure, they could’ve chosen a better name for the lead crow than Jim… but the characters are still a ton of fun and don’t deserve the bad rap they get.

The animation in Dumbo is stellar. Even though Disney made the film as a way to bounce back from the financially woeful Fantasia, the Disney animators still brought their A-game. Bill Tytlla (whose name I had to look up) animated Dumbo in such a lifelike and adorable way and it is by far one of my favorite pieces of character animation. The backgrounds are done with watercolor and have a soft touch to them. Dumbo is such a simple film that it’s almost elegant.

Of course the whole film isn’t simple, you can’t forget the stellar, trippy, amazing “Pink Elephants on Parade” segment midway through that comes after Dumbo and Timothy accidentally get drunk. If this is what getting drunk was really like, I would never drink again. The animation is unbelievable and the neon colors jolt and jump and dance across the screen. It’s one of Disney’s craziest scenes and inspired quite a few acid trips, I’m sure.

What Disney did with Dumbo is incredibly impressive. It takes a simple story about a baby elephant with big ears and turned him into a hero who flies higher than anyone who insults him. Dumbo is one of my favorite Disney films for its simplicity, its colors, and its unending fun. Although it is small and simple, Dumbo soars.

5/5 Flying Elephants

The Mickey Mindset, mickeymindset@gmail.com