Simply Mad About the Mouse: A Musical Celebration of Imagination

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'Based on material idea by B. A. Robertson' (yes, that B. A. Robertson), 1991 direct-to-video oddity featuring pop stars performing classic Disney songs. The En Vogue and Kirk Whalum tracks are not on the video but appeared on the tie in album (which is available on spotify, minus the Gipsy Kings).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ygQLBLD2WE

Poll Results

OptionVotes
Billy Joel - When You Wish Upon A Star 1
Bobby McFerrin - The Siamese Cat Song 1
Harry Connick Jr. - The Bare Necessities 1
LL Cool J - Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? 1
Gipsy Kings - I've Got No Strings 0
Ric Ocasek - Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah 0
Soul II Soul featuring Kofi - Kiss the Girl 0
Michael Bolton - A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes 0
En Vogue - Someday My Prince Will Come/One Song 0
Kirk Whalum - Mad About The Wolf 0


soref, Saturday, 28 November 2015 22:26 (eight years ago) link

Gipsy Kings - I've Got No Strings

if only

the late great, Saturday, 28 November 2015 22:29 (eight years ago) link

some unusual details in the wikipedia page as well

Cool J's lyrics mention he has no time to "dance or sing", contradictory to the fact he's appearing in a music video doing just that. Cool J adds lyrics of how he'd deal with the wolf, if the wolf broke in his house; he'd "punch him in the nose, tie him in a knot", as a reference to the original 1933 cartoon where those lyrics originated. It is one of the few times a major rapper has included the word "gay" in his rapping, and not meant "homosexual".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simply_Mad_About_the_Mouse:_A_Musical_Celebration_of_Imagination

soref, Saturday, 28 November 2015 22:32 (eight years ago) link

Wow, the things one forgets.

Austin, Saturday, 28 November 2015 22:40 (eight years ago) link

Gipsy Kings - I've Got No Strings

if only

I don't really know much about Gipsy Kings outside of 'Bamboléo', but their version of I've Got No Strings is one of my favourite tracks on the album, probably the coolest video sequence as well

soref, Saturday, 28 November 2015 23:07 (eight years ago) link

sorry to be a hater

the late great, Saturday, 28 November 2015 23:10 (eight years ago) link

First response hall of fame imo.

everything, Sunday, 29 November 2015 00:30 (eight years ago) link

I feel like for those who weren't there and assume that 1991 was all Nirvana and MBV, you were actually far more likely at the time to encounter something along the lines of Michael Bolton singing a Disney ballad.

Fetty Wap Is Strong In Here (cryptosicko), Sunday, 29 November 2015 02:22 (eight years ago) link

some truly bizarre pairings here tbh. i mean did bobby mcferrin just really like "the siamese cat song" or what? who pulls that out of the back catalogue? ll cool j's is most interesting maybe for effectively scrapping the song in favor of doing a by-the-numbers ll cool j song that basically just interpolates the disney song for a (not very compelling) hook. ocasek's is the only one i've heard so far that's unlistenable. joel's attempt at ~classic~ vocal stylings here would probably annoy a lot of people but i'm not one of them, sounds okay really. i'm honestly not all that familiar with michael bolton's music but the staggering ham heard here justifies all the mockery he's ever received, before and after office space.

oddly i'm most inclined to go back and listen to mcferrin's some more even though i hate that song and am stunned to see disney trying to salvage it in 1991. as far as racism goes, rescuing the passable "zip-a-dee-doo-dah" from the justly-mothballed song of the south (first movie i ever saw in theaters, i think, on its 1986 reissue) makes more sense.

Doctor Casino, Monday, 30 November 2015 00:39 (eight years ago) link

Siamese Cat Song was a very recognizable Disney number at the time. I was in third grade when the VHS of Lady and the Tramp came out and that is the only song I remember kids singing on the playground.

Here is another version, albeit without era-appropriate computer graphics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxf8LbM0_oM

how's life, Monday, 30 November 2015 01:36 (eight years ago) link

It didn't get its own TV special, but I'll take Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films, from 1988, instead:

1. Opening Medley ("I'm Getting Wet and I Don't Care at All"):
a) "Hi Diddle Dee Dee (An Actor's Life For Me)" from Pinocchio by Ken Nordine, with Bill Frisell and Wayne Horvitz
b) "Little April Shower" from Bambi by Natalie Merchant and Michael Stipe, with Mark Bingham and The Roches
c) "I Wan'na Be Like You (The Monkey Song)" from The Jungle Book by Los Lobos
2. "Baby Mine" from Dumbo by Bonnie Raitt and Was (Not Was)
3. "Heigh Ho (The Dwarf's Marching Song)" from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves by Tom Waits
4. Medley Two ("The Darkness Sheds Its Veil")
a) "Stay Awake" from Mary Poppins by Suzanne Vega
b) "Little Wooden Head" from Pinocchio by Bill Frisell and Wayne Horvitz
c) "Blue Shadows on the Trail" from Melody Time by Syd Straw
5. Medley Three ("Three Inches Is Such a Wretched Height")
a) "Castle in Spain" from Babes in Toyland by Buster Poindexter and The Banshees of Blue
b) "I Wonder" from Sleeping Beauty by Yma Sumac
6. "Mickey Mouse March" from The Mickey Mouse Club by Aaron Neville
7. Medley Four ("All Innocent Children Had Better Beware")
a) "Feed the Birds" from Mary Poppins by Garth Hudson
b) "Whistle While You Work" from Snow White and The Seven Dwarves by NRBQ
c) "I'm Wishing" from Snow White and The Seven Dwarves by Betty Carter
d) "Cruella De Ville" from 101 Dalmatians by The Replacements
e) "Dumbo And Timothy" from Dumbo by Bill Frisell and Wayne Horvitz
8. "Some Day My Prince Will Come" from Snow White and The Seven Dwarves by Sinéad O'Connor
9. Medley Five ("Technicolor Pachyderms")
a) "Pink Elephants On Parade" from Dumbo by Sun Ra & His Arkestra
b) "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" from Song of the South by Harry Nilsson
10. "Second Star To The Right" from Peter Pan by James Taylor
11. Pinocchio Medley ("Do You See The Noses Growing")
a) "Desolation Theme" from Pinocchio by Ken Nordine, with Bill Frisell and Wayne Horvitz
b) "When You Wish upon a Star" from Pinocchio by Ringo Starr, with Herb Alpert

the top man in the language department (誤訳侮辱), Monday, 30 November 2015 01:47 (eight years ago) link

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

System, Wednesday, 2 December 2015 00:01 (eight years ago) link

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

System, Thursday, 3 December 2015 00:01 (eight years ago) link


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