I had to write an epinion on this CD, if not just to tidy up a loose end since I reviewed the other four CDs in this series (see bottom of page). I don't get too many hits on this kind of CD, but it irked me that I reviewed some but not all, so it's more for me I suppose.

This CD is the second in the series if you couldn't tell by the Volume Two in the title, and this continuation from Volume One is pretty obvious, the music touched upon were mostly from the same movies and eras in Disney history. This volume contains three songs from the huge blockbuster of an animated movie, Beauty and the Beast. The movie raked in over $146 million at the box office and was even nominated for Best Picture, and won some Academy awards for the music as well. Be Our Guest has Broadway overtones, and an upscale accent that glide in and about the flowing melody. Gaston is a comical satire of machismo, yet the lyrics are boasting at the same time. Gaston is the name of the character in the movie, who plays the villain who wishes to win Belle's heart and hang it as a trophy on his wall. Belle is the character singing on Something There, a song that works on the idea that there is something in The Beast, that she sees and likes and wants to nurture. It's another Broadway style solo performance, and it's one of my two favorite songs from the movie's soundtrack.

From the live action film, Mary Poppins, three selections have been used to fill up this CD. The Sherman Brothers who penned many a song for the Disney entertainment world wrote all three. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious is an upbeat sunny number with Julie Andrews on lead vocals with help from Dick Van Dyke. Once you get the pronunciation of the title, it will stick in your head all day. Feed the Birds (Tuppence a Bag) is an admitted proud moment for The Sherman Brothers. It's a ballad with a lullaby quality, beautifully sung by Julie Andrews. Although it may put me to sleep, I quite like the song. On the other hand, Let's Go Fly A Kite is boring and I never listen to it. It sounds just like the other songs from the movie, but since Julie Andrews is not singing, it instantly becomes unlistenable.

Some of Disney's as-of-then more recent movies were spotlighted on one of the other volumes the way Beauty and the Beast and Mary Poppins were done here. But there's still one song each from these movies, like One Jump Ahead, from the movie Aladdin. The music has a Big Band quality, and the vocal melody is performed with a big Broadway feel, lyrics are sung very quickly, and the whole song is very catchy. When I first viewed the movie, One Jump Ahead jumped out at me as a great song, and it's probably my favorite from Aladdin, this song and the reprise.

The signature song from The Little Mermaid is Part of Your World. It's a sunny ballad sung by lead character Ariel (Jodi Benson), and the song sums up the film's plot effortlessly. Jodi Benson has an amazing voice, her qualities mirror Julie Andrews stand out. Of course, we need a song from The Lion King, which is a favorite animated film among many Disney fans young and old alike. Can You Feel the Love Tonight was written by Elton John and Tim Rice. The song is OK, like all of the music from The Lion King, and I think that's the reason why this film doesn't do it for me like it does for the majority of the viewers.

These five volumes of music have almost entirely focused on the songs from Disney movies, animated or live action. There's also some Disney television music as well that the CDs have touched upon. On this CD, we have three songs that are exclusively related to the theme park, Magic Kingdom. The Sherman Brothers, Richard and Robert write both the first two that I touch upon. If there is one song that is associated with The Magic Kingdom, it is It's A Small World (After All). The song is a children’s song that is sung by children at the park. Here is a different version that has adults singing the lyrics. This is a shortened version that has all of the lyrics in English, instead of all the different languages featured in the attraction. People claim to hate the song because it doesn't leave your head for days, even weeks. I never have that trouble, so it's a song I enjoy listening to, any version. The Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room is a song from Disneyland's first animatronics attraction of the same name. The Sherman Brothers were shown what the ride would be like, and were shown the movement of the birds that would be inhabiting the attraction for inspiration, which gave the song a lot of authenticity. The setting of the attraction may be set in the Polynesian Islands, but the song's genre borders on calypso or tropical.

The last song from the parks is Main Street Electrical Parade, which was used for exactly what the title suggests at The Magic Kingdom. The song could be classified as electronic renaissance. It contains pieces from three songs from Alice In Wonderland, a song from Cinderella, and others.

The classic and ultimate homage to King Mickey, The Mickey Mouse Club March is included, ya know the song, ♫M-I-C, K-E-Y, M-O-U-S-E♫. The Mickey Mouse Club sings the song, along with voices from Mickey, Donald Duck and Jiminy Cricket.

Since the CD has 25 songs, there's usually lots of room to cover a lot of ground, and this CD does. Also included are songs from Cinderella, The Jungle Book, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Fox and the Hound, Peter Pan and even On the Front Porch, a rare song from Summer Magic a live action film, with the late great Burl Ives singing the melody of this acoustic sing-a-long.

When I bought this CD, this was the first time I heard the song Ev'rybody Has a Laughing Place from the film, Song of the South. The film has been sitting on the shelf long enough for me not to be able to see it in my childhood, due to racial overtones in the film, so I am told. I still haven't seen it. The song is less than a minute, and upon first listen, I fell in love with Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear and I haven't even met them yet, outside of Disney World's Splash Mountain that is.

The classic When You Wish Upon A Star, from the film Pinocchio completes the journey of fantasy and history. History in the sense that since this CD includes the song Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? from a 1933 Disney cartoon short, and this CD was released in 1995, that covers 62 years of musical history from the world of Disney.

1. Be Our Guest - (from "Beauty And The Beast")
2. Can You Feel The Love Tonight - (from "The Lion King")
3. Part Of Your World - (from "The Little Mermaid")
4. One Jump Ahead - (from "Aladdin")
5. Gaston - (from "Beauty And The Beast")
6. Something There - (from "Beauty And The Beast")
7. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious - (from "Mary Poppins")
8. Candle On The Water - (from "Pete's Dragon")
9. Main Street Electrical Parade: Fanfare Of Lights / Baroque Hoedown / All In The Golden Afternoon / Unbirthday Song, The / Alice In Wonderland / Cinderella / Entry Of The Gladiators / Bit Bubbly, A / Brazzle Dazzle Day / It's Not Easy
10. Age Of Not Believing, The - (from "Bedknobs And Broomsticks")
11. Bare Necessities, The - (from "The Jungle Book")
12. Feed The Birds (Tuppence A Bag) - (from "Mary Poppins")
13. Best Of Friends - (from "The Fox And The Hound")
14. Let's Go Fly A Kite - (from "Mary Poppins")
15. It's A Small World (After All)
16. Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room, The
17. Mickey Mouse Club March - The Mouseketeers
18. On The Front Porch - (from "Summer Magic")
19. Second Star To The Right, The - (from "Peter Pan")
20. Ev'rybody Has A Laughing Place - (from "Song Of The South")
21. Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo - (from "Cinderella")
22. So This Is Love - (from "Cinderella")
23. When You Wish Upon A Star - (from "Pinocchio")
24. Heigh-Ho - (from "Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs")
25. Who's Afraid Of The Big Bad Wolf? - (from "The Three Little Pigs")


~~~~~~~~~~Some More Disney-Related Epinions From Scapp70~~~~~~~~~~
The Music:
Disney’s Music From the Park
Disney’s Greatest - Volume One
Disney’s Greatest - Volume Two
Classic Disney Volume One
Classic Disney Volume Two
Classic Disney Volume Three
Classic Disney Volume Four
Classic Disney Volume Five
Disney's Christmas Favorites Vol. 1
Mannheim Steamroller Meets the Mouse
Disney: The Music Behind the Magic: 50 Songs Celebrating 50 Years of Walt Disney Records

The Parks:
Soarin’
Haunted Mansion
Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort
Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside
Mickey's Backyard BBQ

Families First Vacation Homes

Scapp70’s 50 Favorite Things To Do In Walt Disney World (part 1) – 50 - 41
Scapp70’s 50 Favorite Things To Do In Walt Disney World (part 2) – 40 - 31
Scapp70’s 50 Favorite Things To Do In Walt Disney World (part 3) – 30 - 21
Scapp70’s 50 Favorite Things To Do In Walt Disney World (part 4) – 20 - 11
Scapp70’s 50 Favorite Things To Do In Walt Disney World (part 5) – 10 - 1


The Books:
The Haunted Mansion – From the Magic Kingdom to the Movies
Popping Up Around Walt Disney World

The Movies
Scapp70’s Top 10 Favorite Disney Animated Movies
Toy Story (3-Disc Ultimate Toy Box DVD Set



Recommended: Yes