I Love to Laugh - Louis Prima & Gia Maione

To finish off Mary Poppins Week (which also happens to be Obscure Disney Song Friday) I am posting a cover of one of the lesser remembered Mary Poppins, the song sung by the gravity-defying Uncle Albert, I Love to Laugh.

Uncle Albert was played by Ed Wynn, a comedic Broadway actor and radio personality in the 30s and 40s who went on to have on of the very first comedy variety shows on television.

Ed Wynn first worked for Disney in 1951 as the voice of the Mad Hatter. Other Disney credits include Mr. Hofstedder in That Darn Cat and Rufus in the Gnome-Mobile, but it is his role in Mary Poppins that most people remember.

Wynn died of throat cancer two years after the release of Mary Poppins.

This cover of I Love to Laugh is by the husband wife team of LOUIS PRIMA and GIA MAIONE of their album LET'S FLY WITH MARY POPPINS.

I Love to Laugh Louis Prima & Gia Maione 1965

Jolly Holiday - Mary Poppins Musical Cast

In 2004, Mary Poppins: the Musical came to the Bristol Hippodrome Theatre in London and was a huge hit! And why not? It has all the fun songs, costumes and stories from the hit movie! Plus, it's just plain fun to go to the theatre!

The theatre rights were acquired by theatrical producer Cameron Mackintosh from Mary Poppins author Pamela Travers in 1993 but it wasn't until 2001 that Mackintosh approached Disney about teaming up. I guess Mackintosh finally realized that the way to make money from a Mary Poppins theatre production is to include the songs and spectacle from the version that the general public is more familiar with. (Plus, I bet he got a budget increase.)

The musical uses the 1964 movie as its main source of inspiration but adds many things from the books that were left out of the film. One example is the inclusion of Neleus the statue from Mary Poppins Opens the Door whom Mary brings to life!

This scene is played out in the musical when Mary takes the children to the park (which we a know from the movie as the part when they jump into the sidewalk painting) and the song that is sung in the movie, Jolly Holiday, is reworked to include the story of Neleus. Then penguins, however, have been removed from the scene.

For you listening pleasure, I have included the Mary Poppins: the Musical version of Jolly Holiday just for you. It is from the original London cast recording from 2005 and features LAURA MICHELLE KELLY as Mary Poppins and GAVIN LEE as Bert.

Jolly Holiday Mary Poppins Musical Cast 2005

Feed the Birds - Emile Pandolfi

Right smack in the middle of Mary Poppins Week is the 44th anniversary of the classic film which was shown on this day to an audience in Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

The movie was an instant success and would go on to be nominated for 13 Academy Awards, five of which they would take home for the win. Here's a list of Oscar nominations:

Best Actress, Julie Andrews (winner)

Best Film Editing (winner)

Original Music Score (winner)

Best Song, Chim Chim Cher-ee (winner)

Special Visual Effects (winner)

Best Art Direction (Color) (My Fair Lady won)

Best Cinematography (Color) (My Fair Lady won)

Best Costume Design (Color) (My Fair Lady won)

Best Director, Robert Stevenson (My Fair Lady won)

Music (Scoring of Music - adaptation or treatment) (My Fair Lady won)

Best Picture (My Fair Lady won)

Best Sound (My Fair Lady won)

Best Adapted Screenplay (Becket won)

The bag lady pictured above is one of Walt's favourite actresses, Jane Darwell, whom Walt had to plead with to make the cameo. She was reluctant to do the part due to her rapidly deteriorating health. But she did it, making Mary Poppins her last film appearance. She died three years later.

Today's Mary Poppins cover song is a piano instrumental version of Feed the Birds, Walt's favourite song in the movie, by pop pianist EMILE PANDOLFI.

I suggest that everyone watch Mary Poppins sometime this week to celebrate the anniversary!

Feed the Birds Emile Pandolfi 1993

Chim Chim Cher-ee - Domino

One of the most famous songs from Mary Poppins is the song of the chimney sweep, Chim Chim Cher-ee. So to take us through Mary Poppins Week, we are going to take a look at this song.

Chim Chim Cher-ee was written by the Sherman Brothers after seeing a painting of a chimney sweep by one of the screenwriters Don DaGradi. DeGradi explained to the Shermans that in ancient British folklore shaking the hand of a chimney sweep could bring good luck.

The character of Bert was already an amalgamation of several characters from the Mary Poppins books, so the Shermans decided to make Bert a chimney sweep as well and Chim Chim Cher-ee became his theme song.

This Eurobeat version is by the famous UK Eurobeat artist DOMINO and serves as one of the better tracks on the first album of EUROBEAT DISNEY.

Chim Chim Cher-ee Domino 2000

Mary Poppins Medley - Erich Kunzel & the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra

Since this Wednesday is the forty-fourth anniversary of Mary Poppins, I thought it would be fun to declare this week Mary Poppins Week! All of this wee will feature songs from the classic movie!

To kick off the week, I'm sharing with you the Mary Poppins Medley that was recorded by the CINCINNATI POPS ORCHESTRA, conducted by ERICH KUNZEL, with the Indiana University's Singing Hoosiers providing the vocal work, from the Grammy nominated album, A DISNEY SPECTACULAR from 1989.

The medley is well put together and includes a good variety of the different songs featured in the film. Here is what you will hear in this medley:

Chim Chim Cher-ee
Jolly Holiday
A Spoonful of Sugar
Let's Go Fly a Kite
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Step in Time

Mary Poppins Medley Erich Kunzel & the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra 1989

Some Day My Prince Will Come - Cheetah Girls

The popular Disney group, THE CHEETAH GIRLS, have made a very successful career for themselves. Well, Disney has made a successful career for them.

The group started out as a Disney Channel Original Movie based on a youth book series, but the movie was so popular that it spawned two sequels with a third on the way, as well as three studio albums and a yearly tour across the country. The Cheetah Girls were transformed from a fictitious pop band to actual recording artists.

But the fact remains that this is just another Disney Pop (D-Pop as I like to call them) formula band. My apologies to all of you Cheetah Girls lovers.

For DISNEYMANIA 6, the Girls recorded a version of Someday My Prince Will Come which I consider perfect fodder for Terrible Track Friday. One listen and I am sure you will agree that this version is just plain awful.

Some Day My Prince Will Come Cheetah Girls 2008

Winnie the Pooh - Yoko Shimomura

On this day in 1920, Daphne Milne, wife of the famous author Alan Alexander Milne (more famously known as A.A. Milne), gave birth to a son and the couple named him Christopher Robin Milne.

It was this child that inspired the world of Winnie-the-Pooh. A.A. Milne created characters based on his son's stuffed animals. That was in 1926.

Forty years later, Disney released Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, forever placing Winnie the Pooh in pop culture history.

The version that I have posted today is by YOKO SHIMOMURA, a Japanese composer and musician. She is best known for her work in the video game world having provided soundtracks for Street Fighter II, Super Mario RPG and the Kingdom Hearts series.

It is the KINGDOM HEARTS SOUNDTRACK where you can here many video game soundtrack versions of some of your favourite Disney songs and here is a small sample.

Winnie the Pooh Yoko Shimomura 2005

La La Lu - Sugiurumn

If Alan Reed were alive today he would be turning 101! If you don't recognize the name, you probably would recognize his voice as Fred Flintstone from The Flintstones!

But wait, isn't this a Disney blog? Why are you talking about a Hanna-Barbera TV show? Well, because Alan Reed provided the voice of Boris in Lady and the Tramp in 1955, four years before the debut of The Flintstones.

Reed was an accomplished actor by the time he worked on Lady and the Tramp. However, the only animation voice work he had done before this was an uncredited announcer in the 1937 Looney Tune, Porky's Romance.

This version of La La Lu can be found on the unique Japanese album DISNEY AGE @ D_100 CAFE. SUGIURUMN is a Japanese DJ who has been recording music and remixing other artists' stuff since 2000. He will be releasing a new remix album later this month.

La La Lu Sugiurumn 2001

Can You Feel the Love Tonight - Michelle Nicastro

One of the better tracks off of MICHELLE NICASTRO'S TOONFUL TOO album from 1995 is this cover of Can You Feel the Love Tonight. The rock ballad stays true to Elton John's original compassion yet gives way to allow Nicastro to bring in her own charm (and cheese).

Most covers of this song are quite bland, not straying too far from the Elton John original. However, this song, with its fake-out ending in the middle of the song and the use of a gospel choir, prevents Nicastro's version from being just another cheesy wannabe Can You Feel the Love Tonight cover song.

Can You Feel the Love Tonight Michelle Nicastro 1995

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious - Louis Prima & Gia Maione

To start off your week, I have have chosen a track off LET'S FLY WITH MARY POPPINS, an album that LOUIS PRIMA recorded in 1965. The album was made up of songs from Mary Poppins arranged in Prima's unique style.

Mary Poppins was released in 1965 and was a huge success, and Prima, whose career was starting to wain, recorded this album to capitalize on the popularity. Unfortunately, the album was not considered on of his best.

Sharing the album credit is Prima's fifth wife, GIA MAIONE, who married Prima in 1964 and stayed with Prima and the band until 1975.

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Louis Prima & Gia Maione 1965

When You Wish Upon a Star - The Swingfield Big Band

This month's cover of When You Wish Upon a Star is from a disc called BIG BAND LOVE SONGS. The CD features big band versions of love songs mostly from the movie world.

BIG BAND LOVE SONGS is one of those cheap CDs you find at Wal-Mart in a rack that lets you sample the tunes and THE SWINGFIELD BIG BAND is a group that has recorded dozens of albums for the label that produces these value discs. They are very much a studio band.

However, don't let that jade your thinking. This version of When You Wish Upon a Star has a great arrangement and is performed better than a lot of other jazz versions of this song. Listen for yourself and you will probably find that you want to hear more. The same album also contains a version of Some Day My Prince Will Come.

When You Wish Upon a Star The Swingfield Big Band 2005

Sally's Song - Fiona Apple

My friend Jamie let me know about a new Disney cover album coming out September 30!

The project is called Nightmare Revisited and features new recordings of every track from the Nightmare Before Christmas, including the score!

Manson's version of This is Halloween returns on this disc but all the other tracks feature rock/hard rock/emo artists that appeal to the goth and emo crowd who have given Nightmare Before Christmas cult status.

Track list (songs only):

Jack's Lament – All American Rejects
What's This? - Flyleaf
Town Meeting Song – Polyphonic Spree
Jack's Obsession - Sparklehorse
Kidnap The Sandy Claws - Korn
Making Christmas – Rise Against
Sally's Song – Amy Lee
Poor Jack – Plain White Ts
To The Rescue – Datarock
Oogie Boogie’s Song – Rodrigo y Gabriela

I don't know about you but this sounds awesome! Check out this link for the complete track list.

To celebrate this news, I have posted a version of Sally's Song by FIONA APPLE from the Nightmare Before Christmas Soundtrack re-release from a few years ago.

I love this version. It's so melancholy.

Sally's Song Fiona Apple 2006

Love is a Song - Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Way back on August 13, 1942, Walt Disney released his fifth animated feature film, Bambi.

Although it did poorly in the box office, Bambi is considered to be a masterpiece movie, with the death of Bambi's mother being one of the most well known scenes in movie history!

Bambi received three Academy Award nominations: Best Sound, Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture and Best Song for Love is a Song, written by Frank Churchill and Edward H. Plumb.

Like many elements of the film, Love is a Song touched many people emotionally. THE MORMON TABERNACLE CHOIR performs this song with the same tenderness and compassion that made us fall in love with it in the first place.

Love is a Song Mormon Tabernacle Choir 1990

Whistle While You Work - Artie Shaw and His Orchestra w/ Leo Watson

Today's track is by ARTIE SHAW AND HIS ORCHESTRA featuring LEO WATSON. Waton, a jazz musician from the 30s and 40s, was primarily a vocalist but also played the drums and the trombone which made a valuable player in many bands, Artie Shaw's and Gene Krupa's bands in particular, as well as the Spirits of Rhythm.

If you are a fan of Looney Tunes, you may be interested to know that Leo Watson provided the voice for Prince Chawmin' in Bob Clampett's Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs, a cartoon that has gone on to be part of the infamous Censored Eleven, forever in the Warner Bros. vaults never to see the light of day (except on youtube).

This song was recorded in 1937, probably just after the movie was released.

Whistle While You Work Artie Shaw and His Orchestra w/ Leo Watson 1937

Bop to the Top - Ashlely Tisdale and Kermit the Frog...and Miss Piggy

Last weekend saw the return of the Muppets to a prime time variety show television special! I am a huge Muppets fan and have long for the end of their feature films and a return to what they do best: Short skits with guest stars.

Disney, the current rights holders for the Muppets, created Studio DC Almost Live, a half hour TV special that featured the Muppets performing skits with current Disney Channel stars. The result was a real throw back to the glory days.

One number performed during the special was a cover of High School Musical's Bop to the Top sung by ASHLEY TISDALE and KERMIT THE FROG with a special cameo from MISS PIGGY.

I hope to see more of these specials as it looks like Disney is finally realizing what the Muppets are good at. I just hope that the guest stars will include people who are not contracted to the Disney Channel.

Bop to the Top Ashley Tisdale and Kermit the Frog...and Miss Piggy 2008

A Whole New World - Carol Rosenberger

It's been a while since I posted anything from the two classical Disney albums. So here is a track from BIBBIDI-BOBBIDI-BACH featuring CAROL ROSENBERGER on the piano.

Just like Rosenberger's version of With a Smile and a Song, here is A Whole New World in the style of the Polish composer and pianist, Frédéric Chopin.

What makes this piece a CHOPIN homage is the constant use of rubato, chromaticism and counterpoint.

A Whole New World Carol Rosenberger 1996

Forever and Ever - Asparagus

Eleven years ago on this day, Disney released their third direct-to-video feature, Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin. This is the first official sequel for the Winnie the Pooh franchise which was followed by The Tigger Movie in 2000.

This movie is notable for being the last time Paul Winchell would voice Tigger. Winchell provided the voice for Tigger in the shorts from the 60s and reprised his role for the first season of the New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh tv series in 1989. Winchell retired from the business in 1990, handing over the reigns to Jim Cummings, the voice of Winnie the Pooh since the death of Sterling Holloway.

1997 saw the return of Winchell for Pooh's Grand Adventure but he officially handed over the reigns to Cummings for good after that. Cummings has been the voice of Pooh and Tigger ever since.

Forever and Ever is one of the better songs in this movie and was written by the famous Sherman Brothers. This version, off DIVE INTO DISNEY, was recorded by Japanese rock band ASPARAGUS.

Forever and Ever Asparagus 2002

Perfect World - Mega NRG Man

MEGA NRG MAN is one of the many aliases of Thomas Marin, a Spanish Eurobeat vocalist who has been heavily involved in the Eurobeat scene since 1992.

An anonymous reader requested some time ago that I post a song from the Emperor's New Groove, so here is Perfect World, originally by Tom Jones, off the third volume of EUROBEAT DISNEY.

I'm not usually into Eurobeat, but this song works really well in this style. The horn riffs are perfect Eurobeat melodies and the energy of the original is only intensified by the frantic drum sampling. Good job Mega NRG Man! You can hear more of his work on the Initial D anime series.

Perfect World Mega NRG Man 2001