The VHS Corner: Disney Sing-Along Songs Overview

 Hey everyone! How's it going? I'm doing pretty well. Welcome back to the VHS Corner, where I talk about the VHS tapes of my childhood. Today I'm going to cover an entire series of VHS tapes that I watched alot when I was a kid and will be covering the tapes in the series that I owned, as well as the ones that my parents rented for me or I saw at the hospital. So let's dive into the Disney Sing-Along Songs tapes from my childhood.

Disney Sing-Along Songs was a series of direct to video, meaning not shown on TV or theatrically, VHS and DVDs that ran from 1986 until 2006, released by Disney. They consisted of song clips from different Disney movies and TV shows that had come out over the years. And often this was the only way you could see those clips as the movies hadn't been released on home video. I only had three of these tapes in my personal collection, but we rented seven of them from Rogers Video in the early to mid '90s. I'm going to cover the ones I owned in the order in which I got them in, and then I'll go over the ones we rented in the order they were originally released in. So with out further ado, let's get into it.

The first Disney Sing-Along Songs tape I ever got was the third tape released, The Bare Necessities. Each of these tapes had a broad theme they followed. This one's theme was animals and the Animal Kingdom. The movies the songs for this volume were selected from all had to do with animals, like Baloo from The Jungle Book, the mice from Cinderella, and Winnie the Pooh. This tape was originally released in 1987 for the 20th anniversary of The Jungle Book. The songs on this tape are "The Bare Necessities" (from The Jungle Book), "You Are a Human Animal" (from Mickey Mouse Club), "The Work Song" (from Cinderella), "Old Yeller" (from Old Yeller), "Figaro and Cleo" (from Figaro and Cleo), "Winnie the Pooh" (from The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh), "I Wan'na Be Like You" (from The Jungle Book), "Look Out for Mr. Stork" (from Dumbo), "Everybody Wants to Be a Cat" (from The Aristocats), "The Ugly Bug Ball" (from Summer Magic), and the reprise of "The Bare Necessities".

This is one of my favourite VHS tapes of all time. If you've been following me for any length of time you might remember that I did a list of my favourite VHS tapes and VHS box sets over on The Review Basement for it's 300th post and this tape is on it. It was one of my first Disney VHS tapes, my first Disney Sing-Along Songs tape, and one of my first introductions to Disney in general. It was a Christmas present in 1989. I don't have the tape anymore sadly, but I do own it's 2006 DVD release and I watched it last night in preparation for this post and it's still as good as I remember it being.

The second Disney Sing-Along Songs tape I got was the second volume, Heigh-Ho, which came out for the 50th Anniversary of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. I don't remember when I got this tape, or who gave it to me, but I remember watching it pretty frequently when I was a kid. The songs on this tape are "Heigh-Ho" (from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), "Up, Down, Touch the Ground" (from Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree), "Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee" (from Pinocchio), "Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me)" (from Pirates of the Caribbean (Disneyland attraction)), "The Dwarfs' Yodel Song (The Silly Song)" (from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), "A Cowboy Needs a Horse" (from A Cowboy Needs a Horse), "The Three Caballeros" (from The Three Caballeros), "Theme from Zorro" (from Zorro), "The Siamese Cat Song" (from Lady and the Tramp), "Let's Go Fly a Kite" (from Mary Poppins), and the reprise of "Heigh-Ho". 

The third and final Disney Sing-Along Songs tape I got when I was a kid was the 1994 release of the seventh volume, Disneyland Fun, which originally came out in 1990. I got this tape way later in my childhood, as I got it as a Christmas present in 1996 or 1997. The version I had was a special edition release as the tape came in this big box with a Mickey Mouse microphone included. I don't have that edition anymore, but last November I got three boxes of VHS tapes from someone I know, and the regular 1994 edition of this tape was in it so I have it back in my collection. This was also the only live-action Disney Sing-Along Songs tape I owned when I was a kid. The previews on this tape were for the Disney Favorite Stories Collection which began coming out in 1994, a Winnie the Pooh home video collection, and then a 1993 preview for Disney Sing-Along Songs after the program.

The songs on this tape are "Whistle While You Work" (from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), "Step in Time" (from Mary Poppins), "I'm Walking Right Down the Middle of Main Street U.S.A." (from Disneyland is Your Land), "Follow the Leader" (from Peter Pan), "The Great Outdoors" (from Country Bear Vacation Hoedown), "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" (from Song of the South), "Rumbly in My Tumbly" (from Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree), "It's a Small World" (from It's a Small World), "Making Memories" (from Magic Journey), "Grim Grinning Ghosts" (from the Haunted Mansion Disneyland Attraction), "The Character Parade" (from various Disneyland parades), and "When You Wish Upon a Star" (from Pinocchio). 

Released in 1988 as the fourth volume in the series, Disney Sing-Along Songs: You Can Fly! is a tape that my parents rented for me once. I vaguely remember it because Ludwig von Drake, a relative of Donald Duck, is the host for the program. Plus I remember a decent number of the songs as well. We didn't rent it very often though so I didn't watch it as often as I did the ones I owned. The songs are "You Can Fly" (from Peter Pan), "The Beautiful Briny" (from Bedknobs and Broomsticks), "Colonel Hathi's March" (from The Jungle Book), "I've Got No Strings" (from Pinocchio), "Little Black Rain Cloud" (from Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree), "The Merrily Song" (from The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad), "He's a Tramp" (from Lady and the Tramp), "Step in Time" (from Mary Poppins), and "When I See An Elephant Fly" (from Dumbo), as well as the reprise of "You Can Fly".

Next up is Under the Sea, which came out to celebrate the original 1990 home video release of The Little Mermaid. This was a tape that I saw once at the hospital and then I think we rented it as well. I remember seeing it at Rogers Video but I don't remember if we actually rented it that time. I do remember watching it at the hospital for sure though. The songs are "Under the Sea" (from The Little Mermaid), "By the Beautiful Sea" (traditional song set to clips from Disney cartoons and movies), "Never Smile at a Crocodile" (from Peter Pan), "That's What Makes the World Go Round" (from The Sword in the Stone), "Kiss the Girl" (from The Little Mermaid), "At the Codfish Ball" (song sung to clips of Disney cartoons and movies), "Sailing, Sailing/Sailor's Hornpipe" (song medley sung to clips of Disney cartoons and movies), "A Whale of a Tale" (from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea), "Someone's Waiting for You" (from The Rescuers), and a reprise of "Under the Sea". 

I Love to Laugh! is a Disney Sing-Along Songs tape that I know I watched only in the hospital and didn't rent it. I do remember it though as it has several Disney songs that I really like. This tape was hosted by both Professor Owl and Ludwig von Drake, which is the second tape where Professor Owl co-hosts with Ludwig von Drake, the first being Fun with Music. The songs on this tape are "I Love to Laugh" (from Mary Poppins), "Everybody's Got a Laughing Place" (from Song of the South), "Bluddle-Uddle-Um-Dum" (from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" (from Mary Poppins), "Quack, Quack, Quack, Donald Duck" (from A Day in the Life of Donald Duck), "Oo-De-Lally" (from Robin Hood), "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" (from Three Little Pigs), "The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers" (from Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too), "Pink Elephants on Parade" (from Dumbo), and "Jolly Holiday" (from Mary Poppins). This is the only non-Disneyland/Walt Disney World related Disney Sing-Along Songs tape that doesn't end with a reprise of the opening song.

Be Our Guest was a tape that my parents rented for me but I didn't watch it at the hospital. I actually have it in my own VHS collection now, as it was in one of those three boxes of VHS tapes that I got back in November. It was hosted by Jiminy Cricket. The only preview on this tape was a shorter version of the Disney Sing-Along Songs preview that was on the 1994 edition of Disneyland Fun, as it only goes up to this tape since Friend Like Me hadn't come out yet. The songs on this tape are "Be Our Guest" (from Beauty and the Beast), "A Spoonful of Sugar" (from Mary Poppins), "Little Wooden Head" (from Pinocchio), "Bella Notte" (from Lady and the Tramp), "Heffalumps and Woozles" (from Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day), "Beauty and the Beast" (from Beauty and the Beast), "The World's Greatest Criminal Mind" (from The Great Mouse Detective), "Chim Chim Cher-ee" (from Mary Poppins), "Once Upon a Dream" (from Sleeping Beauty), and the reprise of "Be Our Guest". 

Friend Like Me is another rental, not hospital viewing, tape that I watched when I was a kid. I think I remember this one the most out of all of the Disney Sing-Along Songs tapes that I rented or saw at the hospital because it had to do with Aladdin, which is one of my favourite Disney movies of all time. It's also one of the tapes we rented that had the Muppet Sing-Alongs: Billy Bunny's Animal Songs preview at the beginning of the tape. At the end of the tape there's the standard Disney Sing-Along Songs preview as well as a preview for the Walt Disney Mini-Classics releases of Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too, and Winnie the Pooh and A Day for Eeyore. 

The songs are "Friend Like Me" (from Aladdin), "The Best of Friends" (from The Fox and the Hound), "Something There" (from Beauty and the Beast), "How Do You Do?" (from Song of the South), "Friendship" (by Mickey, Donald, and Goofy), "In Harmony" (from The Little Mermaid animated series), "Let's Get Together" (from The Parent Trap (1961)), "That's What Friends Are For" (from The Jungle Book), "A Whole New World" (from Aladdin), and the reprise of "Friend Like Me".

Now the 2003 DVD included a few extra songs to the program, but I'm only talking about the original 1994 VHS release of Circle of Life, so those songs won't be included on this list. Being a kid in 1994 meant you'd seen The Lion King at least once in theatres, maybe more than that, and for me that meant renting the corresponding Disney Sing-Along Songs VHS release. It's hosted by Jiminy Cricket and starts with previews for Pocahontas, which is unusual since these tapes didn't advertise new animated movies coming out, since this series is one big advertisement for Disney movies and TV shows as it is, and for the VHS release of Muppet Classic Theater, which I have never seen, but have heard about. It ends with an updated Disney Sing-Along Songs preview. The update includes the 1994-1999 cover style, which debuted with re-releases of the earlier tapes and with this release, rather than the 1990-1993 cover style which began with Under the Sea, and goes all the way up to Friend Like Me but excludes Fun with Music as it did not get another re-release in the new cover style. It's also the first tape to include songs from previous tapes.

The songs on this tape are "Circle of Life" (from The Lion King), "Part of Your World" (from The Little Mermaid), "Prince Ali" (from Aladdin), "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" (from The Lion King), "Belle" (from Beauty and the Beast), "Everybody Wants to Be a Cat" (from The Aristocats, and was originally on Disney Sing-Along Songs: The Bare Necessities), and "When You Wish Upon a Star" (from Pinocchio, and was originally on Disney Sing-Along Songs: Disneyland Fun).

Colors of the Wind is an interesting tape because it mostly contains songs from previous Disney Sing-Along Songs releases. It's hosted by Jiminy Cricket and Ludwig von Drake. The tape opens with previews for the home video release of A Goofy Movie, and for the four Disney Princess Collection tapes that included episodes of Aladdin: The Animated Series and The Little Mermaid and it ends with a new Disney Sing-Along Songs preview that only includes footage from Under the Sea, Be Our Guest, Friend Like Me, and Circle of Life, and a preview for Mickey's Fun Songs, which is a series similar to Disney Sing-Along Songs but they're live action and take place at Walt Disney World and the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus with all three tapes, Let's Go to the Circus!, Campout at Walt Disney World, and Beach Party at Walt Disney World, being re-released as Disney Sing-Along Songs tapes in 1996. It's also the only tape where the song it's named after doesn't appear until the end of the tape. Normally the title song is either the first or second song on the tape, with a reprise at the end. 

The songs on this tape are "Just Around the River Bend" (from Pocahontas), "The Work Song" (from Cinderella and originally appeared on The Bare Necessities), "Why Should I Worry" (from Oliver & Company and originally appeared on Fun with Music), "Hakuna Matata" (from The Lion King), "Little Wooden Head" (from Pinocchio and originally appeared on Be Our Guest), "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" (from The Lion King), "Higitus Figitus" (from The Sword in the Stone), and "Colors of the Wind" (from Pocahontas).

And that my friends comes to the end of our Disney Sing-Along Songs journey. I might do a follow-up on the tapes I didn't own or see when I was a kid, because the series ran until 2006, but this is where my journey ends, aside from Beach Party at Walt Disney World, which I think I'm going to talk about on it's own at another time. But join me tomorrow when I dive into the Comic Book Longbox and dig out my old issues of the various comics I had growing up that had the title The Batman Adventures on them. So until then have a wonderful evening and I will talk to you all later. Take care.