Disney Sing-Along Songs Overview Part 1: The First Six Tapes (1986-1989)

 Hey everyone! So I got a crazy idea when I was trying to fall asleep last night. And that idea is why I'm doing this blog post. Today I'm starting a new overview series, where I take a look at a series of VHS, DVD, or Blu-ray releases and talk about them. Starting with the Disney Sing-Along Songs series that ran from 1986 to 2006, basically the first twenty years of my life. I've talked about these tapes at great length both here and on my other blog, the Review Basement, but this is going to be similar to my look at the major Walt Disney Home Entertainment lines that I did on the Review Basement in 2020 and 2021. This section is probably going to be the shortest one since there are only six tapes to talk about. So let's get into it.

As mentioned before Disney Sing-Along Songs was a series of VHS and DVD releases that came out between 1986 and 2006. Usually if a movie was reaching an anniversary, a theatrical re-release, or a home video release, Disney would release a corresponding Sing-Along Songs release though the headlining movie was usually an animated movie with Song of the South and Mary Poppins being the exceptions. There were also several packaging design changes between the four series. The first series ran from 1986 until 1989 and included six volumes: Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah, Heigh-Ho, The Bare Necessities, You Can Fly!, Very Merry Christmas Songs, and Fun with Music. So let's take a look.

Released on October 14th, 1986 Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah was the first tape released in the series. It was originally released to coincide with the 1986 theatrical re-release of Song of the South (1946) for it's 40th anniversary. If I remember correctly it was the last theatrical release the movie ever had. Anyway this tape was released to coincide with that theatrical re-release. I never owned or rented this tape when I was growing up. I knew of it from the preview at the end of the 1994 release of Disneyland Fun, which showed the early '90s re-releases, which I'll be talking about next time. I've since watched this tape on YouTube and I find it quite interesting since it's the first tape in the series. 

There are a total of twelve songs on this tape. They are: "Disney Sing Along Songs Theme Song", "Mickey Mouse March" (Mickey Mouse Club), "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" (Song of the South), "Following the Leader" (Peter Pan), "It's A Small World" (Disneyland Attraction), "The Unbirthday Song" (Alice in Wonderland), "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo" (Cinderella), "Casey Junior" (Dumbo), "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" (Davy Crockett), "Give A Little Whistle" (Pinocchio), "Whistle While You Work" (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), and "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah (Reprise)".

Released on May 19th, 1987, Heigh-Ho is the second Sing-Along Songs release to come out. This is also the second tape in the series that I owned. It was released to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and it's 1987 theatrical re-release. I remember watching it quite often when I was a kid. Afterall it was the only other Sing-Along Songs tape that we owned for the longest time.

The songs on this tape are: "Disney Sing Along Songs Theme Song", "Heigh-Ho" (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), "Up, Down, Touch the Ground" (Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree), "Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee" (Pinocchio), "Yo Ho (A Pirates Life for Me)" (Pirates of the Caribbean attraction), "The Dwarfs' Yodel Song (The Silly Song)" (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), "A Cowboy Needs a Horse" (A Cowboy Needs a Horse), "The Three Caballeros" (The Three Caballeros), "Theme From Zorro" (Zorro), "The Siamese Cat Song" (Lady and the Tramp), "Let's Go Fly a Kite" (Mary Poppins), and "Heigh-Ho (Reprise)". 

Released on October 6th 1987, The Bare Necessities is my favourite of the Sing-Along Songs tapes. It was released to coincide with the 20th Anniversary of The Jungle Book. There was no theatrical re-release that year as it had had one back in 1984 and it's next one was due in 1990, which is the one that my parents took me to see when I was a kid. This is the first Sing-Along Songs tape to be hosted by Jiminy Cricket, as the previous two tapes had been hosted by Professor Owl, who appears here during the opening theme and right after that to introduce Jiminy. I got it for Christmas in 1989, so a REALLY long time ago. I don't have the tape anymore, but I have it on DVD, which I will be talking about when I get to a later segment of this overview.

The songs on this tape are: "Disney Sing Along Songs Theme Song", "The Bare Necessities" (The Jungle Book), "You Are a Human Animal" (Mickey Mouse Club), "The Work Song" (Cinderella), "Old Yeller" (Old Yeller), "Figaro and Cleo" (Figaro and Cleo), "Winnie the Pooh" (The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh), "I Wan'na Be Like You" (The Jungle Book), "Look Out for Mr. Stork" (Dumbo), "Everybody Wants to Be a Cat" (The Aristocats), "The Ugly Bug Ball" (Summer Magic), and "The Bare Necessities (Reprise)". 

You Can Fly! is the last of these original six tapes that I watched growing up. We didn't own it though. My parents rented it for me. Professor Ludwig Von Drake is the host of this tape. It was released on February 2nd, 1988 to celebrate the 35th Anniversary of Peter Pan, though the movie wouldn't have a theatrical re-release until 1989, as it's previous one had been in 1982. This is the first tape that has the Ludwig Von Drake narrated Sing-Along Songs promo after the credits.

There are only 11 songs on this tape, while the previous three releases had 12, including the reprises and the opening theme. They are: "Disney Sing Along Songs Theme Song", "You Can Fly" (Peter Pan), "The Beautiful Briny" (Bedknobs and Broomsticks), "Colonel Hathi's March" (The Jungle Book), "I've Got No Strings" (Pinocchio), "Little Black Rain Cloud" (Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree), "The Merrily Song" (The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad), "He's a Tramp" (Lady and the Tramp), "Step in Time" (Mary Poppins), "When I See an Elephant Fly" (Dumbo), and "You Can Fly (Reprise)".

This next tape is a special Christmas release that came out on October 4th, 1988. There's no opening theme on this tape, and no narrator, just Christmas songs sung over clips from various Disney animated movies and cartoon shorts. I didn't even know about this tape when I was a kid because Disney tended to keep the Christmas related Sing-Along Songs volumes out of the promos for the series and they didn't advertise them on TV either. 

The Songs on this tape are: "From All of Us to All of You", "Deck the Halls", "Jingle Bells", "Joy to the World", "Up on the Housetop", "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow", "Sleigh Ride", "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers", "Winter Wonderland", "Here Comes Santa Claus", "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (Sung over the actual 1948 Fleischer cartoon), "Silent Night", and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas". 

The final tape to be released in this first series is Fun with Music which was released on August 31st, 1989. It was released to promote the then most recent Disney animated feature film, Oliver & Company, which had been released to theatres only nine months earlier, and was the first Sing-Along Songs tape to promote a new Disney film, rather than classic films. I knew about this tape because of the post-credits Sing-Along Songs promo at the end of the 1994 VHS release of Disneyland Fun, which I'll talk about more in another segment. It was hosted by Professor Owl and Professor Ludwig Von Drake.

The songs on this tape are: "Disney Sing Along Songs Theme Song", "Fun with Music" (Mickey Mouse Club), "Why Should I Worry" (Oliver & Company), "With a Smile and a Song" (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), "Let's All Sing Like the Birdies Sing" (Disneyland), "All in the Golden Afternoon" (Alice in Wonderland), "While Strolling Through the Park" (The Nifty Nineties), "Boo-Boo-Boo" (A Symposium on Popular Songs), "The Green with Envy Blues" (An Adventure in Color), "Good Company" (Oliver & Company), "Blue Danube Waltz" (A Square Peg in a Round Hole), "Old Macdonald Had a Band" (Jack and Old Mac), "Scales and Arpeggios" (The Aristocats), and "Why Should I Worry (Reprise)".

With the next volume in the series, Under the Sea, Disney changed the packaging, attached volume numbers to the sides, and re-released all six of these first volumes, with the numbering being altered. But I'll get to that in the next part. I'm not sure how often I'll be putting this series out as it can be alot of work, though nowhere near the amount of work as it took to do overviews of the main Walt Disney Home Video/Walt Disney Home Entertainment lines that I did on the Review Basement. I'm aiming for weekly but depending on how things go I might post these more often than that. We'll see though.

That's gonna be it for me for this week. I'll be back next week with lots more posts including my review of the first episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, which drops on Thursday. So until then have a wonderful weekend and I'll talk to you all later. Take care.