Hey guys! How are your weekends going so far? I was actually pretty busy this weekend for a change, which was nice. I only have four live action Disney Sing-Along Songs (including this one) left to do, so I decided that I'm going to alternate with Video Game Memories until this series is over. Today I'm taking a look at Beach Party at Walt Disney World, the last of the Mickey's Fun Songs tapes to be released. So let's get right into it because I am really excited to be talking about this one.
This video is probably my favourite of the Mickey's Fun Songs releases and my favourite, so far, of the live action Disney Sing-Along Songs tapes, next to Disneyland Fun. I don't know if it's because there's more energy to this one than the others or if it's just because I love going to the beach and the beach theme is more timeless than the circus theme, which is very 90s, and more accessible than the camping theme as while not everybody has gone camping, most people have been to the beach at least once in their lives. Whatever the case is, this is the best of the Mickey's Fun Songs tapes in my opinion. And in a few other people's opinion too as this seems to be the tape I see reviews for the most on YouTube and it's the one that people speak of the most highly after Disneyland Fun, even if they didn't watch it when they were kids. There's just something about it that screams fun.
Unlike with the other two Mickey's Fun Songs tapes there are no songs from The Jungle Book anywhere on this tape. Instead we get "A Pirate's Life (Is a Wonderful Life)" from Peter Pan and "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid, sung by Jodi Benson herself, reprising her role as Ariel's voice from the movie. Which is pretty cool. The rest of the songs are a mix of classic beach and celebration themed songs such as "Surfin' Safari" by the Beach Boys, and classic children's songs like "Three Little Fishies", which is a fun combo.
Other Disney characters show up like Peter Pan, Captain Hook, Mr. Smee, Ariel, Aladdin and Jasmine (the theme park walk around characters). However I noticed that this tape is much more focused on the kids with the Disney characters barely having any speaking lines. Tiffany Burton and Toby Granger are the only kids to appear in all three Mickey's Fun Songs videos, with Tiffany having the most screentime because for whatever reason the camera kept focusing on her, especially during songs. Another thing about the kids is that unlike the other Disney theme park set tapes, we actually learn all of their names, both during the song "Set Your Name Free", a song that I was completely unfamiliar with before watching this tape, and at the end of the tape before the end credits start rolling, which is pretty cool.
Originally released as the final volume in the short-lived Mickey's Fun Songs series, Beach Party at Walt Disney World is another Disney Sing-Along Songs tape that I missed when I was a kid. I think I mentioned this back in one of my other Sing-Along Songs reviews, but we stopped renting tapes from the series after Colors of the Wind had come out. I only owned Heigh-Ho, The Bare Necessities, and Disneyland Fun, but after Colors of the Wind I actually stopped seeing the series at the video store, aside from the earlier tapes that we'd either rented before or I'd watched when I was in the hospital. Especially the live-action tapes. Those I don't remember seeing at the video store at all.
The video got released on DVD in 2005, but like I said, I missed out on all three releases of it. One interesting thing to note about Beach Party at Walt Disney World and it's home video releases is that the picture on the front cover is the same through all three versions. Which is interesting. But that seems to be par for the course when it comes to the Disney Sing-Along Songs tapes.
There are a few things that I wrote down in my notes that I wanted to be sure to bring up. I know Mickey is magical, but when did he gain the ability to teleport everywhere? I mean the clown in Let's Go to the Circus! threw glitter on everyone to send them to their seats in the big tent, but in Campout at Walt Disney World they used conventional transportation to get everywhere. I swear Barney's existence must've had alot of influence on this tape and how Mickey is portrayed in it, as Barney & Friends was a year or two old at the time this tape was produced, assuming it was produced in 1993 or 1994 (it came out in 1995) and it was the 90s so anything is possible. Also, I never realized this before but Peter Pan is kind of a jerk. I mean, the pirates weren't doing anything except singing and Peter just shows up and fights Captain Hook until Hook falls over the side of the pirate ship.
Overall this tape is excellent. Despite missing it when I was a kid and not seeing it until I was an adult (gotta love YouTube), it's a fun video to watch. While I didn't find myself singing along with all of the songs, like I do with the three Disney Sing-Along Songs tapes I owned when I was a kid, there were a few of them that I did sing along to, mainly "Surfin' Safari" because it is a Beach Boys song and I can't help but sing along whenever I hear a Beach Boys song. If you're a 90s kid and you haven't seen this tape before, I definitely recommend checking it out.
Alrighty I think that's going to be it for me for today. I'll be back on Wednesday though for my overview of the Walt Disney Gold Classic Collection VHS releases and then on Friday I'll be reviewing the final issue of Nancy Drew & The Hardy Boys: The Death of Nancy Drew. Next week I'll be taking a look at Super Mario Bros. 2 (the North American game, not The Lost Levels), and then in two weeks, I'll be looking at the next live action Disney Sing-Along Songs tape, Pongo & Perdita, which I haven't watched yet, but something tells me it's not going to be good. I'm almost tempted to skip it and just look at the next Disney theme park set tape, Happy Haunting Party at Disneyland, but I said I would review all of the live-action Disney Sing-Along Songs tapes and that one is included. So until next time have a great rest of your day and I will talk to you all later. Take care.
No comments:
Post a Comment