Disney Sing Along Songs Vol. 6: Under the Sea ReviewÂ
Theme Song by Brian Setzer and owned by Walt Disney Records
When the Little Mermaid was released in 1989 the world was once again captivated by quality Disney magic. It reinvigorated the art form of the animated film and Disney as a company and as a group of storytellers. Naturally Disney would want to capitalize on the success as much as possible and that means an entire Sing Along Song episode dedicated to the promotion of the film as well as all things related to the oceans. This volume is an even further extension of what we’ve seen so far. It may not have as many songs as Fun With Music, but it more than makes up for it by continuing the slew of quality songs in the lineup. This is Disney Sing Along Songs Volume 6: Under the Sea!
Part 2
All footage owned by Walt Disney Home Video
Under the Sea
While Mr. Owl is looking in the archives to see if there’s more stock footage of himself Professor Ludwig Von Drake takes over as host from the get go. We are welcomed aboard his ship and Von Drake is our captain. Oh Boy. Anyway our musical cruise departs and Von Drake starts us off with the title song and the OSCAR winning song from the Little Mermaid Under the Sea. Now I’ve made it no secret that I believe that Under the Sea may be a good song it is by no means the best song in Mermaid because I believe that title goes to part of Your World a song that is COMPLETELY SNUBBED in the lineup of this volume. So yes as much as I really enjoy it I do think it is one of the most overrated Disney songs. Still it serves as a great opening number and it deserves the role as title song. We all know how the song goes right? With great visuals, and well written lyrics from Howard Ashman and an extremely catchy melody by Alan Menken we get this overrated, but very enjoyable title song and is the perfect start to this volume.
By the Beautiful Sea
This is a great duet about having a great time at the beach. It’s so charming and pleasant to listen to that it warrants multiple viewings. It’s one of the best on the tape.
Never Smile at a Crocodile
This next song has Von Drake looking at his lunch through his telescope and says that a captain’s lunch is good, but when the captain is the lunch well that can only be Captain Hook. This is probably the most famous and the best deleted Disney song ever! It’s so catchy and entertaining and it was given an exclusive remix making this album one of the most unique in the series!!!
That’s What Makes the World Go Round
This song from Sword in the Stone is probably the weakest in the volume. It’s an okay song about how Merlin is training Arthur under various circumstances in this case when he’s transformed into a fish. It’s okay, but in comparison to the other songs is pretty weak.
Kiss the Girl
I believe that this song could have easily been replaced by Part of Your World, but they wanted the consistency of the Sebastian songs I guess. This is still a nice song and obviously fits the Mermaid and ocean theme of the volume and is a halfway marker.
At the Codfish Ball
This is just a fun little ditty and is about a great celebration of all the sea creatures called the Codfish Ball. It uses a fairly well known old short about merbabies as the footage shown during the song. A small fun little treat for the episode!
Sailing, Sailing/ Sailor’s Hornpipe
This mash up of two classic children’s songs is just awesome! It’s done very well and uses a lot of great footage.
A Whale of a Tale
I bet you didn’t expect a song from one of Disney’s greatest live action films did you. This song is from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and it’s about Kirk Douglas’s character singing about all the so called “adventures†he’s had as a sailor. This is very entertaining and gets to the relationships between sailors and music. A really good song.
Someone’s Waiting For You
This is a very nice song from the Rescuers. This is connected to the theme by not only sailors getting homesick, but because of the bayou type setting. Now I know the Rescuers isn’t Disney’s best movie, but it is far from bland and boring like the Aristocats. I love the subtlety of the Rescuers. I really like the fact that the Rescue Aid Society is dedicated to helping people and that even though they’re mice they still are willing to go through extreme odds to get the mission done. I also like the partnership and relationship between Bernard and Bianca as well capturing Penny’s pain of being held against her will by people that treat her like dirt. The story isn’t extremely fast paced or edge of your seat excitement, but it wasn’t meant to be. I love that this movie slows down takes its time and tells its story. Now this song is a perfect and is the greatest example of that sincere and really nice subtlety in the film. It’s an insert song that in a way is a ray of hope for the young girl named Penny about no matter how bad it may seem that someone is out there to love her unconditionally and to not give up on family. An excellent finale song!!!
Under the Sea Reprise
As with tradition the title song is back for a reprise and it not only makes a great opening number but an excellent closing number!!!!!!!!!!! It’s an excellent ending to an excellent volume!!!
Final Thoughts
I know this review may seem underwhelming and therefore I like Fun With Music more than I do this, but that’s not true because this volume is excellent and is the best so far. It’s just that you can’t really describe the volume’s greatness because it must be experienced for oneself. This is the best of them all at least until the next one because the next is my personal favorite and is considered by a lot of Youtube commenters and myself to be the best in the entire series! Stay tuned for Disney Sing Along Songs Volume 7: Disneyland Fun!!!
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