Create Your Own Ultimate Disney Christmas Playlist

Disney didn't release a new character Christmas album this year, but 2012's Jingle Bell Fun was so entertaining, it deserves another winter in the spotlight. Plus, this is a great year to revisit Disney Christmas albums from the past and add some gems to your music player.

Looking over what's available to purchase digitally from iTunes and Amazon MP3, it's easy to create a fantastic Disney Christmas playlist. Here are Mouse Troop's picks for the best of the best, but we encourage you to sample all the available tracks and make your own personal Disney Musical Winter Holiday Extravaganza!

Strange Things 10: Welcome Irish Bedknob Birds Edition

Great off-beat Disney tunes keep cropping up on iTunes and Amazon, so here we go with another round of Strange Things--Disney tunes that are rarely heard, obscure or performed in unexpected ways.

Our first pick is a Walt Disney World tribute! One problem: This particular non-Disney album cover is so ugly, we're not going to post it. Instead, here are some lovely Main Street flowers...

Track: WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME
Album: Cool & Classy Take on TV

This is such an odd find: Hidden among this album's ho-hum offering of TV themes you'll find an instrumental rendition of the "Welcome, Welcome, Welcome" show at Magic Kingdom. Whaaa...?!? The medley includes the "Welcome" song, "Walking Right Down the Middle of Main Street U.S.A" and "The Trolley Song." It seems arranged as a Karaoke backing track, but it still sound's upbeat as all heck. This one seems to be iTunes-only just now.

Next: A performance that's almost guaranteed to lift the sulkiest of spirits...

Strange Things 9: Laughing Sky Edition!

Holy Cheshire Cats, "Beyond the Laughing Sky" is on iTunes! Time for another edition of Strange Things -- Recordings of Disney tunes which are offbeat, rarely heard or performed in unexpected ways. All are available on iTunes and Amazon MP3.

This first one, a stealth release from Disney, is one fans have been waiting for since the days of laser disc!

TRACK: Beyond the Laughing Sky
ALBUM: The Lost Chords: Peter Pan

The Lost Chords are short albums highlighting songs which were not used in the Disney films they were written for. Past releases include songs from Cinderella, The Aristocats and The Rescuers. Each lets you hear the original demo version, followed by a new recording of the piece.

"Beyond the Laughing Sky", however, is a special song--one that forever links the production history of Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan. If you watched the bonus material on the Alice in Wonderland laser disc or recent DVD releases, you probably know its history. The song was written for Alice, but not used. With a new set of lyrics, the song became "Second Star to the Right" in Peter Pan. Here's a music clip from the video releases, hosted by Kathryn Beaumont, the voice of both Alice and Wendy:

The new recording (by Vangie Gunn) on iTunes is beautiful. If you buy one Disney song this week, this is the one to get. Its history is strange, but its performance is wonderful.

Next up (we've got five picks today): Time for a classic 20,000 Leagues song as sung by a bunch of scallawags...

Strange Things 8: Thurl Ravenscroft Holiday Special

Welcome back to Strange Things, a roundup of offbeat Disney tunes that are obscure or performed in an unusual manner. All are available on iTunes and Amazon MP3. In honor of the Holidays, we're starting off with a Disney Legend often associated with Dr. Seuss and Christmas: the great Thurl Ravenscroft.

TRACK:  DO YOU BELIEVE IN SANTA CLAUS
ALBUM: Thurl Ravenscroft - Christmas Cocktails Part Three

In addition to making the famous Grinch song his own,  the amazing bass singer is beloved for his performances in the Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, Tiki Room, Country Bear Jamboree, and many, many more Disney attractions, films and records.

In light of his Disney legacy, I don't think anyone will mind that today's first pick is not a Disney song, but a wonderful, light-hearted Christmas tune sung by Mr. Ravenscroft as Santa Claus. It's another fantasy classic from one of the most memorable voices in entertainment history.

All right, regarding our next pick...I really didn't plan to start a lounge theme here...

Strange Things 2: More Great Offbeat Disney Music

Welcome back to another plunge into the world of unusual, off-the-wall Disney recordings. These are all fun, top-notch tracks--sometimes historic, sometimes obscure, sometimes simply sung or performed in unexpected ways. All are on iTunes -- you just gotta know where to look!

Track: THE UNBIRTHDAY SONG
Album: Freddie and the Dreamers in Disneyland

Oh, heck, yeah! Early-60's pop with zany humor and energy. If you like one track, you'll love the whole album -- a non-typical assortment including everything from The Ugly Bug Ball to The Ballad of Dick Turpin (from the rarely seen Disney film The Legend of Young Dick Turpin).

Track: THE AGE OF NOT BELIEVING
Album: So Far on 3 Wheels:Dodgy on the Radio

Here's a unique take on a Sherman Brothers classic! Dodgy was a terrific British Power-Pop group, and they gave this Oscar-nominated Bedknobs & Broomsticks song a rough-edged, small-club rock band twist. Here's what I like most about it: if you close your eyes, it's easy to imagine the four vultures from Jungle Book belting this out.

Track: I'M LATE
Album: Alan Dale: The Very Best of

Baritone 50's crooner Dale gives the White Rabbit a gruff edge and adds an Italian accent that turns the piece into a truly fun character performance.

And, man, the guy deserves a better album cover.

Track: KNIBBELDEKNABBELDEKNAUW (Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo)
Album: Animal Crackers

Andre Van Duin's Dutch interpretation of the Fairy Godmother song sounds even more whimsical than the original. I'm determined to learn this piece phonetically, syllable-by-syllable!

Track: MY FAVORITE DREAM
Album: Bud Noble -- The Music of Ray Noble/In the Noble Manner

I don't mind a straightforward, easy-listening track on this list when it covers a seldom-performed great Disney song, and here British bandleader/arranger Ray Noble does a beautiful job on one of Disney's best hidden treasures.

"My Favorite Dream" is the Harp's wistful ballad from the Mickey & the Beanstalk half of the film Fun & Fancy Free. There's another track from the same film on this album: "My, What a Happy Day." It's not quite as good, but well worth adding to your Disney collection.

iTunes has this album classified as "New Age." Pffffff--really, iTunes?

Next, we have a soundtrack from a 90's Disney fantasy film most people have, sadly, never heard of.

Track: OPENING
Album: Tall Tale: The Unbelievable Adventures of Pecos Bill

This story of a boy trying to save his father's farm with the aid of Pecos Bill, John Henry and Paul Bunyan (with Babe the Blue Ox) deserved a better fate at the box office. At any rate, Randy Edelman's terrific, sweeping score is available to enjoy, and if you're a film music fan, you should check out the beautiful opening theme.

I love each and every one of the above tracks, and highly recommend them for anyone looking beyond hit singles to fill out their Disney playlists. There's a lot more to be discovered on iTunes and Amazon. Mouse Troop will be highlighting more offbeat Disney music soon!

A Cars Land Song List Update

We'd sure love to hear some actual Motorama Girls music, but until Pixar, the Imagineers and Jenifer Lewis decide to create these tunes in the studio, we'll just have to make do with the wonderful selection of Motown hits playing in Flo's V8 Cafe.

A lot of Mouse Troop readers have been checking out our Cars Land Song List; it's good to know there are so many Cars music fans out there!

We just realized that, when we updated the stand-alone page for our list, we neglected to add the new songs to the original archived post. That's been fixed; both links now carry the same updated list of Cars Land Songs.

If you've visited Radiator Springs recently and enjoyed any tunes we haven't noted yet, please drop us a comment, and we'll add the information. The internet certainly has turned out to be an info cornucopia for Disney park fans!

Cars Land Song List *Updated*

The internet's a great place to find out others share your Disney hobbies -- for instance, creating playlists of songs you enjoy at the Disney Resorts. At Mouse Troop, we're thoroughly enjoying the sounds of Cars Land, and we're compiling a list of music we've heard there. The official Music of Cars Land CD got us off to a great start, but there's much, much more to the soundscape of DCA's newest territory.

So here's our ongoing project to list as many Cars Land tracks as we can, and indicate if they're available on CD or iTunes. Any input you can give us to complete this list would be greatly appreciated! *Update* There are a lot of terrific and dedicated Disney music fans out there, and this list could not be as robust as it is without information gathered by Anonymous friends as well as monorail91, pixilated and RocketRodsXPR. UPDATE 12/10/12  A thanks to reader Jesse, who just identified three Ramblin' Lou songs from the RSR queue. UPDATE 3/5/2013 We weren't simply eating at Flo's on our most recent DCA trip -- we were taking notes! We've added over a dozen tracks to our Flo's V8 Cafe list and added La Bamba to Ramone's. UPDATE 7/7/13 A big thanks to Heather D., who just identified nearly a dozen additional songs for the RSR queue list!

So, as Mater sings at his Junkyard Jamboree, "Scatter n' scoot n' away we go!"


FROM RADIATOR SPRINGS RACERS:

Radiator Springs Racers Full Attraction (Available on The Music of Cars Land and iTunes)
Behind the Clouds - Brad Paisley (Available on Cars soundtrack)
Low Rider (Espanol Fantasmo Mix) - War (Available on The Music of Cars Land)

FROM THE RADIATOR SPRINGS RACERS QUEUE:

Riding in My Car (Car Car Song) - Woody Guthrie (Available on The Music of Cars Land)
Auto-Conga - Xavier Cugat (iTunes)
Hot Rod Blues - Ramblin' Lou (iTunes)
In My Merry Oldsmobile - Bix Beiderbeck (iTunes)
Listen to the Rhythm of the Range - Gene Autry (iTunes)
Roly Poly - Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys (iTunes)
Henry's Made a Lady Out of Lizzie - Beth Challis (iTunes)
No Parking Here - Jimmy Littlejohn (iTunes)
The Little Ford Rambled Right Along - Billy Murray (iTunes)
The Automobile Song - Ramblin' Lou (iTunes)
Model T Baby - Ramblin' Lou (iTunes)
My Ford Sedan - Fiddlin' John Carson (iTunes)
Crazy 'Cause I Love You - Tex Williams (iTunes)
The Automobile Song - Luke McDaniel (iTunes)
I'm a Truck Driving Man - Red Simpson (iTunes)
Dig That Hot Rod = Paul Westmoreland (iTunes)
The Chevrolet Six - Frank Hutchison (iTunes)
Hot Rod Baby - Dick Reinhart (iTunes)
Hello, I'm a Truck - Red Simpson (iTunes)
Truck Driver Blues - Red Simpson (iTunes)
Runaway Truck - Red Simpson
Wildwood Flower - The Carter Family (iTunes)
I'm Wild About Horns On Automobiles, That Go Ta-Ta-Ta-Ta - Billy Hays & his Orchestra with vocal by Pete Moore (CD: Four-Four Rhythm: Victor Territory Bands 1928-1931: Volume 1: Available through Amazon)


FROM ROUTE 66:

Route 66 - Chuck Berry (iTunes)
V-8 Ford Blues - Mose Allison (iTunes)
Hot Rod Man - Tex Rubinowitz (Hot Rods & Custom Classics)
Little Forty Ford - Leon Smith (iTunes)
Road Runner - Bo Diddley (iTunes)
409 - The Quads (Amazon mp3)
Let's Go for a Ride - The Collegians (iTunes)
Welcome to Radiator Springs - Joe Louis Walker (The Music of Cars Land)
Ride on Josephine - George Thorogood & the Destroyers (iTunes)
Big Green Car - Jimmy Carroll (iTunes)
Hot Rod Is Her Name - Tom Tall & Ginny Wright (iTunes)
Automobiles - The Spaniels (iTunes)
Ford V-8 - Honey Boy Allen (Hot Rods & Custom Classics)
Mustang Sally - Wilson Pickett (iTunes)
Maybellene - Chuck Berry (iTunes)
Coupe de Ville Baby - Vernon Green & The Medallions (iTunes)
Hot Rod - The Collins Kids (iTunes)
Led Sled - Denny Freeman (Hot Rods & Custom Classics)
Cruisin' - Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps (Hot Rods & Custom Classics)
No Particular Place to Go - Chuck Berry (iTunes)
Bring My Cadillac Back - Baker Knight & The Knightmares (iTunes)
Key to the Highway - Little Walter (iTunes)
Hot Rod Queen - Deke Dickerson & The Ecco-Fonics (iTunes)
Rocket 88 - Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats (iTunes)
Draggin' - Curtis Gordon (Hot Rods & Custom Classics)
One Piece at a Time - Johnny Cash (iTunes)
Stand on It - Mel McDaniel (iTunes)
Built for Speed - Stray Cats (iTunes)
Fastest Short in Town - Robert A. Irvine & The Kentucky Colonels (iTunes)
Rocking Little Roadster - Fred Mollin & The Blue Sea Band, featuring Gunnar Nelson (iTunes)
Hot Rod Lincoln - Johnny Bond (iTunes)
Twin Pipes and Pin Stripes - Sammy Masters (iTunes)
You Can't Catch Me - Chuck Berry (iTunes)
Spinout - Elvis Presley (iTunes)
My Mustang Ford - Chuck Berry (iTunes)
The Phantom Dragster - The Bobby Fuller Four (iTunes)
Flat Tire - The Del Vikings (iTunes)
Black and White Thunderbird - Fred Mollin & The Blue Sea Band (iTunes)
My Old Car - Fred Mollin & The Blue Sea Band, featuring Johnny Neel - (iTunes)
Pink Cadillac - Sammy Masters & His Rocking Rhythms (iTunes)
My White Convertible - The Hall Brothers (iTunes)
Loud Mufflers - Robert Williams and The Groovers (iTunes)
Six Days on the Road - Dave Dudley (iTunes)
Hotrod Gang - Stray Cats (Hot Rods & Custom Classics)
Pontiac Blues - Sonny Boy Williamson (iTunes)
Green Onions - Booker T. & The MG's (iTunes)
Freeway of Love - Aretha Franklin (iTunes)
Radiator Rock - Joe Louis Walker (The Music of Cars Land)
Ride on Josephine - Bo Diddley (iTunes)
Wheels - The Flying Burrito Brothers (iTunes)
V-8 Ford Boogie - Eleven Hundred Springs (iTunes)
Go Champs Go - The Champs (iTunes)
Dear Dad - Chuck Berry (iTunes)
Hot Rod Susie - The Manin Brothers (iTunes)
I Want to Be Your Driver - Chuck Berry (iTunes)
Mustang Sally & GTO - John Lee Hooker (iTunes)
From a Buick 6 - Bob Dylan (iTunes)
Cadillac - Bo Diddley (iTunes)
Hot Rodder's Lament - Deke Dickerson & The Ecco-Fonics (iTunes)
Hardtop Race - George Stogner (iTunes)
Slow Down "GTO" - Joe Louis Walker (iTunes)
King of the Road - Roger Miller (iTunes)
Peroxide Blonde and a Hopped Up Model Ford - Jumpin' Gene Simmons (iTunes)
I've Been Everywhere - Hank Snow (iTunes)
Push Button Automobile - Vernon Green & The Medallions (iTunes)
Motor Head Baby - Johnny "Guitar" Watson (iTunes)
Look at That Cadillac - Stray Cats (iTunes)
Sh-Boom - The Chords (iTunes) *Special event song played only once a night

FROM MATER'S JUNKYARD JAMBOREE:

Junkyard Jamboree - Larry the Cable Guy  (The Music of Cars Land)
Big Bull Dozer - Larry the Cable Guy (The Music of Cars Land)
Tow Mater (The One You Want To Call) - Larry the Cable Guy (The Music of Cars Land)
Mater's Square Dance - Larry the Cable Guy (The Music of Cars Land)
Let's Go Drivin' - Larry the Cable Guy (The Music of Cars Land)
Welcome to Radiator Springs - Larry the Cable Guy (iTunes)
Radiator Rock - Larry the Cable Guy
Welcome to Radiator Springs (blooper version) - Larry the Cable Guy

FROM FLO'S V8 CAFE:

Stop in the Name of Love - The Supremes  (Available on The Music of Cars Land)
I Hear a Symphony - The Supremes (iTunes)
Jimmy Mack - Martha Reeves and the Vandellas (iTunes)
Dancing in the Street - Martha Reeves and the Vandellas (iTunes)
Tell Him - The Exciters (iTunes)
He's So Fine - The Chiffons (iTunes)
Da Doo Ron Ron - The Crystals (iTunes)
Take Me in Your Arms - Kim Weston - (iTunes)
Chapel of Love -  The Dixie Cups (iTunes)
Nowhere to Run - Martha Reeves and the Vandellas (iTunes)
Mama Said - The Shirelles (iTunes)
Please Mr. Postman - The Marvelettes (iTunes)
Sweet Talking Guy - The Chiffons (iTunes)
And Then He Kissed Me - The Crystals (iTunes)
One Fine Day - The Chiffons (iTunes)
Baby Love - Diana Ross and the Supremes (iTunes)
He Was Really Saying Something - The Velvelettes (iTunes)
Don't Let Him Shop Around - Debbie Dean (iTunes)
Come See About Me - Dianna Ross and the Supremes (iTunes)
Back in My Arms Again - Diana Ross and the Supremes (iTunes)
Sailor Boy - The Chiffons (iTunes)
Respect - Aretha Franklin (iTunes)
The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss) - Betty Everett (iTunes)
Rescue Me - Fontella Bass (iTunes)

FROM RAMONE'S HOUSE OF BODY ART:

Low Rider (Espanol Fantasmo Mix) - War (iTunes)
Wooly Bully - Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs (iTunes)
Why Can't We Be Friends - War (iTunes)
La Bamba - Ritchie Valens - (iTunes)

FROM LUIGI'S FLYING TIRES:

Eh Cumpari - Julius La Rosa (iTunes)
Luigi - Louis Prima (iTunes)
La Strada Del Bosco - Claudio Villa
Che Cosse` L'amor - Vinicio Capossela (iTunes)
Funiculi Funicula - Various - From the album "24 Exitos - 10 Grandes Artistas Paris - Italia" (iTunes)
Arrivederci, Roma - Mario Lanza (iTunes)
Tie, Ti, Tie Ta - Claudio Villa
Volare (Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu) - Domenico Modugno (iTunes)
Carina - Nicola Arigliano (iTunes)
Mambo Italiano - Rosemary Clooney (The Music of Cars Land)
La Donna è Mobile (Rigoletto) - Orchestra Italiana
That's Amore (That's Love) - Dean Martin (iTunes)
Papa Loves Mambo – Perry Como (iTunes)
Forget Domani - Perry Como
O Sole Mio - Various - From the album "24 Exitos - 10 Grandes Artistas Paris - Italia" (iTunes)
Soldi, Soldi, Soldi - Sophia Loren (iTunes)
Juke Box - Fred Buscaglione (iTunes)

Review: The Music of Cars Land

Music plays a vital role in setting the mood for Disneyland Resort's many realms. The Imagineers have created a masterful soundscape for Anaheim's latest headliner, and some of the best pieces have found a home on a terrific souvenir CD, The Music of Cars Land.

This soundtrack contains two excellent original pieces by Joe Louis Walker ("Welcome to Radiator Springs," "Radiator Rock"), and a fun sampling of classic songs heard in various parts of the land ("Route 66," "Mambo Italiano," "Stop in the Name of Love," "Low Rider" and Woody Guthrie's "Car Car Song"), but I'd wager fans will be most pleased by the final tracks.

Five of the last six pieces come from the Mater's Junkyard Jamboree ride:

"Junkyard Jamboree"
"Big Bull Dozer"
"Tow Mater (The One You Want to Call)"
"Mater's Square Dance"
"Let's Go Driving"

The final track closes out the CD in spectacular fashion;

"Radiator Springs Racers: Attraction Ride Through"