More Disney Park Music on iTunes, Along With Remastered McDuck

Two recent digital releases on iTunes and Amazon MP3 give Disney music collectors a reason to rejoice--even if the timing on our first recommendation seems a bit...out of season.

It's A Small World Holiday

The bright, jingly soundtrack to Disneyland's popular It's a Small World Christmas overlay is available for the first time since its original appearance on the now out-of-print A Musical History of Disneyland. Including the Clock Parade intro, it runs about fifteen minutes, thus giving you a nice virtual ride-through and leaving the Small World/Jingle Bells medley forever stuck in your mind. Bwa-ha-ha! Reasonably Priced at $3.99

 

Ducktales Remastered - Official Game Soundtrack

First, a word about the game: If you're a fan of Scrooge McDuck, great games or both, Ducktales Remastered (available for download on just about every recent game console) is a wonderful, beautifully crafted adventure you shouldn't miss. Based on the popular 1989 Nintendo game (in turn based on the TV series), it's been reborn with stunning animation, the show's original voice cast and a fantastic reworking of its legendary score.

Now, on to the album: From the high-energy rendition of the opening theme to the haunting piano rendition of the game's Moon track, this album is a fantastic audio ride, and it includes the original 8-bit renditions of the score to boot! Forty-seven tracks for $9.99 -- Highly recommended.

Celebrate Christmas in May...in Duckberg! Happy listening!

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!

Frozen Review: A Home Run for Disney Animation

Full of surprises, intense emotions, dazzling art and terrific music, Frozen is Disney's best non-Pixar animated film in ages. The studio publicists have been advertising it as their best movie since The Lion King, and I agree; Disney hasn't produced such a powerful, crowd-pleasing and memorable film since that 1994 hit.

Haunted Mansion Holiday Materializes on iTunes

What's this? What's this? There's good news for all fans!

The park music digital download scene continues to flourish; The soundtrack to Disneyland's Haunted Mansion Holiday has creeped delightfully onto iTunes and Amazon MP3. For $7.99, you can add the world's most astonishing once-a-year ride metamorphosis to your playlist.

The album's stretched out with nine cute/creepy Halloween-themed parodies of Christmas carols, but--of course--the reason anyone would buy this is saved for the final track: a terrific and energetic 16 minute ride-through mix of the entire Nightmare Before Christmas-themed attraction. Even if you've never actually visited Haunted Mansion Holiday, this soundtrack completely captures the spirit of the experience. The wonderful music and voice work make it an audio celebration you'll want to listen to again and again.

This has been a great year for park music fans! Please Click here for a complete list of all the Disney park albums currently available on iTunes and Amazon MP3.

Geeking Out Over the Saving Mr. Banks Trailer

I didn't expect to shift into Disney Geek Overload mode at the debut of the trailer for the upcoming film Saving Mr. Banks, but...wow. Let's run down the checklist of fun, here...

1: First and foremost, we've got two great performances by Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson as Walt Disney and Mary Poppins author P.L. Travers.

2. We've got Disneyland portraying itself as a young park. With attraction posters front and center.

3. We've got scenes portraying the songwriting Sherman Brothers caught in a cultural crossfire with very funny results. "Responstable is not a word!"

4. We've got a re-creation of one of Walt Disney's most playful appearances on television, when Tinkerbell sprinkled him with pixie dust in his office, levitating him off the floor--much to his annoyance.

Cars Land Winter Traffic Cone Cups

My great nephew (thanks, Rick!) braved the New Year's crowds at Disneyland Resort and returned with the best seasonal souvenir yet: the Cars Land Winter Traffic Cone Cup (Snow Cone). This whimsical alternate take on the mega-popular orange Traffic Cone Cups is the perfect way to enjoy a cool drink on a warm winter afternoon in Radiator Springs.

The best feature of this jolly mug is the revelation of what snowflakes look like in the Cars universe:

Merry Christmas From Mouse Troop!

 

Have a wonderful Holiday, everyone!

Four Wonderful, Offbeat Netflix Holiday Specials

Although Netflix streams holiday feature films such as White Christmas and The Polar Express, they seem a bit sparse on familiar Christmas specials. No Rudolph, no Frosty -- and no Yuletide Disney offerings, except for the feature One Magic Christmas. In light of the recent  Disney/Netflix deal, I hope we'll soon see Prep & Landing and Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas on the service.

Yet, there's no need to get Grinchy; Netflix actually streams four of the best holiday specials I've ever seen (and I am a holiday video fanatic) -- four amazing productions that haven't been rerun to death, and they all share one thing in common: they're all aimed at adults as well as children. Get ready for Vikings, Dragons, Crocodiles, the Radio City Rockettes and the original 1962 Christmas TV Special that started it all! These four shows can truly be enjoyed by the whole family.

Here are Mouse Troop's picks for the Four Best Holiday Specials on Netflix:

#1 - DRAGONS: GIFT OF THE NIGHT FURY

Nothing says Holidays like Vikings and giant reptiles! This crazy, heartwarming follow-up to How to Train Your Dragon returns us to the wondrous Island of Berk as the Vikings prep for their winter holiday, Snoggletog (in Berk, it's considered good luck to give things awful names).

Before it's all over, we'll have exploding decorations, a flying Viking ship, a mystery solved and the true spirit of the Holidays brought forth in a tear-jerking finale.

It's all done with feature-quality production values, amazing character animation and the original film's cast (including Gerard Butler, Jay Baruchel, Craig Ferguson and America Ferrera).

Happy Thanksgiving to Disney Fans Everywhere!

Happy Thanksgiving! We don't usually post recipes on Mouse Troop, but I'd like to share my secret for these delicious Turkey Brownies:

1. Drive to local market's bakery section.
2. Slide debit card.
3, Transport Turkey Brownies home.

I am a disaster in the kitchen. If I'd tried to create the above little turkeys on my own, each and every one would've turned out like this:

I'm the guy who's always assigned "chips and soda" for office parties.

Have a great Holiday, everyone!

Too Early For New Disney Christmas Music? Nah!

It's not even Halloween yet, and I'm posting about Christmas; what am I, Target? Okay, I'm fairly certain I'm not the only Disney fan who starts updating their Holiday playlists early as the new Christmas albums start appearing, right?  Anyone?

Disney Christmas albums are often hit & miss. This one's good -- Really, really good. Starting with the best cover art I've ever seen on a Disney Christmas release, Disney Jingle Bell Fun hits all the right...er....notes by balancing sentiment, humor and great performances into one satisfying album.

Keeping the pattern of past Disney Christmas albums, this one's half character-performed songs and half more "mainstream" contributions -- this time by Randy Crenshaw and Hailey Markman. Crenshaw and Markman's tracks are top-notch, but -- let's be honest -- we wanna hear the characters sing.

This time, around, the Fab Five Plus Daisy are in fine form, bringing comic charm to:

Santa Claus is Coming to Town (Goofy does a guitar solo & Donald forgot to buy Daisy anything)
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Goofy & Donald doing the call-and-response version)
Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow! (Donald & Daisy)
It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas (Mickey & Minnie)

But the surprise, awesome shocker of this collection is the piano-lounge crooner version of "Toyland" sung by Goofy, completely in character, completely serious, and so touching and perfect that his "shooby-dooby-doos" halfway through don't sound ridiculous. Bill Farmer deserves a standing ovation and a Grammy Award for this one.

I definitely recommend Disney Jingle Bell Fun -- Possibly the best Disney Christmas album yet.

It's available on iTunes (http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/disney-jingle-bell-fun/id562275405?uo=4),  Amazon Mp3 and CD.