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.
