If Disneymania came back...

[Mach Full Force]

In case you missed a few of my past posts, I've noticed that, recently, Disney's been putting out new covers of their old and new classic songs, either as a way to promote a re-release (Carly Rae Jepsen's "Part of Your World"), attached to the end credits of a new release (Demi Lovato's "Let It Go", Lana Del Rey's "Once Upon a Dream"), or just because they can (the recent "Do You Wanna Build a Snowman" cover involving all of Disney Channel and Disney XD's stars).

Now, I know a few of you didn't like Disneymania and/or aren't into Disney's pampering of their stars that much, but I was wondering... What if all of these covers were included in a Disneymania revival album? If there really was one, what other covers would you like to see?

[Disney's Divinity]

In a dreamworld, I wouldn't mind covers by Ariana Grande, Kelly Clarkson, Adele, Sara Bareilles, Emeli Sande, Leona Lewis, or Jordin Sparks. Although several of these would probably never do them. It's hard to decide what I would like each to sing though--I could picture Bareilles doing well with some of the Cinderella songs, Ariana with Snow White maybe? (I still wish Ariana had covered "Let It Go" instead of Demi...) Perhaps Jordin on "Part of That World" (it would suit her better than "Beauty and the Beast")? Oh, and Bruno Mars, but they'd probably stick him with something from The Jungle Book. I could see Lady Gaga doing well with "He's a Tramp," based on what she's done with Tony Bennet. Jennifer Hudson should do an official version of "Circle of Life" already.

Also, it would be nice if they did something similar to The Best of Country Sing the Best of Disney, except with well-known stage performers like Bernadette Peters, Cheyenne Jackson, Megan Hilty, Kristen Chenoweth, etc. Actually, talking about country singers, I wouldn't mind if they did another version that included Kacey Musgraves, Sara Evans, LeAnn Rimes, Trisha Yearwood, Reba McEntire, Lorrie Morgan, Carrie Underwood, Randy Travis, Mark Wills, and Travis Tritt.

And, even though they've already performed songs for Disney before, I wouldn't mind hearing Angela Lansbury, Idina Menzel, Alison Krauss, or Christina Aguilera doing covers either.

[Mach Full Force]

Very interesting ideas! In particular Lady Gaga on He's a Tramp. I've heard some of her stuff with Tony Bennett and her voice is definitely suited for jazzy tunes.

Personally, I'd love to see a full-fledged cover of I Just Can't Wait to Be King by Kevin McHale (Artie from Glee). It was the first song he ever learned (he said so when he was interviewed by Emma Bunton) and giving him the chance to record a proper version of it would allow him to come full circle as a singer. Plus he's really talented and versatile, he needs more recognition outside of the UK. Besides, they got a few people from Hairspray to do songs for Disneymania 6, why not?

[Miss Manday]

I would LOVE for Disneymania to come back. I loved the various interpretations of songs. Especially when they would do some of the lesser known songs!

[Vlad]

I'd love to hear Barbra Streisand with Beauty and the Beast, Carrie Underwood with When You Wish Upon A Star, and Michael Buble w/ Leona Lewis with A Whole New World. Oh, and Reba McEntire with Baby Mine.

[Disney's Divinity]

Disneymania by another name--and much better than the latter half of that series, too. A covers albumcalled We Love Disney will be released on October 30th.



1. "Friend Like Me" (From Aladdin) – Ne-Yo
2. "Part of Your World" (From The Little Mermaid) – Jessie J
3. "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" / "Nants’ Ingonyama" (From The Lion King) – Jason Derulo
4. "The Rainbow Connection" (From The Muppet Movie) – Gwen Stefani
5. "Zero to Hero" (From Hercules) – Ariana Grande
6. "In a World of My Own" / "Very Good Advice" (From Alice in Wonderland) – Jhené Aiko
7. "I Wan’na Be Like You (The Monkey Song)" (From The Jungle Book) – Fall Out Boy
8. "Colors of the Wind" (From Pocahontas) – Tori Kelly
9. "Spoonful of Sugar" (From Mary Poppins) – Kacey Musgraves
10. "Ev’rybody Wants to Be a Cat" (From The Aristocats) – Charles Perry
11. "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes" (From Cinderella) – Jessie Ware
12. "Let It Go" (From Frozen) – Rascal Flatts & Lucy Hale
13. "It’s a Small World" – We Love Disney Artists
14. "It’s Not Easy Being Green" (From The Muppet Show) – Brenna Whitaker
15. "A Whole New World" (From Aladdin) – Yuna


Love love Kacey Musgraves! Also like Ariana Grande, Jessie Ware, Gwen Stefani, Rascal Flatts, Jessie J, and Ne-Yo to varying degrees. Strong group. Ware should sound fantastic on "ADiaWYHM." Jessie J can sing, but I'm not sure how "PoYW" will turn out. Rascal Flatts on "LIG"--very strange... I'm glad Hercules has a song on this.

[blackcauldron85]

I am definitely excited for this release. I have all but the 7th (?) and Remix editions of Disneymania, and I completely agree with you that this seems better than the last entries in the series. (No awful remixes or, ahem, rap versions). I'm a fan of practically everyone on this album. Definitely will be a purchase for me as soon as it comes out. Speaking of, though, albums usually release on Tuesdays...so strange that this releases on a Friday!

[bruno_wbt]

Speaking of, though, albums usually release on Tuesdays... so strange that this releases on a Friday!

Now, albums are released on Fridays since Billboard changed the chart rules a couple of months ago.

Some examples:
Disney Descendants soundtrack was released on Friday, July 31
Selena Gomez' new album will come out on Friday, October 9
Demi Lovato's new album will come out on Friday, October 16

--

I am so excited for "We Love Disney", too! I just heard Ariana Grande's version of "Zero to Hero" and it's great!

[blackcauldron85]

Ooooh. I did hear that they were going to change the day for releasing cds bit didn't realize it had started! (I'll be getting Demi's too so good to know about the release date!)

[bruno_wbt]

The music video Friend Like Me by Ne-Yo is now up on youtube/Vevo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r21fH-ysABs

[Disney's Divinity]

Inside 2015's Most Fun Tribute LP

After the French version went multi-platinum, Universal Records enlisted famed producer David Foster (Celine Dion, Whitney Houston) to organize a U.S. compilation. "It was one of those kind of things where you go, 's**t, I don't know if I can actually ever pull that off [and] get all the great, hot, young artists," he says. Soon, however, he saw that artists' relationships with Disney from childhood — even carrying over into parenthood in some cases — pushed them toward an enthusiastic "yes." [...]

David Foster offered his input for many of the covers, often choosing the song he felt fit the artist's style and vocal abilities, though he was trumped a few times by a singer's own childhood connection to a different track. "With Ariana Grande, I had picked another song for her, and she wasn’t feeling it," he recalls. "So then she came up with the Hercules song ["Zero to Hero"]. She knew it top to bottom. Without the lyrics, she could sing every single word. The decision was made on the spot. I wouldn’t want to fight that, go against the grain of her knowing the song so well and loving it so much."

Read more here.

I didn't know David Foster was involved with this: no wonder this looks to have turned out so good. I hope it ends up having a sequel album, too. In the article, Kacey Musgraves talks about how she was obsessed with Mermaid as a child--I would've loved to hear her take on "Part of That World." I have a feeling Jessie J's going to belt (like Sierra Boggess on Broadway) and, while I would've loved to hear that on songs like "Let It Go," "Reflection," or "Almost There" for instance, "PoTW" is not suited for it.

[Disney's Divinity]

Got this in the mail today--great album. Outside two songs, I liked all of the tracks. It's honestly better than any album from Disneymania (which had maybe 4-6 songs I'd like on any given album in that collection, even less in the later installments). Praying it does well and gets another album. My ranking:

1. "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes" ~ Something about it reminds me of Jodi Benson singing in Thumbelina.
2. "A Spoonful of Sugar"
3. "Zero to Hero"
4. "Friend Like Me"
5. "The Rainbow Connection"
6. "Colors of the Wind"
7. "Ev'rybody Wants to Be a Cat"
8. "Let It Go"
9. "A Whole New World"
10. "It's Not Easy Being Green"
11. "Part of That World"
12. "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?"
13. "I Wan'na Be Like You"
14. "It's a Small World"
15. "In a World of My Own" / "Very Good Advice"

The last two are the only ones I don't like on the album. "IaSW" was good until Fall Out Boy came in, then it turned into a trainwreck (and I'm not overly fond of the song anyway). I was most disappointed with the Alice song though, because I was so happy at first to see Alice get some attention and this is all it was... For some reason, too, I was thinking Jhene was Meiko, who dueted on "Loves Me Not" with Kris Allen. So, yeah, the worst on the album. As far as Jessie J, she was better than expected--very minimal belting, thankfully. In a way, I'd have liked Grande and Jessie J to have switched. Ariana Grande has a softer voice and she's better on ballads. Jessie J's the opposite--she'd sound great going balls-to-the-walls on "Zero to Hero." So far, my favorite renditions of "Part of That World" (that I've heard):

1. Chely Wright
2. Faith Hill
3. Olivia Newton-John
4. Ashley Brown
5. Jessie J
6. Jessica Simpson
7. May J
8. Skye Sweetnam
9. Miley Cyrus

Choices for a sequel album? Ideally--assuming they could get the artists popular right now--Sam Smith, Adele, Kelly Clarkson, Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga, Sara Bareilles, Reba McEntire, Carrie Underwood, Chris Stapleton, Josh Groban, Maddie/Tae, Meghan Trainor, Nick Jonas, Maroon 5, Adam Lambert, Jennifer Hudson, Hozier, Katharine McPhee, etc. Not to say I love all of those, but it'd be great to see big names. I wouldn't mind if Jesse McCartney came back again either (particularly on a Frozen song); all of his covers for Disneymania series were great.

[Disney's Divinity]

‘Disney Goes Classical’ Featuring Iconic Disney Themes Announced

Disney Goes Classical features the prestigious Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, performing new orchestral arrangements of beloved Disney themes, and very special guests including Matteo Bocelli, four-time Grammy-winning American soprano Renée Fleming on ‘When You Wish Upon A Star’ from Pinocchio, and renowned Japanese classical guitarist Kaori Muraji. The album was recorded at London’s Abbey Road Studios, home to some of the finest movie soundtrack releases from the last century.
...
Disney Goes Classical will be released on 2 October 2020 – experience a lifetime of family favourites as you’ve never heard them before.
...
The full tracklisting for Disney Goes Classical is:

1. ‘Colours of the Wind’ from Pocahontas
2. ‘A Whole New World’ from Aladdin
3. ‘Let It Go’ from Frozen
4. ‘The Bare Necessities’ from The Jungle Book
5. ‘How Far I’ll Go’ from Moana
6. ‘When You Wish Upon a Star’ ft Renée Fleming from Pinocchio
7. ‘When She Loved Me’ from Toy Story 2
8. ‘Beauty and the Beast’ from Beauty And The Beast
9. ‘Go the Distance’ from Hercules
10. ‘Overture’ from Mary Poppins
11. ‘Part of Your World’ ft Kaori Muraji from The Little Mermaid
12. ‘Can You Feel the Love Tonight’ ft Matteo Bocelli from The Lion King
13. ‘I See the Light’ from Tangled
14. ‘Reflection’ from Mulan
15. ‘Almost There’ from The Princess and the Frog

https://www.udiscovermusic.com/classica ... announced/

I'm really looking forward to this--and really happy at the majority of song choices! Matteo Bocelli's version of "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" is available to listen to.