Toon Talk CD Round-Up: House of Mouse & Michael Crawford - Sep 21, 2001

Toon Talk CD Round-Up: House of Mouse & Michael Crawford
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Some of the covers leave little to demand repeated listenings. "I Wanna Be Like M-O-You" (as in "M-O-U-S-E") has a vocalist (as "King Larry", King Louis' brother) that is a far cry from Louis Prima. "Everybody Wants to Be a Woof" (sung by Dodger of Oliver & Company fame, but not Billy Joel) is about as tolerable as that annoying "Jingle Bells" barked by dogs foisted on unfortunate radio listeners at Christmastime every year. "You Can Fly, You Can Fly (Donald Version)" (where Peter Pan attempts to teach Donald how to fly) features an off-key Peter Pan and inexcusably lame rhymes. And a little of Gilbert Gottfried's Iago (two songs: dueting with Johnathan Freeman's Jafar on "Bibbiddi-Bobbiddi-Boo" and leading a squawking version of "Yo Ho" titled "A Parrot's Life for Me") goes a long way.

Leave it to Goofy (Bill Farmer) to come through: he teaches son Max (Jason Marsden) the ins and outs of how to be a waiter with the nonsense song "Soup or Salad, Fries or Biscuits", sung to the the tune of "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious", the ultimate nonsense song.

And Disney voice fave Jim Cummings pulls double duty as the Big Bad Wolf on "Big Bad Wolf Daddy" (riffing on "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf") and as House of Mouse nemesis Pete on a hysterical "Disney version" of "Boom Da Boom" that has to be heard to be believed.

The album's strengths definitely lay in the numbers written specifically for the show, an oddity among weekly children's series, Animaniacs not withstanding. (Yes Barney, I'm talking to you.)

Donald (Tony Anselmo), Jose Carioca (Rob Paulson) and Panchito are reunited with the jovial "We Are the Three Caballeros" (a milder take on the trio's wilder original theme song) and "My Name is Panchito" (where the Mexican rooster charmingly charts out his family tree through song). These two numbers are rich with Latin melodies and rhythms, leaving one longing for a return engagement of these birds of a feather.

Mickey (Wayne Allwine) teams up with Daisy Duck (Tress McNeille) on "Me the Mouse and I'm the Duck", a classic musical comedy duet in the same vein as "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" ("you say poe-tay-toe, I say pah-tah-toe"). When Minnie (Russi Taylor) feels left out, she joins her mouse for an amusing reprise.

The album's highlight is the delightful "Ludwig Von Drake Song". Not to be confused with "I Am Professor Ludwig Von Drake" heard in previous collections, this patter song has the daffy duck (voiced by Corey Burton) rattling off the seating arrangements for the House of Mouse, listing practically every character (it seems) in Disney history. Repeated listenings are required to catch them all, including the mention of a very real Disney legend. It's hard to resist such wordplay as:

"Table nine has Ichabod
By Mowgli and Baloo.
The Headless Horseman's table seven.
And his head's at table two."

As with any television soundtrack, there are unfortunate omissions. If there is a "volume 2", consider this my vote to include Jiminy Cricket's hilarious parody of Baz Luhrmann's "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)" from the first season.

Even with a few misfires, this CD is a must have for all Disney fans.

Toon Talk Rating: A-

Toon Talk Trivia:

  • Brian Setzer's cover of "Ev'rybody Wants To Be A Cat" can be heard on the Songs from the Aristocats album.

  • A new direct-to-video Christmas special titled (take a deep breath) Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed In at the House of Mouse will be released on November 6th.