Before I start reviewing the video, there's one thing that I must talk about concerning this review. Even though the film was originally made in France for a French audience, I'm going to mostly review the English dub version since they're really both the same just with different languages, as well as considering the fact that the French version doesn't have subtitles. On top of it, the English dubbing isn't really that distracting in terms of dubbing the characters voices since the film’s dubbing is mostly given to the voices of the costume characters that have not yet moved their lips like they do in today's standards, and while I can't tell if the characters are voiced by the same voice actors that voiced the characters in the original, I will say they really do sound alike, whether its the original voice actors or not. So really you can almost say that the dubbing in the film doesn't at all feel like a French film that was dubbed in English. With that out of the way, ON WITH THE REVIEW!
This video was made around the time when "Disneyland Paris” was new and (Like I said before) instead of being a sequel like the rest of the "Disney Sing Along Song" videos that would have Mickey and Friends in them, this one is a remake of the original classic with mostly the same songs, same style, and same pacing that would be made for the younger French speaking audience, and later on be dubbed for English speaking audiences. The only major differences between the original and the remake are the video takes place at "Disneyland Paris" and that there are two new songs that replace two of the songs from the original video due to the differences between parks. Being a remake of the first live action "Disney Sing Along Song" video that many Disney fanatics have grew up with when we were kids, is the remake better or worse than the original classic video? Well let’s have a look as I compare both videos.
Before I start comparing the songs and talk about the two different songs, I just want to talk about a few of the things that I noticed throughout the video. The first major thing I noticed is the characters actually talk more than they did in the original video. Throughout the song sequences instead of them being silent, they'll say something or make a noise, and while it does make the characters seem more real than they were in the original video, to be completely honest it actually gets a little too distracting and even annoying at times. In the original video, despite that the characters don't talk as much as they do in this video, the original video knew when the characters should speak, sing, and be silent. Even in the later live action videos that followed after the original video there would still be that balance. Here, the characters speak so often that you can hardly enjoy the song or even want to bother sing along. It's like having a bunch of people talk loudly as you're trying to watch a movie or listen to music; it just gets very annoying and distracting. And while the film does have newly recorded dialogue and songs, a good half of the dialogue and songs is taken from the original video, and I don't mean that they re-recorded the same dialogue and songs; they literally copied and pasted a good chunk of the sound-footage from the original video onto this video! The video does have a good half of newly recorded dialogue and songs (Even some of the original songs have been re-recorded), but the stuff that they recycled from the first film is just lazy and feels just as distracting as the characters hardly ever shutting up. Yeah, I know the original video used stock footage from a previous "Disneyland" video, but that worked because you could only see the video if you got it at the "Disneyland" park (Well, before you can see it or buy it on the Internet). Even seeing the original Sing Along video after seeing the original video that it took the footage from, they pretty much used the stock-footage in only one or two sequences, and even during those sequences there was still a lot of new footage to show along with having newly recorded versions of classic Disney songs.
Aside from the elements that I found to be annoying, that doesn't mean I think the video is bad, because it isn't! When I watched the first song of the video "Whistle While You Work/Step In Time", the video captures the park just as wonderfully as the original video did, and as I watched the "Step In Time" portion of these two songs being put together, I was really happy to see the Disney characters from the Disney movies that came after the original video’s release to be walking around in the park, which really does make this remake feel like an upgrade. "The Walking Right Down The Middle Of Main Street U.S.A." sequence (Yeah I know what you're thinking, “Disneyland Paris” has a "Main Street U.S.A."? Just remember that there's a World Showcase of different countries in "Epcot") is just as good as the number in the original despite that the dubbing cuts the song way too short, and I like that we see people dancing on the street with the characters as well as Mickey Mouse taking part in the dancing, while in the original it was just the Disney characters dancing as Mickey just plays the piano. In the "Following The Leader" sequence of the video, instead of it being Donald Duck as the leader, its Peter Pan, which does seem more fitting since Peter Pan is from the movie where the song originated from. Instead of going through parts of "Adventureland" and riding "The Jungle Cruise" like in the original video; we actually follow Peter as they go to Agrabah where they meet the Genie; encounter King Louie and his monkey friends; climb "The Swiss Family Robinson Tree-house"; sneak aboard Captain Hook's ship to prank him; and wave hello to Ariel, which is actually cooler than the sequence in the original even though I still really enjoy it (Especially “The Jungle Cruise” portion of it)! The two song sequences for "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" and "It's A Small World" in the video is really not that different from their originals except that we see the rides that "Disneyland Paris" has instead of "Disneyland". The only major difference in any of these songs is in the "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" sequence, the rap portion of the song is edited out, which I'll admit did feel out of place in the original version of the song, despite that I honestly don't mind it and do enjoy it, even if it is cheesy and out of place (Almost like how I have a guilty pleasure for the Ninja rap in “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Secret Of The Ooze”) . Just for the record, I was actually happy that the video included the "Disneyland Paris" version of "Pirates Of The Caribbean" when in the original video it didn't at all show a glimpse of one of "Disneyland's" most popular attractions! The remake for the song "Rumbly In My Tummy" is just as cute as the original version, but I actually did think it was cuter that the kids give Pooh his Honey in this version, instead of Pooh just getting his Honey in the next scene.
The video's remake of my favorite sequence in the original video which is "Grim Grinning Ghost" that in this one takes place at "Disneyland Paris' The Phantom Manor", as much as I like that Jafar is in the Disney villain line-up in the number, and that the number actually includes two actors playing the Phantom and the Bride from the ride along with seeing some footage from the ride itself, this sequence is sadly more comical and funny than it is scary and fun. I say this because instead of Donald just dancing in his ghost costume, he scares away the villains. I will admit it does make more sense for Donald's presence here than in the original (I mean what’s he doing hanging out with the Disney villains in a ghost costume), but come on, Donald scaring some of Disney's coldest and most sinister villains including Maleficent the mistress of all evil, you must be joking! Actually I was really disappointed with how this version treats Maleficent. Remember in the original video how she dominated this number with her presence? Well here, she gets scared away by Donald and the goofy Big Bad Wolf, and her design doesn't look as classy and evil as she did in the original, it looks like a cheap party store costume. I have to admit out of all the remade song sequences in this video, the one that blew me away the most is "The Character Parade"! As much as I love the original version of that sequence, this sequence blows it out of the water! I mean we have Roger Rabbit and Eddie in a giant Benny The Cab car; floats of "The Little Mermaid" and "Beauty And The Beast" that look really creative while also being gigantic looking; and we see the Prince from "Sleeping Beauty" fight-off Maleficent in her Dragon form! WOW, just WOW! Even the parades at "Disney World" aren't as epic as this!
The two songs that are omitted from the video are "The Great Outdoors" and "Making Memories". The new songs that we get in this video to fill in for the songs that were omitted are "How Do You Do Lets Shake Hands/A Very Merry Unbirthday" and "Pecos Bill". Both songs and the sequences themselves are actually really good replacements. For the "How Do You Do Lets Shake Hands/A Very Merry Unbirthday" sequence, the kids go with Alice into the "Curious Labyrinth" which is a maze like playground with characters from the film "Alice In Wonderland" that actually is a cute sequence. For the "Pecos Bill" sequence, instead of the character Pecos Bill himself appearing, it’s instead Goofy acting comically heroic in "Frontierland", which is a sequence that's fun for kids as well as the song itself being catchy. As for the video's remake of the final song "When You Wish Upon A Star", at first I was happy and enchanted by it, considering that everybody in the scene is silent as they interact with each other in slow-motion just like in the original video. However, that all gets ruined when Mickey and Minnie start talking as he uses his powers to start the Firework show and after the show, we hear a cartoony sound effect of them kissing, and they talk as they walk away while holding hands. I can't tell you how disappointed I am with the choice to make them talk during this magical moment. What made the original version of the sequence so effective is that Mickey and Minnie don't talk at all, it was all based on the movement of the characters as the music and the choir along with the firework effects create a very magical and enchanting atmosphere, which was what made the ending so wonderfully touching and why I still choke up when I watch that ending. Just hearing them talk, laugh, and use a cartoony sound-effect during a very a beautiful and whimsical moment just assassinates the atmosphere for this wonderful conclusion!
Moving onto my final thoughts on the remake, I'm in all honestly actually really impressed with it. The way the video is shot and edited makes the Park look just as great as the classic "Disneyland" Park; the two new songs are fun and entertaining; the characters are just as lovable as they were in the original video; and there are even a few song sequences that are surprisingly better than the sequences in the original. The only major problems that I have with this English dub cut are half of the original songs and dialogue being lazily recycled sound footage from the original video; and the fact that the Disney characters hardly stop talking during the song, which are both really distracting elements that take away a real good amount of the joy and atmosphere that you're supposed to get when watching this video. The crazy thing about the stuff that bother me about this video is in the original French cut not only are the songs rerecorded in French, but the characters don't talk as much as they do in the English dubbing. Despite those elements weighing a good chunk of the English dub version down you can still tell that Disney for the most part isn't half-assing this video to just be a marketing tool for the people in France to go to the park; they actually do want to make a remake for the people of France to enjoy, and for the most part it pays off.
Even though I just gave my final thoughts on the video I'm sure some of you are wondering which video do I think is better? Well it really depends on which version. Comparing it to the English dub, for the things I faulted it for, the original is better. Comparing it to its original French cut on the other hand is indeed a different story. Putting away the fact that I can't speak French, the French version does make for a worthy comparison for which one is better between the two. The song sequences that I did found to be better than the original video are "Following The Leader": "Rumbly In My Tummy" (Mainly because of the different ending); and "The Character Parade". All the other sequences are really good as well, but the truth is no matter how much the French version updates itself from the original version, I still find myself thinking that the original video is still the best one. I guess my nostalgia may play a big role with this decision, but even when taking that away I still can't help but find the original video better. While the two new songs are good, I still to this day find myself humming the two songs that were omitted from the remake. The songs for the "Curious Labyrinth" sequence are good songs, but I find myself remembering the area that the characters play in, more than I remember the actual song; and the fact that a choir sings for these characters, which is clearly a song that they should be singing is pretty disappointing, especially when considering that the "Country Bears" in the original got to sing a song that's clearly theirs, being the reason why the song and the sequence is so much fun and memorable. The "Pecos Bill" sequence is fun, but I feel like that the song "Making Memories" is catchier, as well as really capturing the feel as we look back at the past. While there are some sequences that are better than the sequences in the original, well aside from the fact that I still find the original sequences still enjoyable despite how much better they are in the remake, all musical sequences that are remakes to the original musical sequences sadly suffer from the same problem, despite that in the French version the recordings are sung by a French choir with new scenes, the background music from the original video still remains the same, which makes it sound like professional French karaoke, instead of making the music sound different as well; and for me that's what makes the original video stronger in comparison is that it did create these new renditions of classic Disney songs where a great chunk of it will be recycled in both cuts of the French version. I do think the original video is better, but I still think the remake is just as great as the original, especially the French cut since the only real major issue it really has is recycling the same exact background music from the original tape, where the English dub suffers from more than one big issue, which for me those issues are worse when compared to the original French cut.
RATING FOR THE FRENCH CUT 5/5
RATING FOR THE ENGLISH DUB 4/5
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