It's now time for me to start my "12 Days Of Christmas
Reviews"! This is the time of year where I pick 12 Christmas films, shorts, and
Specials (And other Holiday related films, shorts, and Specials, but mostly the ones
having to do with Christmas) and review them on each of the 12 Days leading up
to Christmas with the last Christmas related review being a review of an
adaptation of "A Christmas Carol". To start things off, I thought it
would be appropriate for me to start this series of Christmas reviews by
reviewing the “Disney Sing Along Song” Christmas video...
I have to say, this video along with "Let's Go To Disneyland Paris" that were both released together in 1993 were the only two live action "Disney Sing Along Song" videos that I've never seen nor heard of as a kid. The videos themselves weren't even made later on in the live action series; these two videos were actually the next two videos that followed after the classic and first full length live action “Disney Sing Along Song” video "Disneyland Fun". While I can understand why I never heard of the video "Let's Go To Disneyland Paris" since that was a foreign video, I'm actually pretty shocked that I've never seen or heard of this video. The only Christmas video of the series that I thought ever existed was "A Very Merry Christmas" which surprisingly was the actual first video of the series to include a live action sing along portion that isn't stock-footage from any other Disney film or TV Special. The video itself even got a re-release on DVD with different songs and a different setting which in all honesty didn't really please me at all, while the Christmas video that followed didn't at all get released on DVD. So with the classic "A Very Merry Christmas" Sing Along video getting all the attention and a DVD re-release (Despite it being different) is this video an underrated gem that I and I'm sure many others have missed out on during childhood and should get a re-release to DVD and Blu-Ray; or is it a bland and mediocre video from the series that's forgotten for a reason; ON WITH THE REVIEW!
Comparing this video to the previous live action videos in the series, this video surprisingly isn't a tour of the Disney Parks. Ok, we do visit the park on a few occasions (Especially during the last few songs in the video), but for the most part we're pretty much with our favorite Disney costumed characters in a cabin in the snow covered woods as they celebrate Christmas. For a video that I thought was going to give me a tour of a Disney themed park during Christmas time, this caught me completely off-guard when I discovered that the video would mainly take place somewhere else. It definitely does feel like the people behind the series are trying to up their game with the live action portions of the Sing-Along series. So since the video pretty much leaves the promotional theme park style aside, this video instead feels like watching a collection of short music videos that you would see on the Disney Channel during that time as we see people and Disney characters singing and dancing on very small sets with some very low budget computer animated effects. On a straight to video release of a live action “Disney Sing Along Song” video that doesn't (For the most part) take place inside the park, it's kind of expected and actually does work in a handful of song sequences. With that said however, the places that we visit outside of the park still do feel pretty small and look like they were filmed on obvious sets with a very limited budget, where with the previous live action “Disney Sing Along Song” videos there was more of a size and scale since those videos took place in the Park where the people behind the videos felt more at home with making since they didn't have to rely on digital effects and sets like this video does. However, I still give this video credit for changing the original layout for the live action series, as well as inspiring the series to try new things with this concept where the effects and sets would also be updated as the series progressed (As proven in the video "Happy Haunting: Party At Disneyland!", despite not showing us a single ghost in "The Haunted Mansion”.). The only thing the video kept from the original layout of the series is having a song book that’s used to transition to the next song, which was a transition style that was also used in the original "A Very Merry Christmas" Sing Along Video.
Now I have to admit, when it comes to song sequences in this video, they're very hit and miss. While there are a handful of song sequences that I really liked that even at times brought out my inner-child, there were still a handful of other song sequences where I was either bored by them, rolling my eyes at, or was just more interested in with what the characters are doing instead of enjoying the song they were singing. Judging by the first song sequence of the video, I already had a feeling that the video was going to be hit and miss. When the video opened up with the "Disney Sing Along Song" logo as we hear the opening notes to the theme song sounding all Christmassy, to seeing the Christmas Star heading quickly towards the screen and show the video’s title over Pinocchio's village once the star hits the screen and flashes, I was already hyped to see what my favorite Disney characters were going to do and sing. I then began to start feeling that Christmas warmth as I saw the title sequence dissolve to an image of a Yule log burning on a fire with some very relaxing background music, which of course was leading up to the videos first song "Very Merry Christmas". But when the song began, I started to get bored. While the song does sound Christmassy as we hear our favorite Disney characters sing, the song itself is very forgettable and pretty bland. The real sad part about the whole opening number for the video is it pretty much shows nothing but clips for what we are about to witness and see later on in the video which sadly ruins the surprises that we are about to see, thus making this opening number in the video feel more like a trailer for the video instead of an actual song and dance number that’s featured in the video itself. Aside from the opening credits that I really loved, the only thing that I spotted in this sequence that wasn't a clip from another song sequence in this video (Though I'm sure there are probably one or two more scenes that aren't from other song sequences in this video that I overlooked) was the little cartoon boxes showing Mickey's hand ringing a bell. I have to say though; out of all the things that this montage of clips had to show me, the thing that I was not looking forward to seeing throughout the whole video was the original Disneyland costume design for Scrooge McDuck. I mean it is cool seeing Scrooge McDuck take part in a live action “Disney Sing Along Song” video, and the guy voicing Scrooge is always fun to listen too; but man does the costume for the character look really hideous. All the other costumes for the characters look fine, but Scrooge’s costume looks almost as cheap as those freaky mascots that you’d see in New York City’s Time Square, that's how hideous the costume looks, and it really pains me that I have to look at this scary looking costume design all the way through the video.
So after being hyped up to only be let down, I tried to stay optimistic and see if there was any songs sequences in the video that were just as fun and good as the song sequences in the previous live action “Disney Sing Along Song” videos. When the video finally started to get its semi-story going as we see Mickey and friends decorating the cabin for Christmas as they sing "Deck The Halls" to later on having a bit of a hoedown in the song was a pretty cute and fun song sequence, but sadly fell a little flat as we hear a beautiful Christmas choir singing the song the traditional way, with country style music playing in the background, which didn't at all seemed to jell together, thus making this rendition to a classic and traditional Christmas song into a bit of a mess. Things don't get any better when we see Donald's nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie writing a letter to Santa on their computer, while Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy are about to mail their letters in the song "Dear Santa". As always it’s cute hearing these Disney characters sing, and some of the visuals that we see are pretty fun, but the song itself is so boring that I honestly hardly remember a single lyric from it. Things started to finally pick-up as we see Mickey and his friends riding in a Sleigh pulled by Pluto after getting a Christmas Tree (Which is odd, since they already have one) as they all sing "Jingle Bells", which is indeed as fun and enjoyable as you would expect it to be. Even the CG animation, despite knowing that our Disney friends are riding in front of a green screen in a computer animated background, still surprisingly looks nice to look at. Sadly though, this fun but yet very short musical number takes us to another boring and forgettable song that's also pretty annoying called "Snow Ho-Ho". With that said however, despite the song being an annoying bore; it was cute seeing Mickey and friends play in the snow with a few kids playing with them. As if one bad but visually good musical sequence wasn't enough, we go straight to another one called "Hip Hop Noel" that takes place up at the North Pole where we see Elves, toys, reindeer, and a silhouette of Santa, all dancing and singing together. The visuals look neat, but the song is so annoyingly cheesy and bland that even as a kid, I wouldn't give into this wanna be "Hip Hop" cheese.
Just as I thought I wouldn't find anything else enjoyable in this video, the following number "He Delivers" as Huey's Brothers and Santa's Elves' try to convince him that Santa is real, that's when things really started to lighten up again. Yeah the song and concept is a little corny, but not corny enough for me not to get sucked into the fun and enjoyment for this upbeat and catchy song, especially with that choir of dancing and singing Elves. Out of all the original Christmas Disney songs in this video, this is the song that stood out to me the most, where I still find myself enjoyably humming the song every now and then. Things get even better when we see Mickey and friends go out caroling as they sing "The Twelve Days Of Christmas", which is just as cute and fun as hearing them singing "Jingle Bells" together. As I was really starting to lighten-up and get sucked back into the enjoyment that I had earlier with this video, everything went downhill again when I had to listen to Goofy sing about wanting an elephant for Christmas. Look, I seriously love Goofy, and as much as I admire how much passion and effort Bill Farmer (The guy voicing Goofy) puts into the song, I still sadly found myself bored by how dull and cheesy the song is, instead of finding it to be cute. The visuals for this song sequence are also pretty terrible as well. Sure you get a painfully short dance of Goofy wearing a top hat and cane, and a few scenes where Goofy is standing in front of a lifeless computer animated elephant. But the visual choice that I found odd and questionable is the last joke where we see Goofy sleep in his bed where his pillow changes into the shape of elephant. What makes it so odd and questionable is I'm not sure if the elephant he's laying his head on is supposed to be a pillow in the shape of an elephant or a stuffed animal that’s supposed to be a real elephant? It looks as soft as a pillow, but when Goofy lays his head on it, it makes an elephant sound? Whatever the case is the elephant design looks pretty creepy, instead of cute. This number is hands down the worst number in this video. It's not the worst thing I've ever heard, nor would I call it cringe worthy bad, but it is just as bland and dull as all the other songs that I've found forgettable in this video and the fact that this song is sung by one of my favorite Disney characters who can’t even make it sound cute, just really disappoints me.
So after witnessing Goofy doing the impossible by boring me and not making me laugh in the slightest, the video quickly redeems itself by having the last three songs take place in the "Magic Kingdom" and I'm not going to lie, the last three songs are really what make the video. The first song "Here Comes Santa" as we see many Disney characters parade down Main Street with Santa Claus is like a mix between the "Here Comes Santa Claus" musical sequence in "A Very Merry Christmas" and "The Character Parade" in both Disneyland sing along videos. While the song itself is just as forgettable as many of the other songs in this video (Keep in mind that it isn't the "Here Comes Santa Claus" song that we all know and love), it's still an enjoyable sequence as we look at some really cool floats; see a whole cast of Disney characters, including some that you hardly ever see at the Park (Seriously, how often do you see a person dressed up as Dumbo?); and of course get a nice reveal of Santa that the video has been building up too. Even the song itself, despite being forgettable, I still remember it being good enough to suck me into the charm of this sequence, which is more than what I can say about the other forgettable songs in this video. Things really start to get good when we see a group of Carolers sing a lovely rendition of "O'Christmas Tree" by a beautifully lit Christmas Tree right by the Sleeping Beauty Castle; to seeing all the Disney characters along with the Carolers and families visiting the park singing "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" to close the video and I have to admit the last two numbers (Especially the last song) were so beautiful and heartwarming that it almost touched me the same way as when I get touched from the "When You Wish Upon A Star" sequence in the classic "Disneyland Fun" video.
So that's the "Disney Sing Along Song Video: The Twelve Days Of Christmas" is it deserving of a DVD release; I don't see why not? I'm not saying it's something I would go out of my way to purchase for my collection, nor do I feel like it's a video that I really missed out on as a kid because there are indeed plenty of song and dance sequences that are really bland, forgettable, and even at times a little too cheesy for my taste. With that being said, there still are some really good song and dance sequences in this video that are a lot of fun and do bring that nostalgic Christmas feel, even if most of the good ones take place towards the end of the video. On top of it, it did pretty much change the style and format to these live action "Disney Sing Along Song" videos that other live action videos in the series would later on work with, so it does seem to be an important enough video to get a DVD re-release, which really surprises me that it somehow didn't. So while I don't think the video itself is great, it's heart is still in the right place by delivering harmless Christmas fun that the kids and Disney fans can enjoy, and should in the very least be appreciated for introducing a different style to the live action videos in the series, which I say is good enough to get a small DVD release. Until then, you can watch the video on "YouTube".
RATING 3/5
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