My First Disney Album (+DVD) - Various Artists

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Groundbreaking
Lyrics	Sublime
Quality and consistency of tracks	Flawless
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	Fantastic Disney fun  - lots of value for money !
Disadvantages:	None

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

A many of you who read my other reviews may know, my son is a huge fan of Winnie the Pooh. I seem to be buying endless Winnie the Pooh paraphernalia to fuel my son's enjoyment and imagination. However, Winnie the Pooh is not where his love for Disney stops.

I have always tried to get my son into Disney as I love the endless classic films and programs that they release. Disney films have been something that I have never quite grown out of. I may not know the lyrics to the latest songs in the chart, but I can more than likely hum or sing to you any disney song you name! Wow, that sentence makes me sound like a drip!

To help my son appreciate Disney like I do, I have built up a collection of Disney films and books. But the one thing I did not have was a Disney album. All those tunes that I hum along to in my head, and that I wanted my son to learn too. So when this Album and DVD combo came out the end of last year I snapped it right up, and we gave it to our son for christmas.

Price and Availability

As Disney is such a large corporation and their brand name is very recognisable, the products are sold in alot of shops, as they pretty much guaranteed definite income for the shops. So this Album/DVD is very easy to get hold of. We purchased it in HMV for £16.99 when it had come out new, but I now know that HMV are selling it for around about £11. If you were to buy it now in new condition most places are selling it anywhere from £9 - £15. You can buy it from places such as:

- HMV - online or in store

- Tesco - online or in store

- Amazon.co.uk

- Play.com

-Ebay.co.uk

I would advise shopping around for the best price, and buy it new if you can, as any scratch on a DVD or CD could seriously downgrade the quality of the recordings.

Songs on the Album

The songs on this album are a compilation of songs from many different Disney classics - some are instantly recogniseable, whereas some I didn't know, but now enjoy humming along to.

1. If You're Happy and You Know It (From Mickey Mouse)

2. Row, Row, Row Your Boat (From Hocus Pocus)

3. The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers (From Winnie the Pooh)

4. The Wheels on the Bus

5. Following the Leader (From Peter Pan)

6. The Ugly Bug Ball (From Summer Magic)

7. Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah (From Song of the South)

8. I Wan'na Be Like You *The Monkey Song* (From Jungle Book)

9. She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain (From Timber)

10. Muffin Man (From Shrek)

11. Heigh-Ho (From Snow White and the Seven Dwarves)

12. Woody's Roundup (From Toy Story)

13. Casey Junior (From The Reluctant Dragon)

14. Oh Dear, What Can the Matter Be?

15. The Hokey Pokey (From Toy Story)

16. Pop Goes the Weasel (From Mickey Mouse - The Barn Dance)

17. Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo (From Cinderella)

18. A Bicycle Built for Two (sung by Donald Duck)

19. Ta Ra Ra Boom De Ay! (Mickey Mouse and friends)

20. I've Got No Strings (From Pinocchio)

21. This Old Man (Knick-Knack, Patty-Whack)

22. London Bridge Is Falling Down (From Mickey Mouse)

23. There's a Hole in My Bucket (sung by Goofy)

24. Shoo Fly, Don't Bother Me (Mickey Mouse)

25. Never Smile at a Crocodile (Peter Pan)

26. Oh Where, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone? (Mickey Mouse and Friends)

27. Hickory Dickory Dock/Jack and Jill/Jack Be Nimble

28. Three Blind Mice (From Shrek)

29. The Siamese Cat Song (From Lady and the Tramp)

30. A Spoonful of Sugar (From Mary Poppins)

31. Hakuna Matata (From The Lion King)

32. Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star/Baa, Baa Black Sheep/ABCs (Minnie Mouse and Goofy)

33. Hush Little Baby (From The Rescuers)

34. It's a Small World (Disney ride Theme Tune)

35. Mickey Mouse Club March (From Mickey Mouse)

As can be seen, it's a fantastic collection of songs and tunes from many Disney classics. Some of the songs I know, but cannot place what Disney film or programme they are from. I just know the characters singing them. But each song is catchy and fun, and it's great for children to dance and sing along to. What's great is that there is no tinny quality to the songs like you can find with some childrens albums. All the songs are clearly recorded and easy to understand and follow. They total about a hours worth of songs between them, so they easily keep your children amused with their range and variety. 35 songs on an album is really good for an album nowadays, though some of the songs are quite short.

DVD Features

What we really liked about buying the album was the DVD that came with it as well. It has lots of fantastic extras. The second CD was a DVD that is all about exploring the world of Playhouse Disney. This DVD was fab for us, as we were trying to switch our son from Cbeebies Channel over to the Playhouse Disney Channel. The DVD included:

Introduction

Make Friends with My Friends Tigger & Pooh (free episode - Darby's Tail) - this episode is really funny and plays on the Playhouse Disney Channel alot. It is from the new series of Winnie the Pooh. It has updated graphics, and in this series there is a girl called Darby. Pooh, Tigger, Darby and her puppy are Super Sleuths. They roam around the Hundred Acre Woods solving problems, and helping anyone in trouble.

Explore with Little Einsteins (free episode - Annie's Love Song) This is another series that is on Playhouse Disney. It's quite a mature program, with a cartoon group of children who are highly intelligent. They solve puzzles by analysing clues, and the episodes always involve classical music and places of great art or historical appreciation. Though it's quite advanced my son enjoys watching it, as he enjoys the music and the graphics.

Enjoy more of your friends on Playhouse Disney:

Handy Manny - Handy Manny is a hispanic Bob the Builder genre of program. Manny is a bilingual hispanic man who runs his own repair shop. His tools are all animated characters with funny personalities. The episodes centre around the jobs that Manny and his tools have to complete.

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse- Mickey Mouse and his friends jabe a great time at Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. They play games, solve problems and have lots of fun between them. This program is brilliant, as it encourages the child watching it to interact with them. The children are asked questions and then given time to answer them. My son is always shouting out the answers, and cheering when he gets them right.

Johnny and the Sprites - This program is one my son loves, but I find it rather odd! It is a musical program and is aimed at preschool aged children. Johnny is a musician who moves into a house owned by a relative, and he spends his time trying to write new songs. He discovers in the garden strange creatures called sprites that only he can see. They resemble the puppets from Fraggle Rock, if any of you remember that programme! This programme teaches lessons about life through music, dance and play. I just find it odd as Johnny is a very handsome man in what I would assume to be his early 30s, and he prances around like an idiot and looks quite daft!

Ooh & Aah - these are two puppet monkeys that appear on Playhouse Disney and talk between programmes, as well as introducing the Playhouse Disney Channel.

Playing for the Planet games - this is a game that can only be played on the PC. It focuses around teaching children about the environment, and what we can do to help save the planet and keep it a nice place to live in.

Conclusion

As you can see this CD and DVD set is crammed packed with lots of fun for you and your kids. Learning the songs together is a fun way of teaching the children to listen and repeat. It also helps improve their memory, which is great for school. The songs are fun to dance and sing along to, and quite a few of the singers on the tracks are easily recogniseable as Disney characters.

The DVD is also brilliant, giving you an idea of the sort of programs that are being shown on Playhouse Disney. The episodes from various programs on this DVD are fun and interesting for children. Through this my son became interested in the Playhouse Disney channel, which is great as I was getting sick and tired of Tweenies and Teletubbies on the Cbeebies channel! The PC game is also an added bonus if you have access to a PC, and its an extra feature that you can do with your child.

If I was asked if I would recommend this to people then you would hear me give a resounding yes. This DVD and album set has captured the essence and joy that is Disney. It has all the innocence that you associate with characters such as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck and friends. There is so much within this product that I would not hesitate to buy another if ours so happened to get damaged or lost. Now that the price has gone down it is even more value for money. I might even order another one for my niece, as I know she will definitely enjoy it and gets hours of fun from it, like my son has.

A 5/5 from my house!!!