A Tale of Two Christmas CDs

[Club 33]

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I've recently begun trying to obtain copies of all of the various Disney park music CDs released over the years.

One CD I recently purchased is a CD entitled Disney's Season Of Song: A Traditional Holiday Collection. It has the following track listing:

1. Holiday IllumiNations - Messiah Majesty (0:47)
2. Holiday IllumiNations - What Child Is This / March Of The Toy Soldiers (2:08)
3. Holiday IllumiNations - Dance Of The Sugarplum Fairy (0:49)
4. Holiday IllumiNations - Russian Dance (0:56)
5. Christmas Brass - Medley: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing / God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen / Joy To The World (1:57)
6. Christmas Brass - Jingle Bells (2:33)
7. Christmas Brass - Angels We Have Heard On High (2:12)
8. Don Scaletta Trio - What Child Is This? (3:10)
9. Don Scaletta Trio - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (6:56)
10. Don Scaletta Trio - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (3:26)
11. Disney Dickens Christmas Carolers - Away In A Manger (1:09)
12. Disney Dickens Christmas Carolers - O Come All Ye Faithful (1:29)
13. Disney Dickens Christmas Carolers - Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (0:47)
14. Christmas Brass - Good King Wenceslas (1:15)
15. Christmas Brass - Little Drummer Boy (2:45)
16. Christmas Brass - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (2:01)
17. Christmas Brass - Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer (2:39)
18. Disney Dickens Christmas Carolers - Bring A Torch, Jeanette, Isabella (1:18)
19. Disney Dickens Christmas Carolers - Carol Of The Bells (1:33)
20. Disney Dickens Christmas Carolers - Winter Wonderland (1:49)
21. Don Scaletta Trio - Up On The Housetop (2:46)
22. Don Scaletta Trio - Jolly Old St. Nicholas (2:51)
23. Don Scaletta Trio - It Came Upon A Midnight Clear (3:36)
24. Holiday IllumiNations - O Holy Night (2:06)
25. Holiday IllumiNations - Let There Be Peace On Earth (4:03)

Now I bought the CD specifically for the Holiday Illuminations tracks. Though it's out of print now (it was released in 1996, don't know when they might have stopped selling it) it's still extremely easy to find; Amazon has no less than 24 copies of it for sale, and there are yet more on eBay.

However, I've discovered there is in fact another CD, released a year earlier, entitled, Christmas Around Our World.

Though it has a different title and different cover artwork, it features almost exactly the same tracks, but with three additional tracks not found in the previous release:

1. Holiday IllumiNations - Messiah Majesty (0:47)
2. Holiday IllumiNations - What Child Is This / March Of The Toy Soldiers (2:08)
3. Holiday IllumiNations - Dance Of The Sugarplum Fairy (0:49)
4. Holiday IllumiNations - Russian Dance (0:56)
5. Christmas Brass - Medley: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing / God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen / Joy To The World (1:57)
6. Christmas Brass - Jingle Bells (2:33)
7. Christmas Brass - Angels We Have Heard On High (2:12)
8. Christmas Brass - Medley: Jingle Bell Rock / Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree / Little Saint Nick / Joy To The World (2:57)
9. Don Scaletta Trio - What Child Is This? (3:10)
10. Don Scaletta Trio - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (6:56)
11. Don Scaletta Trio - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (3:26)
12. Disney Dickens Christmas Carolers - Away In A Manger (1:09)
13. Disney Dickens Christmas Carolers - O Come All Ye Faithful (1:29)
14. Disney Dickens Christmas Carolers - Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (0:47)
15. Christmas Brass - Good King Wenceslas (1:15)
16. Christmas Brass - Little Drummer Boy (2:45)
17. Christmas Brass - Frosty The Snowman (1:55)
18. Christmas Brass - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (2:01)
19. Christmas Brass - Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer (2:39)
20. Disney Dickens Christmas Carolers - Bring A Torch, Jeanette, Isabella (1:18)
21. Disney Dickens Christmas Carolers - Carol Of The Bells (1:33)
22. Disney Dickens Christmas Carolers - Winter Wonderland (1:49)
23. Don Scaletta Trio - Up On The Housetop (2:46)
24. Don Scaletta Trio - Jolly Old St. Nicholas (2:51)
25. Don Scaletta Trio - It Came Upon A Midnight Clear (3:36)
26. Holiday IllumiNations - O Holy Night (2:06)
27. Holiday IllumiNations - Chanukah Medley (2:01)
28. Holiday IllumiNations - Let There Be Peace On Earth (4:03)

Unfortunately, this CD, which includes three tracks not included on Season of Song, is much harder to find. I've yet to find a copy for sale on either Amazon or eBay. Presumably this CD was only made for a short time before being replaced the following year by Season of Song.

So my question is: why? Why produce a new CD a year later and cut three tracks? This bothers me particularly because I am missing the "Chanukah Medley" portion of Holiday Illuminations.

And there's more. Season of Song was then released again as part of the Disneyland Forever system, only with 7 more tracks cut (the Holiday Illuminations tracks are also now credited to "Disney Holiday Orchestra":

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In fairness, they did at least provide the caveat of "Selections From" Season of Song, so the omissions are in this case understandable.

Can anyone provide some insight into the history of these releases?

(credit goes to sds910 for the track information and cover art)

 

[angiehashemi]

I myself have tried to track down a copy of "Chrismtas Around Our World" to no avail. I am not much help on any information about the disc though. The information I know is the information you already have. I wish I could find a copy of it. It is one of the very few park released CD's I am missing.

 

[Horizons]

I can't provide a history, but I have both CDs. Is there other information you're looking for?

 

[Club 33]

I was just curious as to why the first CD was replaced and the three tracks cut. Just seemed odd to me.

 

[Horizons]

I was just curious as to why the first CD was replaced and the three tracks cut. Just seemed odd to me.

Both my CDs were copyrighted in 1995 and were issued by different departments.

Season of Song - Walt Disney Records
Christmas Around the World - Disney Magic Productions, which looks to be something local in FL and the first offering from the label.

 

[Gurgitoy2]

I was just curious as to why the first CD was replaced and the three tracks cut. Just seemed odd to me.

Both my CDs were copyrighted in 1995 and were issued by different departments.

Season of Song - Walt Disney Records
Christmas Around the World - Disney Magic Productions, which looks to be something local in FL and the first offering from the label.

That's the thing I noticed. The first one seems to have been a park release only. the "Season of Song" album was released nationwide by WDR. I have no idea why they cut 3 tracks...seems odd, unless there were some strange rights issues. I have both as well, but the copy of "Christmas Around our World" arrived broken when I bought it, so I had to get a CDR backup from the seller...I'd love to find a non-broken copy to replace it, but it really doesn't show up often. Kind of like the original "Noel a Disneyland Paris" CD...can't find that one either.

 

[trentino]

I inquired about this a few years after the dual releases. My understanding is that Christmas Around Our World was released as the first in a planned series of Disney Parks CDs by Disney Magic Productions. But I think that WDR found out about this release and because they have first rights for Disney music releases, they didn't want this Florida-based group releasing music under their own label. WDR re-released the album nationwide after cutting some tracks due to royalty issues. It seems that Disney Magic Productions was still involved in other albums including the Candlelight Processional, original WDW Fantasmic (1998) and the Magic in Streets albums ... but I think these all have the WDR label on them rather than the Disney Magic Productions label as seen on Christmas Around Our World.

Trent

 

[Club 33]

Well, two months later, I finally found a copy of Christmas Around Our World on eBay. I paid $28.99 for it, which is a bit high but not outrageous for theme park CDs of a similar vintage. Given that this is the only copy I've seen for sale anywhere it seems reasonable- though interestingly I was the only one who bid.

Now to find a copy of Holiday Magic from Disneyland, which seems even harder to come by.

It's funny that park CDs from the 90s and 2000s can be hard find when vinyl releases from the 70s and 80s are usually pretty easy to come by.