Best Non-Disney Animated Movie Song?


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wondergreg

I'm soooo old too. I love the DAYDREAMER score, particularly the instrumentals, and Ray Bolger's WHO CAN TELL, which is so Rankin/Bass. According to Rick Goldschimdt's Rankin/Bass book, Robert Goulet performed "Daydreamer" on the Ed Sullivan show before the film was set to premiere, but Joe Levine didn't like the movie and pulled it from general releaase. It's on AMC a lot now.

The legendary Harburg and Arlen songwriting team wrote the GAY PURR-EE songs. I believe it was the first complete score they did with Judy Garland since THE WIZARD OF OZ. She and Robert Goulet did some of the songs on her TV show.
 
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David S.

Member
OK, here's my "me too" for "Gay Purr-ee"! I saw it on Disney Channel a few years ago and really enjoyed all the songs, and the film itself. Has the soundtrack ever been issued on CD?

It's good to see so much support for the early Muppet films. I've practically worn out my "Muppet Movie" and "Great Muppet Caper" vinyl LP's from playing them so much. I didn't realize they had been issued on CD in the mid-90's, and apparently no one else did either, because they are long out of print and practically IMPOSSIBLE to find used. One of my greatest (non-Disney) CD release wishes is for the CD reissue of the first two Muppet soundtracks as well as the CD debut of "The Muppets Take Manhattan"

I would also love to see more music from the Rankin/Bass catalog on CD. The only complete CD soundtracks that I know of are for "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" and "Mad Monster Party".

There are a few enjoyable (if short) CD compilations drawing from material from the Christmas specials - "Rudolph, Frosty, and Friends" consists entirely of Rankin/Bass songs and the previously mentioned "Nick at Nite's Classic Cartoon Christmas" Vol. 1 and 2 has some Rankin/Bass material as well as other classics. Volume 2 is notable for being the only CD that I know of to contain the famous "Snow Miser" (hooray for Snowy!) and "Heat Miser" theme songs (from "The Year Without A Santa Claus"). Aside from these two songs, most of the compilations draw mainly from the earlier material of Rankin/Bass. The later specials (owned by Warner Brothers) are very poorly represented on CD.

Greg - any word on if more Rankin/Bass material will ever see the light of day on CD? Since you wrote a chapter about Maury Laws (what would our holiday special musical heritage be without him?!) and are familiar with Rick Goldschmitt's book, I thought you might know.

David

PS. Chris - I LOVE "Walking In the Air"! Indeed, a very beautiful song with beautiful vocals. I have it on a double CD entitled "The Best Classical Album In the World...Ever!", alongside famous tracks like "Swan Lake" by Tchaikovsky and "Flower Duet" by Delibes (my all-time favorite piece from an opera). The compilers must have really liked this song, too!
 
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chris

Member
David, it sure would be great to have those Muppet movie CDs. I remember seeing them at the music store when they were released, but being low on funds at the time, I passed them by. Boy, it does seem like they were in print for about a year only, if that much! I especially regret not getting the "The Great Muppet Caper" CD. I really like that soundtrack. I did buy the Muppet Movie sountrack in cassette form which I now cannot find. I've often thought how great it would be to have a time machine to be able to go back and buy some great things that are no longer available. Think how cool it would be to go back to the 50's and 60's to visit the department stores and record stores to see and get all the great mint Disney records and stuff!
 
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wondergreg

Chris -- I agree about the time machine. In fact, friends kid me about whether I would try to change history and prevent events from happening if I time-traveled, or if I would shop for old Disney and Hanna-Barbera Records! I actually have dreams in which I drive around old neighborhoods trying to find record shops and department stores long out of business. I know it's sad!

David - Check out Rick Goldschimdt's rankinbass.com because he has made a few out-of-print and promo soundtracks available, plus he is working on a reissue of the MGM soundtracks of SANTA CLAUS IS COMIN' TO TOWN and FROSTY THE SNOWMAN on Rhino CD's this year!

As far as the Muppet stuff, maybe if the Henson company changes hands again (rumor has it), some of the music will re-appear on CD. Obviously the earlier CD's were not marketed well enough.
 
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chris

Member
That's too funny, wondergreg! Glad you appreciate my wishes to visit back in time. Not only would it be neat to see all the great items, but the decor and styles as well. It would be a hoot. You're not alone in having dreams like that. Not too long ago I had one that I was in a big department store and, like in the old days, there was huge LP section and I was finding all kinds of goodies! Don't you just love those kinds of dreams? Then when you wake up it's a disapointment because you could not bring the records back with you.

I'm sure glad ebay came along. It gives me the opportunity to find some of the things that I would not have access to otherwise. Mary Poppins items from long ago that are sometimes mint, and to recover some that I once owned in my youth, has been really fun. It makes me happy.

Some years back, at a collector's record store, they had a good bit of mint, sealed copies of "Fred Flinstone and Barney Rubble sing the Songs from Mary Poppins". I only bought one copy, and regret not having gotten more. It's a very interesting album to say the least. They also had "Wilma Flinstone Tells the Story of Bambi". Do you have these? I just love the heavy stock album cover and thickness of the vinyl Lps, not flimsy like the more recent records. I still find it hilarious that Fred and Barney recorded Mary Poppins. That proves that close to everybody did at the time.

PS - I'm going into my time machine to visit a drug store in 1965 to buy a mint Mary Poppins toothbrush! Wish me luck. You want me to pick anything up for you?
 
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wondergreg

Acutally, thanks to eBay and a lifetime of "treasure hunting," I now have all the Hanna-Barbera cartoon series LP's. They're great because they were made at the peak of HB's initial success and featured so many great voice actors (though some were strangely cast in voices they did not create).

To the best of my knowledge, the Flintstone Mary Poppins LP is the only version of the Poppins score (including the soundtracks) that includes the "strawberry ice" verse from "Jolly Holiday." It sure is a weird album! I guess Mary Poppins was also released in 1964 B.C.!

I've been trying to get Rhino Records to reissue the Hanna-Barbera series for years. We came close but it never happened. Yet. Some were also reissued in 1977 by Columbia Special Products, but the album art and the simulated stereo effect were inferior to the originals. Beware of those on eBay.
 
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ladytramp

New Member
Great topic

I'm a sucker for ballads, so most of my favorites are along those lines...

"Little Drops of Rain" from Gay Purr-ee
"Bright Eyes" from Watership Down
"Mother Earth and Father Time" from Charlotte's Web
"There's Always Tomorrow" from Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer
"Anyone Can Move A Mountain" from Smokey the Bear
"Rainbow Connection" from The Muppet Movie
"Somewhere Out There" from An American Tail
"The Lord's Bright Blessings" from Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol

These are my favorites from non-Disney animated films. But I have to say even though it was a weird show, I often find myself thinking about Sammy Davis Jr. singing the title song from "What's A Nice Kid Like You Doing In A Place Like This"

Thurman
 
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scorefan

New Member
Wow, I love the Pufnstuff score. Living Island, If I Could are good songs as well.

Some of the other non-Disney animated songs I like are:

When You Believe from Prince of Egypt
Deliver Us from Prince of Egypt
Once Upon a December from Anastasia
American Tail and American Tail 2 have some nice songs
Brave Little Toaster has some fun songs. I especially like B-Movie.
 
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dfans

New Member
:D
Once Upon a December & Journey to the Past from
Anastasia
Looking Through Your Eyes & The Prayer from Quest for Camelot
When You Believe from The Prince of Egypt
Somewhere Out There from An American Tail
Do Re Mi & The Lonely Goatherd from The Sound of Music
I Have Dreamed from The King and I
 
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Rickgoldschmidt

New Member
Heard there was alot of RANKIN/BASS talk over here by a friend of RANKINBASS.COM and I see another friend, Greg Ehrbar is a member here!!! ;D After reading some of the comments, thought I would add a few things I know about that may interest you. Just finished work on a RHINO CD of the MGM Soundtracks of the RANKIN/BASS classics SANTA CLAUS IS COMIN' TO TOWN/FROSTY THE SNOWMAN. Should be a very nice CD. My contacts at RHINO said there is a possibility that they may start issueing the classic HANNA-BARBERA LPs in a series of two LPs per CD. There have been some changes in their HANDMADE Department and they are looking at different options. I see they just issued a TV LAND Theme song CD that TV LAND is offering via a commercial.



The other thing is...recently CLASSIC MEDIA/GOLDEN BOOKS ENTERTAINMENT made a deal with NBC to finally bring MR. MAGOO'S CHRISTMAS CAROL back to network television in 2002 for it's 40th Anniversary! Seems like there are alot of fans of that soundtrack! I am one of them. ALSO, for you RANKIN/BASS fans, NBC also bought the rights to air HERE COMES PETER COTTONTAIL on the network. It originally aired on ABC and really hasn't been seen since the 1970's on Network television. ;)

Look forward to checking out this site again! I am a big DISNEY music fan of old!

Rick
 
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chris

Member
Thanks for all the great news, Rick! It all sounds very good. Boy, I sure hope we do get the Hanna-Barbera LPs on CD.

I'm also thrilled to hear that NBC has "Here Comes Peter Cottontail"! One of my favorites.

Looking forward to your work on the great Rhino CDs!
 
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MitchB

Member
This is somewhat off the subject, but not a lot.
Does anyone remember an animated tv special
that told how Clement Moore came to write the
poem "The Night Before Christmas"? I remember
the plot had somthing to do with his writing it
as a gift for a sick daughter that wanted a
story book a about Santa and he wasn't able
to find one so he writes the poem. I'm guessing
that I saw this show sometime in the late 60's
and I've never seen it since! Perphaps this was
all in my imagination- but I don't think so. If any-
one remembers it or knows where I can get a
copy let me know! Thanks-Mitch
 
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SharonKurland

Active Member
Mitch-

I remember the show, but none of the details...just the premise that you mentioned. I would guess it was early 70's though, since my memories of the late 60's are fuzzy at best (not too many drugs...just born in 1966 ).

-Sharon-
 
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MitchB

Member
It very well could have been in the early 70s.
thanks for letting me know that the show did
indeed exist and wasn't part of my over active
imagination!
 
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wondergreg

The show was a half hour called THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, and it was made in 1968, though I too remember seeing it in the early 70's. It was made in Hollywood at Playhouse Pictures but a lot of Hanna-Barbera artists must have worked on it since it has their look.

Olan Soule, the voice of Batman on SUPERFRIENDS, was Clement Moore and the music was sung by the Norman Luboff Choir.

Here's the neat part. The version of the Night Before Christmas that was sung as a song by the Choir in the special is identical to the version that is sung year after year in the Magic Kingdom show "Mickey's Twas the Night Before Christmas. It was written by Hollywood vocal arranger Ken Darby and was first heard in the 40's by Fred Waring and His Pennslyvanians, and also on the Fibber McGee and Molly radio show. They each did recordings of it, and you can still find the Waring version and another by the Harry Simeone Chorale on CD.

But wait! There's more. There was a soundtrack album, and you can find it frequently on eBay, or visit rankinbass.com, where our pal Rick Goldschmidt has it on a CD as a bonus track with the Rankin/Bass Night Before Christmas soundtrack and Cricket on the Hearth.

More than you wanted to know, eh?
 
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rob kilbride

New Member
I too love Bright Eyes from Watership Down. I also love Mithradir from Lord of the Rings(Bakshi 1978) and Flying Dreams from The Secret of NIMH especially its use in the score for the climax at the end. These are also my 3 favorite non-Disney animated scores.
 
Gurgitoy2

Gurgitoy2

Active Member
Well, like a lot of you here I also like the songs from the various Muppet movies. I am sure some of you are aware, but I wanted to let everyone know that there is a new CD with many of the good songs form the many Muppet movies and the shows. It's called "The Muppet Show - The 25th Anniversary Collection: Music, Mayhem, and More!" released by Rhino Records (who else!) R2 78119. It's such a great CD! It's got "Rainbow Connection", "Movin' Right Along", "Can You Picture That?", "Happiness Hotel", "The First Time it Happens", "Together Again", "I'm Gonna Always Love You" (which inspired the Muppet Babies cartoon series), "One More Sleep 'til Christmas"...and many more. I've been listening to it for the last few weeks off and on and I really love it!
 
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chris

Member
Oh, Ben! That's great news! Thanks for letting us know about the new Muppet CD. I'm going to go out and try to find it today. Especially looking forward to "The First Time it Happens".

Thanks,
Chris
 
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