WDR and Wonderland UPDATE


Hiya Y'all!

It's been a while, so I thought I let you kind folks know what's been goin' on. Here we go ?

A MUSICAL HISTORY OF DISNEYLAND
The complete set (minus the vinyl as mentioned before) has gone national and is doing extremely well. Costco informs us that it is the number one selling CD at the store (including single CD sales). The boxed set has been doing so very well that the powers-that-be even lowered the suggested retail price (to 99.00) ? which is quite remarkable (and even more remarkable is the fact that retailers are passing that onto the public ? for as I?ve mentioned before we can only suggest what to sell an item for and even though we may lower the price, the retailers are not obligated to). Costco has gone beyond and lowered the price to $69 ? an incredible deal!!!

The Special Edition version is still No.1 of all of the 50th merchandise sold at the parks and continues to sell an average of 200 sets a week at Disneyland alone. There?s 13 more months of the celebration and orders keep coming in.

THE WONDERLAND MUSIC STORE
As you are all aware by now, The Wonderland Music Store is now in 2 locations at The Walt Disney World Resort. I purposely didn?t post because I?ve been spoiling the surprise on too many things. The excitement that Sharon had in finding the kiosks and being the one to break the news back here is evidence of that. I?ll still post updates, but some things I?ll let you discover for yourself.

Now for the new titles ?

?Addition and Subtraction? DQ1922 and ?Multiplication and Division? DQ1923
These two albums are some of the first recordings Walt Disney Records released with ?Addition and Subtraction? either being nominated or winning an educational award for the time. What I love about these two albums are the songs are performed by Rica Moore and Cliff Edwards (Jiminy Cricket). The tunes are quite catchy and if you?re a fan of Jiminy Cricket, you?ll enjoy his jazzy little ditty called ?Noah?s Ark?. One of my favs is ?The Cannibal Song? from ?Addition and Subtraction?.

?The Story and Songs of The Jungle Book? ST3948
This is the first test with our old Storyteller line. ?The Jungle Book? is a real popular title and I felt starting the Storyteller re-issues with it would be a good start. I have a feeling that this new Storyteller line will help me get the songs from films, which have never had a real soundtrack of their own, into your libraries. An example of this would be ?The Story and Songs from Robin Hood? which was discussed here a while back. You can expect to see that title sometime in the not-too-distant future.

?Mickey Mouse and his Friends? DQ1321
A cool collection of Classic Disney Children?s songs from ?Happy Mouse? to the ?Mickey Mouse Mambo?.


And to celebrate the opening of The Wonderland Music kiosks at WDW?

?The Walt Disney World Band? BV3337
This is a great stereo recording of The Walt Disney World Band from the early 1970?s. This is the album that ?The Mickey Mouse March? (which appeared on previous Official Albums) originally came from. There?s a great ?Mary Poppins Medley? as well as a version of ?Grim Grinning Ghosts?. There are a few songs from ?Bedknobs and Broomsticks? too!

?The Hall of Presidents? STER3806
This is the original recording from the Walt Disney World attraction. Released in 1972, the last president named in this version is Nixon. Though the overall recording is OK, there are some sections that really date the recording. Though this was done in the 1970?s, condenser microphones we new technology and the result is a little thin sounding and some distortion is evident. We did what we could and the recording does sound far better than it?s original release, but we had limitations with the original source. Still this particular master never sounded better, and I only mention some of the recordings flaws so you audiophiles know that I was aware of them and did everything I could to fix the only master I could work with.

I?ve saved the best for last. Here?s the one you?ll be salivating over?

?Musical Highlights from The Mickey Mouse Club TV Show? DQ1227
Finally, at long last, here is one of the original Mickey Mouse Club song albums. Just about all of the daily songs ?Today Is Tuesday? and ?Talent Round-Up? are here! One thing I recently discovered, while reading the drafts of Greg Ehrbar and Tim Hollis?s upcoming book, is that these early Mickey Mouse Albums were done before the show debuted. They were recorded as part of the promotion, and though it includes the great Jimmie Dodd, not all of the Mouseketeers are present (as they may not have been cast yet) and were substituted with the adult Mouseketeer Chorus. An example is one of the Mouseketeer Roll Call songs has some of the original cast as well as some adults singing as children and has no Annette (as Annette was the last Mouseketeer cast). It?s a great album and truly sounds fantastic! I?m sure you?ll really enjoy it!

***

It?s my understanding that these 7 new titles were installed at Disneyland today and will be added to Walt Disney World?s kiosks within the next few days or so.


THE SEATTLE EXHIBIT
As I briefly mentioned some time back, Walt Disney Records will be celebrating our 50th next year with an exhibit at Seattle?s Experience Music Project Museum. At this moment, it looks like November 2006 is when the exhibit opens (with the possibility of it traveling in 2007). As the exhibit progresses and more info is confirmed, I?ll post and let you know what is happening.


Randy Thornton
 
Thank you very much for the update. I am very happy to hear about

?The Story and Songs of The Jungle Book? ST3948
This is the first test with our old Storyteller line. ?The Jungle Book? is a real popular title and I felt starting the Storyteller re-issues with it would be a good start. I have a feeling that this new Storyteller line will help me get the songs from films, which have never had a real soundtrack of their own, into your libraries. An example of this would be ?The Story and Songs from Robin Hood? which was discussed here a while back. You can expect to see that title sometime in the not-too-distant future."

I still have my copy of the Jungle Book record that I remember my parents buying me as we left the movie theater when I was a kid. Hopefully someday those of us that live far from the parks will have a way to buy these some other way
 

SharonKurland

Active Member
Randy-

This is said COMPLETELY tongue-in-cheek. But GEESH, I was FINALLY starting to catch up on CDs...got 6 in the past month and a half and now you fill up those spaces with 6 more. Sigh......

I still don't understand why they don't advertise them AT ALL at WDW. Or how they expect them to do well withoput said advertisement. Aren't they setting themselves up for failure?

-Sharon-
Orlando FL
 
Thanks for the update, Randy. I'll have to head down for the Mickey Mouse Club and Mickey and Friends CDs for sure.

I do hope more of the soundtracks (Family Band, Song of the South, Moon-Spinners), concept albums (Saludos Amigos, Teen Street), pop (Annette, Darlene, Camarata) and TV material (MMC Serials, Zorro, WW of Color) are on the way too.

As for Storytellers, Sleeping Beauty, In Search of the Castaways, the list is endless as I hope is this reissue program.

What kind of schedule are you looking toward now for future releases? Still sort of quarterly?
 

X-S Tech

Active Member
So today I'm watching coverage of the original Mousketeers recent appearance at DL, and thinking back to the old Mickey Mouse Club record I inherited from my aunt when I was little. And I remember thinking how funny some of the mousketeers sounded during the role call. The one that really sounded funny was "Nancy" who said her name very slowly and sounded like a man trying to do a woman's voice (not even a little girls for some reason). And here i am checking this board tonight and Mr. Thornton answers a question I hadn't even asked yet. Will wonders never cease?

So have the additional titles you mentioned (Hall of Presidents, Addition and Subtraction, and Multiplication and Division specifically) been added to Disneyland's system as well?
 

X-S Tech

Active Member
Glad to hear the 6CD set is doing so well by the way. That's fabulous news and can only mean a brighter future for Disney Theme Park music.
 
The Hall of Presidents, WDW Band(how about the Disneyland Band LP as a companion release?), and of course, the Mickey Mouse Club, are on my list, right off the bat!

I remember a post from Greg(I don't think it was Tim), a ways back, discussing Randy's point about the different cast involved in the original Mickey Mouse Club releases. If I'm not mistaken, I think he said that there eventually was a release with the actual club members--Greg??? Refresh my memory so I won't have to go through the old posts!

Now with a Storyteller line started, might the forbidden door to the Song of the South stories/songs LP be opened???

Mike
 
THE SEATTLE EXHIBIT
As I briefly mentioned some time back, Walt Disney Records will be celebrating our 50th next year with an exhibit at Seattle?s Experience Music Project Museum. At this moment, it looks like November 2006 is when the exhibit opens (with the possibility of it traveling in 2007). As the exhibit progresses and more info is confirmed, I?ll post and let you know what is happening.

Randy,

I have talked about the possiblity of this upcoming event with our local chapter of the NFFC here in Washington State. We are exited to see it coming to the Experience Music Project (EMP). We would also like to offer any support you might need in getting things organized etc.

Also I would also like to discuss with the people here in this board about the possiblility of a Disney Music Convention to be held in conjuction with the exhibit. I have talked already with our local chapter of NFFC and we are willing to host it. I would like to try to get several speakers, possibly Randy,Greg/Tim, and others to come and talk as well as have a Disneyana sale, special tour of EMP exhibit,etc. Let me know what you guys think about this.

Thanks,
Ken
 

ArnyVee

Member
X-S Tech kinda stole my thunder....but, he's exactly right!

Due to the great sales of the 6-CD set and the volumes being moved, that should definitely bring forth some very good times for Randy and for us!

Thanks for everything that you do Randy! We absolutely appreciate your efforts and look forward for continued fun with more and more of the Disney music library being released!
 

will

Member
Hey Santa Claus must have gotten my letter early this year -- MORE Wonderland titles!!!!

Not to be ungrateful - but can I suggest these titles for the next batch:

THE BLACK HOLE
THAT DARN CAT
THE MOON-SPINNERS
Walt Disney presents BEST LOVED FAIRY TALES (DQ-1284)
THE ONE and ONLY GENUINE, ORIGINAL FAMILY BAND
MOTHER GOOSE RHYMES (ST 3949)
MAKE MINE MUSIC
THE THREE CABALLEROS
SALUDOS AMIGOS
THE ADVENTURES OF ICHABOD & MR. TOAD
MELODY TIME
FUN & FANCY FREE
Mickey and the Beanstalk (DQ-1248)
THE BLACK CAULDRON
THE ARISTOCATS
THE SWORD IN THE STONE
ROBN HOOD

Just a wish list for Santa Randy Thornton Claus
 
W

wondergreg

I remember a post from Greg(I don't think it was Tim), a ways back, discussing Randy's point about the different cast involved in the original Mickey Mouse Club releases. If I'm not mistaken, I think he said that there eventually was a release with the actual club members--Greg??? Refresh my memory so I won't have to go through the old posts!

Here's the story, Mike, and thanks for asking:
Most of the early Mickey Mouse Club records are sung by Jimmie Dodd and a studio chorus (Thurl is in there) for the reasons Randy said. Gradually the record company added songs to subsequent albums that featured actual Mouseketeers, but it wasn't untit 1975 when the soundtrack versions of "Fun with Music," "Today is Tuesday," "Anything Can Happen Day" and Talent Roundup/Hi To You" were released on vinyl on a Storyteller LP called MICKEY MOUSE CLUB SONG HITS WITH A PERSONAL MOUSEKETEER PHOTO ALBUM (catalog number 3815). They were also released on some 45's. You can spot those 45's by their pinkish label. For some weird reason, the soundtrack of "Here Comes the Circus" was never released on records.

The "Mickey Mouse March" soundtrack version was also a late comer to vinyl. The studio version continued to pop up on records until MICKEY MOUSE CLUB MOUSEKEDANCES AND OTHER MOUSEKETEER FAVORITES LP (1362) was issued in the 70's. This LP came before SONG HITS and did not have the soundtracks to the songs listed above, nor the soundtrack to the theme song. Perhaps fan feedback was the reason that the exact same album was issued again with the soundtrack theme replacing the studio version. If you're looking for this album today, it's difficult to tell which version is which because the covers are identical. Tim and I didn't know about these specific versions ourselves until we were talking about them one day and I had the studio version and he had the soundtrack one!

It seems we never stop discovering new things about Disney records!
 
I am glad to hear that the original LP of "Hall Of Presidents" will now be getting a quality CD release. I also hope that some day in the future the opportunity to hear Buddy Baker's isolated underscore will be there, as well as the final version of this original program which was revised with each president subsequent to Nixon to Bush 41 (with Lawrence Dobkin redoing the roll call for those occasions). Also, I distinctly remember the final choral arrangment of "Battle Hymn Of The Republic" changing by the 80s to one that ended on a higher, more soaring note than it does on the LP version.

Where's the best link for me to order this on-line?
 
Thanks, Greg--Yep, that's the LP I remember being discussed, the one with the photo album. Looks like it'd be a good addition to the Wonderland series, especially since Randy's going into the Storyteller LP's now.

And thanks for making the point about Thurl; I just went back and listened to my old Mickey Mouse Club Song 78(a childhood survivor, safely preserved on a CD-R--actually doesn't sound too bad!), Mickey Mouse Club Records, D222. Thurl is definitely there--and actually, Greg--isn't that the rest of the Mellomen in the chorus? It certainly sounds like their harmonies!

Mike
 

X-S Tech

Active Member
And to answer my own question, yes these new additions are on teh DL Wonderland system now. Thanks Randy!
 

Eric

Member
Just an FYI: The Wonderland Kiosk at Once Upon a Toy is broken/shut down (has been for the past few days). Apparently they aren't maintaining it to well; not that it matters that much..it's location is basically hidden anyway and there's no description of the machine, so it's unlikely too many people would be purchasing anything from it anyway. :'(
 

dalvarad

Member
I bought the MMC TV show, Walt Disney World band, and Hall of Presidents cd this weekend at Disneyland.

MMC sounds great considering the age of the material. This cd really brought back memories from watching this show on the Disney Channel in the 80's.
It's great to these classic Disney MMC club songs on CD! One or two of the tracks have a kind of a distortion (most notable on track 13), it sounds as if these were recorded from the set (and not an in-studio recording). Contrary to what was said earlier, Annette does appear on track 14 "We're the Mouseketeers"-Roll Call but not on Track 2 "Mouseketeer March" Roll call.

Hall of Presidents cd is wonderful to have on cd but the quality is not the best as Randy mentioned....

The Walt Disney World Band album sounds great and is nice to hear the additional tracks (besides the Mickey Mouse Club March)....

With the number of albums available on the Wonderland system, I'll never be able to get them all, but I'm so grateful to have these on cd without the lp scratches or pops! Keep them coming!

I also put in a request for the Icabod Crane LP, the Orange Bird, and the Haunted Mansion storyteller albums!
 

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