Covering the Mouse

Over the years, many musical artists have paid tribute to the music of Disney. This webpage pays tribute to those artists. You won't find any originals Disney songs here, these are all covers, interpretations and variations on the tunes we all know and love.

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I would find it very hard to believe if you told me that you had never heard of UB40. Anyone born in the 70s or later should know that name, and even if you didn't recognize that name, surely you have heard their cover of Neil Diamond's Red Red Wine or their version of Elvis' (Can't Help) Falling in Love With You at least once in your lifetime.

This 80s British reggae band certainly has a well-recognizable song which has been a mainstay on modern Adult Contemporary radio stations (at least here in Vancouver). Interesting fact: UB40 is the document that people in Britain had to fill out to claim their unemployment benefits.

UB40 are one of the more well known bands (to a North American audience, anyway) to be included in the DISNEY REGGAE CLUB, an album of Disney tunes by reggae masters which was released in 2010.

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Just found your blog on a search for Disney covers, can't wait to dig through everything on here. I did see you are missing an awesome album: "Once Upon an Ever After", by VoicePlay. These are some spectacular technical a cappella arrangements. (I see you have Home Free; both of these groups were made famous on the same season of The Sing-Off).

I’ll check them out! Thanks for the tip!

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I'm at Classic 107 which is a classical music and jazz radio station in Winnipeg. You say you're from Canada, but what part? Love the blog site. Neil Coligan, host of Jazz After 9

I’m in Vancouver. Nice to hear from another Canuck!

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HOME FREE is not just an a cappella group. They are a country a cappella group! The real difference is found in their vocal harmonies which have a definite country sound to them.

Case in point, this cover of Shakira’s Try Everything from Zootopia goes from dance pop to new country thanks to their arrangement of the song.

Home Free found fame after winning season four of The Sing-Off in 2013. They’ve recorded eight albums since 2009, but their first on a major label in 2014 reached #8 on the country charts! Let’s hope we hear more Disney covers in their future!

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Originally part of the Christian hip hop trio dc Talk, KEVIN MAX SMITH has a signature vocal style that fans latched onto during their 90s heyday. Unfortunately, when the band dissolved in 2001, Kevin Max was the only one of the trio that couldn't break his solo act into the Christian market.

However, that didn't deter Kevin Max who has now spent the past 15 years  refining his sound and creating for himself a very niche and dedicated fanbase  with eight studio albums and a number of EPs. That's not even counting performing the lead role in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, starring in the indie film The Imposter, and fronting a couple of other bands, including his Christian rock contemporary Audio Adrenaline.

This cover of When You Wish Upon a Star can be found on his 2015 album STARRY EYES SURPRISE. The entire album is jazz covers of songs from various decades - everything from 60s classic Moon River to 80s pop hit Sunglasses at Night. His take on the classic Pinocchio song is an excellent example of modal jazz. He plays with the melody and creates a very moody atmosphere.

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A few of my knowledgeable Disney friends on Facebook posted that MARNI NIXON passed away a few days ago.

I had never heard of Marni Nixon before but it made sense why when I looked her up. Nixon had made a whole film career around being a “ghost singer” - someone who is the singing voice for another usually without receiving credit so that everyone thinks the actual actress can sing. Marni Nixon has been the singing voice of Deborah Kerr, Marilyn Monroe, Sophia Loren, Audrey Hepburn, and many others.

She has also played a few Disney roles over the years. She was the soloist for the main title of Cinderella, some singing flowers in Alice in Wonderland, the singing geese in Mary Poppins and the singing voice of Grandmother Fa in Mulan.

Her first actual onscreen role was Sister Sophia in The Sound of Music, staring Julie Andrews, so I thought it would be appropriate to pick a cover from a different Julie Andrews movie. Here is Marni Nixon doing her best Julie Andrews from the Disneyland Records LP, MARY POPPINS.

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Disney’s making a new Pete’s Dragon film and I fully expect to hear a new cover of this classic attached to the credit roll and soundtrack album. The original is a heartfelt ballad that is very fond to those who grew up with the original movie.

HELEN REDDY was one of the most successful female recording artists of the seventies and when she joined the cast of Pete's Dragon it was obvious that there would be a song written with her in mind. Candle on the Water was a smash hit and was nominated for a "Best Song" Oscar in 1977. It was competing with another Disney song, the Rescuers song Someone's Waiting For You, but both lost to You Light Up My Life. Reddy recorded her own version of Candle on the Water and released it as a single. It reached #27 on the Adult Contemporary charts.

The cover, by ANNELIESE VAN DER POL, off the album DISNEYMANIA 4, is nice enough, but nothing really special. It pretty much sounds like how it would sound if the song were written today. A cheesy, adult contemporary piece of pop fluff. Anneliese does have a nice voice and, along with her theatre experience, it proves to me that she was a good choice to play Belle in the Broadway production of Beauty and the Beast. In fact, she was the last girl to play Belle before the show ended its thirteen year run in 2007.

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Happy Canada Day, everyone!

One of my childhood memories of growing up in Canada and in the eighties is coming home after school to watch Fred Penner's Place on CBC. He was a very entertaining performer and he fit right in with my other tv friends, Mr. Rogers and Mr. Dress-Up.

I'll talk about FRED PENNER when I post another Disney cover song of his in the future, but right now I want to tell you about this song.

Never Smile at a Crocodile can be found on his 1993 release, POCO. The tune is heard as an instrumental piece in Peter Pan whenever the Crocodile enters the scene.

The tune was written by Frank Churchill who wrote most of Disney's music in the 30s and the early 40s. Walt had planned to make Peter Pan in the early 40s and asked Frank to start writing the music for it. But when legal rights got in the way, the feature and its music were shelved.

Years later, Walt was finally able to make Peter Pan and asked Jack Lawrence, who was working on Sleeping Beauty at the time, to write some lyrics for the tune that Churchill wrote. Although the words were never heard in the movie, the song has gone on to be a popular children's song, especially in Australia.

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Remember TAY ZONDAY?  Back in 2007, Tay (real name Adam Bahner) released a video on YouTube called Chocolate Rain, which tackled important themes like racial tensions, violence against minorities, and desperation while living in poverty.  Of course, what made it viral was Tay’s crazy deep voice set against a frantic synth loop.  The internet is a funny place sometimes, but Tay took it all in stride, enjoying every moment of his new found notoriety, even appearing on America’s Got Talent with a big smile on his face.

Tay is still out there making music, and one way he’s able to keep up with the times, and keep a decent amount of views, is to do cover songs. Disney songs haven’t been safe from his vocal stylings.  And it goes without saying that LET IT GO from Frozen was an easy choice.  His youthful exuberance definitely emphasizes the lyrics, even giving a perturbed look when referring to himself as a queen. This still translates even through the audio, as Tay admittedly decided to go as deep as possible with this one. A fun take, even though at times he starts croaking the lyrics.  Hey, it’s all part of the fun.

For extra credit, go watch his cover of Ylvis’ The Fox.  Best use of your time all day.

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Have you heard the Mumford & Son's cover of 'Not in Nottingham'? That's a good one.

Oops! Didn’t realize this message was here! Yes, I have heard their cover and it is great! I’ll feature it soon, just for you.

Kurtis

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CHRISTOPHER WALKEN is a good sport. His career is so incredibly varied because he takes pretty much any role that comes along, and he does whatever the role calls for, no matter how strange it may be.

So when Disney approached Walken about being the voice of King Louie in the new live action remake of their classic animated film, did he realize that part of the deal would be singing one of Disney most well known tunes?

Like everything Walken does, he puts his whole self into this track, taking what Louis Prima established and adding a bit more monkey into the mix.

For those well familiar with this song, be sure to listen for an all new verse towards the end, and check out the JUNGLE BOOK SOUNDTRACK for other Jungle Book songs sung by their respective actors.

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STEVE MILLER was a big deal for quite a few decades, and is probably now best remembered for his 1982 hit Abracadabra.  His early rock roots, firmly planted in blues and psychedelia, made the Steve Miller Band a staple of festivals and well-played vinyl collections in basements everywhere.  By the late 80’s, Steve Miller was solo and started dabbling in easy-listening and soothing jazz.

From his first solo album, BORN 2 B BLUE, Miller chose to open on the much-covered Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah from the now hard-to-find Song of the South. Coincidentally, both the film and this version of the song are outrageously dated, albeit from different decades.  Song of the South is full of uncomfortable racial stereotypes and whitewashed overtones, while Miller’s cover of it’s most memorable song is elevator muzak with cheesy keyboards and what I’m pretty sure is a drum machine.  At least it’s fairly charming, with Miller’s voice and guitar work easily the highlight of the song.

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While I’m not necessarily a fan of Disney’s current plan of systematically remaking its back catalogue into live action films, from Alice in Wonderland to Maleficent to Cinderella, it’s hard to argue with the box office success of their strategy.  The audience has spoken with their wallets and Disney has heard loud and clear. There are at least 15 live action Disney remakes in development for the coming years. 2016 will see the release of The Jungle Book, Alice Through the Looking Glass, and Pete’s Dragon, following up with Beauty and the Beast in early 2017.  Of these, I’m most intrigued by The Jungle Book helmed by Jon Favreau (Iron Man), which pulled off a coup in the casting department: Bill Murray as Baloo, Idris Elba as Shere Khan, Scarlett Johansson as Kaa, and Christopher Walken as King Louie, to name a few eyebrow-raising choices.  The trailer gives off a bit of a Life of Pi-vibe with Mowgli encountering a dangerous assortment of hyper-lifelike animals and though it’s not an outright musical, reports indicate that some of the classic tunes will be incorporated into the movie.

While most of the original songs from 1967 animated The Jungle Book were written by the Sherman Brothers, Terry Gilkyson wrote perhaps the film’s most famous number: The Bare Necessities, which was nominated that year for a Best Song Oscar.  This particular cover comes from a somewhat rare album called DUETS: A FAMILY CELEBRATION that featured Australian artists covering Disney songs with their siblings, parents, or children. VIKA & LINDA BULL are an acclaimed sister duo from Australia performing alongside Siniva whose exact relationship to the sisters is not quite clear from my research. They’ve re-arranged the song structure and sing the verses in a minor key, which becomes magical when it switches to major for the classic chorus.  This is actually my all-time favourite Disney cover song with its unique arrangement and powerful, moving harmonies. Enjoy!

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Back in 2007, Australian artist Nick Bertke remixed the song Alice based entirely off of samples from the film Alice In Wonderland, just for the sake of trying something new.  After finding himself listening to it repeatedly on his own iPod, Nick remixed a video for it, and uploaded the project to YouTube.  The video went viral, and Bertke, as POGO, has had a career as a remix artist ever since.

Unlike many other remix artists who tend to build a simple song out of a single sample or two, Pogo will often use dozens of samples and only rarely employ musical elements that aren’t samples.  Even in his first release, WONDERLAND, is shockingly complex at times in how many elements he’ll build upon.  But the first and most important element is the feeling of wonder, mystery, and fun that made the original film so noteworthy that Pogo brings into the track.

Hey, for more information about Pogo’s career, as well as a look at some of his best work, check out this week’s episode of the Music A To Z Podcast, P Is For Pogo!

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Happy New Year! 2015 has given us an invitation for excitement towards the talented TORI KELLY. But what people do not know is that she has been in the music game for far longer than people know of her name, and more importantly, as a musical presence on YouTube. I remember sitting in study hall in high school, sneakily on the internet, when I found myself watching one of her first few and arguably, most famous self-uploaded video of her acoustic rendition of P.Y.T. by MICHAEL JACKSON. That’s right, that’s where those famous riffs came from. And the world has craved for those melodic riffs ever since.

I was so stoked to find out that she was participating and recording Colours of the Wind for the new WE LOVE DISNEY compilation. Her take on the songs is airy, with a touch of delight and yes, a slight glimpse of those riffs. The song’s tempo is sweetly and wonderfully slow paced, and almost waltz-like. It sits on the borderline as a reflective, calm and happy rendition and a lullaby to fall asleep to.

My favourite part of this cover is the near-perfect balance of Tori’s youthful but full range voice and the company of the flute and guitars. I would not object if she was the singing voice for Pocahontas if ever there would be a film re-make.

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Unless you are familiar with the world of Broadway theatre or a Glee fan, IDINA MENZEL was a fairly unknown until she was cast as the voice of Elsa in Disney’s recent mega hit animated feature, Frozen. After the success of Frozen, she returned to the recording studio to record a Christmas album. How fitting for the Ice Queen to record a Christmas album, right? (Forgetting that Frozen actually takes place in the summer, but hey, snow ties everything together.)

On her Christmas album, HOLIDAY WISHES, you can find her version of Pinocchio’s When You Wish Upon a Star. It’s a beautiful pop arrangement of this song that has an extra layer of special on top of it because it sounds like it is being sung by Elsa.

But why is this song from Pinocchio on a Christmas album, you ask? Well, in some European countries, this song has become a traditional Christmas song, with the star referring to the Star of Bethlehem that pointed the way to the stable where Jesus was born.

Merry Christmas from all of us at Covering the Mouse!

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There is a little film coming out today that you’ve probably heard of... Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the highly anticipated first installment of Star Wars since Disney’s 2012 acquisition of Lucasfilm.

We managed to dig up a unique ukulele cover that fittingly checks off a number of relevant boxes.  Not only is it a holiday-themed Disney cover from the 1993 classic The Nightmare Before Christmas, the performer is JORDAN D. WHITE who is actually the editor of Marvel's 2015 reboot of the Star Wars comic series! Disney, Star Wars, Marvel. . . talk about corporate synergy!

Jordan just happens to be a ukulele enthusiast in his spare time and has recorded a number of covers (Christmas & otherwise) available via his Bandcamp page.  I enjoyed the first trade paperback volume of the series, Star Wars: Skywalker Strikes, which was written by Jason Aaron with art by John Cassaday.  It’s set right after A New Hope and does a good job of capturing the characters voices and likenesses without feeling like fan fiction.  These new Marvel comic series are all considered canon, so it’ll be interesting to see what bits of this updated history are incorporated into the upcoming films.