Disney's Archive Collection

I used to be subscribed to the Disney Magazine for years before Disney stopped publishing it back in 2005. Recently while hunting though some local thrift shops, I came across a copy of the Spring 1998 issue of the Disney Magazine. I paid my 25 cent and took it home to have some fun rereading this 13 year old issue. What caught my eye was a full page story on the first 3 Disney Archive Collection CD's, as well as a half page ad for the albums.
Back in 1998, I didn't have much interest in these albums or the Disney Archive Collection, but today, I would love to add these to my collection. I am especially interested in finding a copy of the Lets Fly With Mary Poppins CD, as I downloaded a copy from iTunes and absolutely love it!

When Randy Thornton talks about the long- lost treasures in the Walt Disney Records archives, he
sounds more like a kid in a candy shop than a digital restoration producer. He takes master tapes of out-of- print albums and brings the sound quality up to today's standards. He uses words like "de-noise," "de-crackle," and "re-mix," but the mission is to present the music as it sounded in the studio.

He's done it with Disney's Classic Soundtrack Series, and he's doing it for the Archive Collection, due for its maiden release in March. "As long as I've been here, we've been getting letters from people asking about albums they had while growing up," says the 11 -year Disney veteran. Three albums will
launch the series. Originally released as Hayley Mills basked in the success of The Parent Trap, 1962's Let's Get Together With Hayley Mills contains her first commercial recording, "Jimmie Bean Song"
from Pollyanna. With British accent and spunky innocence, she sings of brave Jimmie, who "ain't afraid of nothing ... except a ghost, maybe."

Equally charming and also originally targeted for kids, 1964's Chim Chim Cheree and Other Children's Choices finds Burl Ives embracing old favorites and selections from Mary Poppins with a grandfatherly warmth that could soothe the wildest hellion. jazz trumpeter- singer-composer Louis Prima's Let's Fly With Mary Poppins from 1965 contains feisty renditions of the film's material. "Chim Cbim Cheree" won him the voice role of King Louie in The Jungle Book. These and subsequent releases will contain original cover art and liner notes.

Partly inspired by the resurgence of lounge music, the Archive Collection is an enthusiastic undertaking at Walt Disney Records. With a schedule calling for 10 releases this year and keepsakes from Fess Parker, Cliff  “Ukulele Ike” Edwards, and even Goofy's Dance Party on the docket, there will be new life for this lost art. "There's tons of stuff," says Thornton, "and it hasn't been available for 30 years. The time is right." (each CD, $16.98) -D. S.

Fench Canadian Disneyland Record & Cassette

I picked up this 1974 French "Winnie the Pooh" read along book recently at a local thrift shop. It didn't have a record or tape with it, but being that it was in French, it seemed like an interesting item to add to my collection. I had noticed the cassette tape icon on the cover when I purchased it and had assumed it originally came with a tape, not a record. When I tossed it on the scanner tonight, I noticed that along with the cassette logo, it also has the record logo which had a slash though it. After scanning it, I looked closer at the slash though the record logo and thought that perhaps someone had made the slash with a felt pen when they passed it along to the thrift. I tried to erase it with a pencil eraser and to my surprise I was able to remove it completely. Now I am a little confused as to weather this came with a cassette tape, a record, or both? The inside back cover does have a fold where a record could be stored, but it is not like the usual ones that hold records which are more like a pocket.
I had a quick look though my collection and did not find another one with both the cassette AND record logo, I also did a quick look on Google and also did not see any like this, so now I am confused as to what this was. Perhaps it did come with both a cassette and a record to go along with the booklet shown here. I'll never know, as sadly my copy came with neither.

The Story of Rapunzel

I picked up this 1970, 33 1/3 Long Playing Record with 24 page book of the Story of Rapunzel. Ironically, I found it the same week I purchased the Little Golden Book of Tangled.

If you don't know, the new Disney film Tangled is based on the story of Rapunzel, and was even supposed to be called Rapunzel, before a last minute panic set in, and Disney decided it needed to change the title to something a little more appealing to boys.
As well as the story on Side A, we also get "Lonely For My Love" Rapunzel's Song, by Katie Briggs (Camarata) on Side B.

If you want to check out more Little Golden Books, be sure to stop by my other blog Ronn's Big Pile of Stuff.

My Disneyland Records Thrift Shop Finds

I decided today to check out some of my local thrift shops... something I don't usually do. I am always checking out thrift shops in other cities, but very rarely do I actually check out the ones right in my own back yard. So, today I made an effort to visit three of them. The first one turned out to be the best, as records were just 25 cents each and there were tons to go though. I ended up coming home with 32 albums from that store alone.
While I was looking though the records at the store, I knew they were just 25 cents each, so I was pulling out anything that looked interesting - even stuff I knew I had multiple copies of already. One of the last albums I found was the 1972 Vista album Walt Disney World Band, a record I have been hoping to find for some time now. I was really excited until I found that the album inside the cover was not the correct one. Once I knew I had the cover but no album, I started looking at all the loose albums without covers, hoping to find the album that went with this cover, but had no luck finding it. It didn't really matter, though, as I was still pretty happy with finding just the cover.

Fast forward a few hours when I got home and started going though my new pile of albums. As I went though the pile, I pulled out each album to see if it actually matched the cover. All was well until I got to the album Most Beloved Songs, which didn't seem to have the right album inside. But to my excitement, it was the Walt Disney World Band album that I was missing, and as it turned out, the Most Beloved Songs album was inside the Walt Disney World Band cover. I'm so glad that records were just 25 cents, as I probably would not have bought the Most Beloved Songs record as I knew I had a number of copies at home already. But as it turns out, I am extremely happy that I picked up this one as well!

Another strange thing was the All About Dragons record, Inside the cover were two albums, but unlike usual, when I find an extra odd ball album stuffed inside a cover, this time, both albums were All About Dragons. The only difference being that one is labeled 1301 and the other is DQ-1301.

Then there was Pete's Dragon which again, I knew I had, but I was surprised to see that this one has a sleeve inside with artwork on it which I do not remember ever seeing in any of my previous copies.

There was also a very cool 101 Dalmatiens album from Un Disque Disneyland. It is a 1965 release by Walt Disney Music of Canada Limited, and is in French. This is the first Disney album in French that I have ever come across. Now I am hoping to find other albums in French, as this one has different artwork from any I had previously, which makes me wonder if they were always different, of I just haven't found the English version of this one yet?
As well as records, I came home with some cool Disney pins, lots of old magazines filled with old Disney ads and a few other odds and ends. All in all I would say I had a pretty good day!

Christmas With Chimes And Chorus

While putting away some records that were in my office I found this Christmas album that I purchased a few months ago at a thrift shop, and thought I would post it here tonight, with Christmas being just 2 days away!
Its a Disneyland Record (DQ-1239) from 1963 and is called, 30 Favorite Songs of Christmas with Chimes and Chorus. It includes 30 traditional Christmas favorites filled with tons of bells and chimes... a little to many bells and chimes for my liking! Luckily the great looking artwork on the album cover makes up for the music on the vinyl, which looks like it had never been played before.

Mickey's Chrismas Carol

 

Now that it is December, I thought I would share this Disneyland Records version of Mickey's Christmas Carol that I picked up a few months back. This album is from 1982 and as all other Disney records with read along story books, this one is a 7 inch 33 1/3 RPM long playing record.
While working in my office tonight I have turned on my Ion TTUSB10 USB Turntable to listen to a bunch of my Christmas vinyl. There is something so comforting in all those clicks and pops while listening to your old favorites. And who could forget hearing"This is the story of Mickey's Christmas Carol. You can read along with me in your book. You will know it is time to turn the page when you hear the chimes ring like this..."

Happiest Songs Presented by Your Gulf Dealer

Yesterday I visited one of my favorite thrift shops for records. To my surprise, they had actually expanded across the street as well, so the store is now actually twice the size. And they didn't disappoint. I came home with a pile of 25 cent records! One of the records I especially liked is this promotional record from Gulf. On the back of this 1967 album it says, "Your Gulf Dealer is happy to make this collector's album available to you."
The quality of the cover and record are pretty trashed, but I really like the cover artwork, and I love promotional items, so this is pretty cool. A quick check in my Disney vinyl collectors price guide lists this album at $15 is near mint condition, so I am guessing this copy is worth about $1.. so, I made out like a bandit, as I only paid 25 cents. woohoo!

Disneyland's Main Street Music Shop

While surfing the net the other day, I happened upon this awesome photo from the Wonderland Music Store on Disneyland's Mainstreet. My eyes glazed over as I clicked on the photo to make it full size and I saw racks full of Disney vinyl just waiting to be purchased by happy Disneyland shoppers. I am not sure of the date of the photo but from the albums I can see on display I would guess this photo is from the mid 70's.
Going along with my last post talking about Disney releasing vinyl records again, I have to say that I would LOVE to walk into a shop on Mainstreet today and be greeted with a display like this! And if I had a time machine, I'm sure I'd have to take a trip back to 1979 to visit this shop, with a pocket full of cash!
Thanks to the great blog by amazing Disney designer Kevin Kidney for posting this photo.

Princess and the Frog Soundtrack Vinyl Record

While I was surfing the net tonight I was listening to my iTunes library and on came the soundtrack to the recent Disney animated film Princess and the Frog. As the songs were playing, I happened upon a web site that had some gorgeous images of picture discs of various old Disney films. That got me to thinking. I wonder if Disney has released any of their recent film soundtracks as vinyl records? It is kind of popular for bands to do it these days - release a limited edition vinyl version of their album as a collectible for fans. A lot of record stores now even have a small section devoted to these new vinyl releases. But, alas, after doing a few minutes of Google searching, it would seem that Disney has not jumped on the retro vinyl band wagon. That's too bad, as I am sure they would find that they would have a decent market among Disney collectors. I know I would be buying them!
I put together a quick Photoshop version of the Princess and the Frog LP which may just get you as excited for new Disney vinyl as I am! C'mon Disney, you have never been known to miss a marketing opportunity.

Smokey the Bear

My visit to the local thrift shop this past Monday yielded a large pile of cool records, books and a very cool Fisher-Price Music Box Movie Camera from the late 60's, early 70's.
One of the cooler records I picked up was this Disneyland Record / a Little Golden Book & Record of Smoke the Bear from 1955.
From the first page of the book... Everyone knows that Smokey The Bear is the symbol of forest fire prevention. But, not many people know how Smokey got his name. And how many of you know why he wears a forest ranger's hat and a pair of dungarees? Let's turn the page and find out the whole story about this famous, real-life bear... [skipping to the last page]... And always remember Smokey's motto: "Only you can prevent forest fires."
As for the rest of the story? You will just have to find a copy of this little gem for yourself!

Big Disney Records Score!

On Saturday evening my wife called me at 8:35 to let me know that she was at Talize (a local mega thrift store) and somebody had donated an entire collection of Disney records. I threw Kaden in the car and we headed off to the store before they closed at 9 pm. The store was across town, and we happened to come across a major traffic accident which had closed down one of the major streets we needed to get there. We arrived in the Talize parking lot at 8:55 pm. We ran into the store and headed to the back where the records are and found my wife standing there with a buggy full to capacity of Disney LPs and 45s. Before I even started looking though them, they were announcing over the PA that the store was now closed and for any shoppers left in the store to bring their items up to the cashier. I didn't have much time, so I quickly flipped though all the albums and picked out any I was sure I didn't already have. I came home with 34 LPs and 6 45's. I would have enjoyed having a little more time to look though them all, and I didn't even get to look through the racks to see if she had missed anything.
On my way out of the store, there was an older gentleman and I overheard him talking about seeing some cylinder records in the store - as soon as I heard that, I had to dash back into the home entertainment section to see what he was talking about. I ended up coming home with another very cool item which I will post about on my Big Pile of Stuff blog soon.

Jingle Bells

Here is another Christmas theemed Little Golden Book & Record I found in my collection. It is Jingle Bells from 1976. I love the artwork in this one, and the first page starts with "On the day before Christmas, the Bear family decided to go for a sleigh ride. Little did they know how exciting their ride would be!". With today being December 24th, this seemed like a perfect post. Merry Christmas to all!

The Twelve Days of Christmas

Here is a Little Golden Book & Record from 1963. It is The Twelve Days of Christmas, A Christmas Carol. Pictures by Tony DeLuna and Story and song by Betsy Chapman.

The Whale Who Wanted To Sing at the Met

Here is a neat item I found recently. It is a 45 sized record and book from Disney Education Productions, 1988. This was apparently made for use in the listening center of school classrooms. I don't recall having these records in my classroom, but I do remember having access to various Educational Disney film strips which I loved to play with anytime I got the chance.
Here I present the front and back cover as well as a few of my favorite pages from inside the book.

LET'S BEGIN NOW...

Susie, The Little Blue Coupe & The Little House

Today I am featuring two great Disneyland Record and Books, one that features anthropomorphied cars, and another that features an anthropomorphised house.
The first is Susie, The Little Blue Coupe from 1970. Susie the Little Blue Coupe is an animated short film released theatrically by Walt Disney Studios on 6 June 1952. The eight-minute film was directed by Clyde Geronimi and based on an original short-story by Bill Peet, the story was adapted for the screen by Peet and Don DaGradi. The DVD release of The Love Bug featured this short as a special feature.
The second record is Walt Disney's The Story of The Little House also from 1970. This one was based on a short film released on 8 August 1952, in which a small house has to try to compete with progress and the encroaching press of the big city. You can find this short on the Walt Disney Treasures DVD Disney Rarities - Celebrated Shorts, 1920s - 1960s.