Music Fridays # 173: Right Where I Belong: Songs of Alan Menken

Hello & welcome back to A Look at Disney and back to Music Fridays.  Last December, Broadway's Adam Jacobs, who plays Aladdin released his debut album and it's something that should be very close to any Disney fan's heart as it's compilation album of covers of Alan Menken songs. Even including some song that I wasn't familiar with and a cover of one of my favorite songs of all time.  Now, not all of the songs on here are Disney songs but I like Adam Jacobs and Alan Menken so much that I'm going to make an exception to my non Disney song rule. And heck, this isn't the first time that I've done that.  With that out of the way, let's begin. 

Go The Distance

To start, we have a song from Hercules that always gives me goosebumps.  Go The Distance is one of my favorite Menken songs and Jacobs really  hits it out of the park with this cover.  The way that he sings here just pulls at my heartstring and gets me teary eyed.  You feel every note as he hits them and just empowers you to want to do better.  No hit on Michael Bolton but I think Jacobs' cover here may be in the running for my favorite version of this song.  I honestly find it more powerful than Bolton's take.  Bolton's cover is strong but it just seems to be dipped in '90s cheese whereas this version much like the superior film version is coming from a place that feels genuine.

Proud of Your Boy

I am so thrilled that he included this song on his debut album because he owns this song.  There have been many other versions such as the very good Clay Aiken cover but Adam Jacobs is the definitive voice for Proud of Your Boy.   No one else can even come close to his version and this cover does enough to differentiate it from the version that he sings as Aladdin on Broadway. I love the echos in the background as they seem like a conscious but easily my favorite thing about this version is how it starts out with the reprise of One Jump Ahead putting that with Proud of Your Boy works surprisingly well. They both have a nice flow that feels almost seamless. It's a beautiful transition from that wonderful reprise into the one of the greatest songs that Alan Menken and Howard Ashman had a hand in writing that was almost lost to the Disney Vault.  

Sailing On 

Interestingly, this was the first time that the song was heard because it was supposed to be released on an album in 1982 that for some reason never came out.  So, I can't compare it to the original as this is the only version that has been released to the public and my thoughts, it's pretty good.  It does a great job of painting a picture of this character's love of the sea and how that is where he feels most at home.  He is always most at peace there and really puts you into the character's headspace and works great for that.

I Could Be That Guy

This is from the musical adaption of Sister Act.  And the only thing I know about it is that the musical is set in 1978.  So again,  I don't have much to go off of here but this song gives me a very lounge singer esque vibe.  It's very soothing and relaxing as the song puts you at ease as you unwind. 

Santa Fe

I've made it no secret that I'm a huge Fansie and so, I love that Newsies is finally getting the respect that it deserves and well, I like this version but just as Jacobs' owns Proud of Your Boy, I feel the same way about Jeremy Jordan and this song.  He is the greatest Jack Kelly that we've ever had. Sure, Christian Bale may have originated the role onscreen but Jordan perfected it.  Let me take my newsboy cap off a moment and try to judge this fairly.  It's not that bad.  It'll never live up to Jordan's take on it but as a cover of a great song from a fantastic Disney musical,  Jacobs really holds his own. It's not quite on par with his cover of Go The Distance but it's enjoyable. And I'm averse to listening to it again but I can't say that it's good or bad. I like it but I don't have enough of a grasp on it for a fully informed opinion.

Suddenly Seymour

This is is my favorite Menken and Ashman song of all time.  I might even go so far as to say that Suddenly Seymour is my favorite song period.  This song is the reason, I made the exception to my non Disney song rule as I just love this song so so so much.  Having said that, I will be more critical of a cover of this song than any other on this album.  What do I think?  It's great, this is what this song is supposed to be.  Two people that truly love each other and embrace one another and know that they will always be there for one another.  (Unless you watch that stupid director's cut of the movie that killed Audrey, the most innocent character in the movie that didn't deserve to die. And was only used as a plot device to get Seymour to sacrifice himself for all his heinous deeds. Taking one musical cinema's greatest female characters and turning into nothing more than a plot device for the male character. Ugh!)  You feel the love and you want to see them have the happiness that they deserve.  The other big thing that really makes this cover work is the lady singing the Audrey part is Adam Jacobs' wife, Kelly Jacobs.  I find that to be very sweet and affectionate.  

Out There

We now return to our regularly scheduled Disney songs we look at Jacobs' take on Out There from The Hunchback of Notre Dame.  I've noticed in the last 10 -15 years that Hunchback has finally found an audience that can truly appreciate it for being darker than other Disney movies but it's still filled with hope.  And that's what I get from this cover, it like the Go The Distance cover gives off a feeling of hope and you just can't not enjoy yourself as you get that feeling.

Anytime You Need A Friend 

I had to look up what movie this was from. Turns out, it was in Home On The Range. I've not seen that movie since it was in theaters and I can already tell you that this cover is probably better than entirety of that movie. To be fair, the music in that movie was pretty solid and it deserved a better movie.  So, I am happy to see that the music isn't being forgotten by people that adore Alan Menken (except maybe me).  This is a very sweet song and again, like a lot of the covers here, it's a good pick me up song for when you are feeling down.  

One Jump Ahead

I love what he did with this cover. It's really different.  But it's still very fun and the different voices for the different characters is hilarious. I love how the One Man Rise in Crime guy sounds like 1930s newsreporter. That is so funny and it almost sounds that is like what Jacobs is trying to do with this cover. It sounds like, while he is respecting the original and the spirit of it, he seems to be transplanting into a different era through this version and that makes his so fun. 

If I Never Knew You 

We have another cover with Jacobs' wife and it's also a cover of a great song that was originally cut.  I've mentioned in the past, how my favorite version is the cover from the The Best of Country Sing The Best of Disney cassette tape but that that's only because I grew up listening to that version.  As for this version,  again I really like it. It's very sweet but it does seem a bit busy in parts.  I do find it hard to focus on the song at times because of how much is going on but when it slows down, this proves to be a very good song that I could get behind.

Her Voice

This is a Prince Eric song from the Broadway adaption of The Little Mermaid.  I really need to familiarize myself with that OBC (Original Broadway Cast Recording) as I've never heard the original version of this song but I can kinda pick up the context here as it seems to be after Ariel rescued Eric and now, he's yearning to find the girl that he has become smitten with.  I like Jacobs' singing as that is a true highlight but I find what's supposed to be the Ariel voice in this song kind of annoying.  I get what they're going for but I feel if that was cut, this song would be stronger.

Shooting Star

I couldn't find too much information on this song but from what I've gathered, this is a song that was cut from Hercules.  And I can see why that'd be the case as it's really  similar to Go The Distance.  It's not bad and this being my first time hearing Jacobs sing it, I really like it and it reminds me very much of Santa Fe because like how Jack wanted to get away from New York for a better life, it sounds like this song was supposed to be about Herc getting away from the small town that he lived in and go to a place where people truly respected him.  And I can get behind that.   Again, this being the first version of the song that I've heard, I like it and it's really good.  

Goodnight My Friend

The fact that this cover exists tickles me as it's from the now sadly cancelled Galavant,  an ABC musical fairytale comedy, where Menken wrote the music.  I need go back and watch season 1 but I remember liking this song in that season but it's been forever since I watched it.  This is just a sweet and fun way to cap off the album.  It's a very sweet song and Jacobs does a good job with it.   I love closing with a song like this as it feels like the artist is thanking you for listening to them sing.

I hope that you've enjoyed this look at these covers that go through Alan Menken's discography.  I honestly don't think there was a bad one on here. What was your favorite? Let me know in the comments. Peace!

Classic Shorts Showcase: Tick Tock Tale

Hello & welcome back to A Look at Disney and after some time off, we return to Classic Shorts Showcase as we continue our look at the shorts on the Walt Disney Animation Studios Short Films Collection as we look at a short that I hadn't seen since before watching this collection of shorts on Netflix.

Before I go much further, I must say that the animation in this short is some of the most gorgeous that I've ever seen in any of the animated shorts from Disney.  The story is unique as well and very enjoyable.  So join me as we look at Tick Tock Tale.

The Plot

The plot is simple enough as we follow a lone clock in a clock shop in London that is different and not as pristine as the other clocks in the shop and is made fun of by the other clocks.

Because of the little man on the top and the fact that his pants fall down.  And the poor clock goes through many different things to try and tear the thing off because he is tired of being mocked and we get a lot of great slapstick including a moment, where the man exposes himself to a family of clocks that could only work in a short in a short like this.  That same night, the store is broken into and a burglar tries to steal a lot of clocks but the little clock that the rest of the clocks.  The burglar steps  on the clock and in a scene that gave me the same feeling as when Facilier killed Ray, it seemed that the clock was dead.  The next morning, the owner of the clock store came into the store and saw the mess from the night before. With the little clock in the trash and wasn't going to anything about it but it somehow appeared on his desk, next to a sign that read "No repairs are too small" and the little clock is fixed and finally accepted by the other clocks in the store. This is a sweet little short that I loved and is perhaps one of my favorite shorts that I've seen in a long time.  As it is just so beautiful.



Character

Clock

It's impressive how much, personality the clock is able to have without having a mouth or eyes.  He is a very expressive character and you feel for him throughout the entire short from when he he was being mocked by the other clocks in the shop because of how he looks.  Which in essence is him being made fun of for being different and even more so, when he was hurt by the burglar.  You truly feel bad for him throughout the entire short and just want to see him succeed.


My Final Thoughts


As I said throughout, this is one of my favorite shorts that I've watched in recent memory as just makes you want to root for the main character and it is one that I cannot suggest enough. Truthfully, do yourself a favor and check it out.  Join me next time as we look at...

Paperman

My Thoughts on The Disney Castle Lego Set

Hello & welcome back to A Look at Disney.  I'm sorry about not having the BTTF Pt. III review up but I finding it increasingly difficult to review that movie.  So, I decided to take a break from blogging and clear my mind but I saw something that I had to discuss.  It has been well documented on here that I love Lego.  It is one of my discussed articles with numerous looking at the various Lego products to my most recent on the release of the Lego Disney minifigures.  Which my Lego Store ran out of.  Grr, I really wanted to get the Genie but just this weekend, Lego announced what may be the greatest Disney Lego set of them all. If not the biggest.  The Disney castle or to be more precise, Cinderella Castle from Disney World.

This story was first broke by WDW News Today.  And let me just say that when images of this thing, I was in Heaven.  I'm typically not one for big builds like this as the piece count stand at 4080 or the Ghostbusters Firehouse and the Classic TV Series Batcave that stand at 4634 & 2526 pieces.  

 

But Lego tapped into the Disney nerd with me and is really tempting me with a set based on an icon of Disney from one of my favorite parks.  The detail is great and from what I understand the castle will include different rooms themed to different Disney movies such as Brave and Aladdin.  Oh, I hope that this set includes a replica of  the Cinderella Suite.

Hey, it'd be the only way that I'd get to see it.  And what about the minifigures, who comes with the set.  

So, it comes with Daisy, Donald, Minnie, Mickey, & Tinkerbell.  Cool,  now 4 of the minifigures have been released before in the first wave of the Disney Minifigures line being Daisy, Donald, Minnie, & Mickey.  The first three are the same exact minifigures as the blindbags  but Mickey has an all new body as we get a Park Mickey. Mickey in tuxedo that you see him wearing in Magic Kingdom.

Now technically, this isn't the first time that Lego has released Mickey in his park outfit   But that was a Duplo set, so for all intents and purposes, this is a brand new Mickey minifigure.

And lastly, we've got Tink. Who is making her first appearance as a minifigure.  She's never been a minidoll.  So, that's great and it's awesome because Tinkerbell is just as associated with the castle as Mickey and the gang.  Seeing the Tink minifigure makes me think of the fireworks shows, where Tinkerbell would fly over the castle.  And I just know that someone is going try and recreate that scene.  I wonder how they'd do Lego fireworks. That's beside the point.  Now, I remember when this set was first rumored, that AFOL's (Adult Fans of Lego) thought it was going to come with a Goofy minifigure.  As we can plainly see here, that is not the case and I have to wonder if that is perhaps because molding Goofy's head for a minifigure proved too challenging.   One other thing regarding the minifigures, there's an exclusion that kinda disappoints me.  I wish this set came with Cinderella.  I mean this set is based on Cinderella Castle after all.  And yeah, I know pictures of her in front of the castle at the park aren't as memorable as Mickey but it just feels amiss to not include her but with the set. But I truly can't shake the feeling that Lego is missing out by not including the most iconic princess of Disney.

I said iconic, not marketable.  (And besides, she's a Queen).  Ah well,  we can't have everything that we want.  And as much as I love this set, I may have to love it from afar as it's really expensive as it stands at $349.99.  Yeah, that's a lot of money for a set. Granted, a really cool looking set and one that really gets at my biggest passion.  Curse you Lego, oh I'm kidding.  I love you, Lego and this set even if it may be out of my price range is a brilliant set and I do hope that this leads to more sets based on the Disney Parks.  Think about it,  how cool would a Haunted Mansion set be.  What are thoughts on the Disney Castle Lego set? Let me know in the comments. Piece!