Lovely Africanized Cover of 'Let It Go'

Let me begin by saying that it is very unusual for me to do a Frozen-related post. Whilst the movie puts a lump in my throat as big as the next overly-emotional 20-something female, I have tried to avoid being another voice feeding the hysteria. Mostly, I'm salty that Maelstrom is being flagrantly sacrificed to the Frozen gods when there are SO MANY better solutions for getting these characters and this world into the parks.

This Africanized cover of 'Let it Go', however, is quite irresistible. I'm a sucker for African music anyway, and the children's voices lifted together in soaring harmony makes this into something quite uplifting. I know sometimes people don't like to watch the videos in blog posts, but this is definitely worth the 3 minutes. if only to hear the little girl at 2.32 who TOTALLY kills it.

I love this little gal.

Jessica Rabbit can sure make an entrance...

When it comes to sexy Disney, Jessica Rabbit is the undisputed Queen. That hair, that dress, those legs, and her BOOBS! Holy bananas, it's like she was designed by a 13-year old boy, but nobody's mad.  I have a very early memory of trying to comb all my hair over one eye because it seemed that therein lay the secret to true beauty.  That memory may have been from last week.

The following clip is where you, me, and Eddie Valiant first meet Jessica.  She is performing the number 'Why don't you do right?' in a night club:

Recently, I have become preoccupied with Disney covers, of which this (clearly) is one.  The song was originally written in 1936 by Kansas Joe McCoy:

 

 Peg Lee and Benny Goodman made a pop hit out of it in 1941:

I love that each version has it's own flavor. The original is raw and simple, Jessica's drips with sex, and Peg pulls a sweetness out of it that is not seen in the other two versions.  In all cases, however, this fantastic number retains an element of danger and an air of taunting.  Bravo, Disney, for picking such great entrance music for Miss Jessica!

Which is your favorite version? Let me know in the comments section!

Footnote: This is not Peg Lee's only, or even biggest, Disney connection.  For a great read about Peg Lee's involvement in Lady and the Tramp, check out this post by the Disney Hipsters.

Country Bear Jamboree Appreciation: Big Al

In the realm of Disney Parks fandom, there is an elite handful of very special attractions that occupy sacred ground.  Some are opening day attractions, other have just been there for a very long time.  Alongside The Enchanted Tiki Room, Peter Pan's Flight, and the Jungle Cruise stands The Country Bear Jamboree, timeless and whimsical.

Having come across the original of Tears will be the Chaser for your Wine on a Wanda Jackson album, I realized I knew relatively little about the origin of the music of the Country Bears.  Blood on the Saddle, for example, was originally sung by Tex Ritter (LOVE THAT NAME), country singer and father of John Ritter the actor!  Here is the original:

I always loved Big Al for his very unique vocal style, but it turns out that he was just mimicking the legend!  Very cool.

All the Country Bears have their fans, however, following a 'Country Bears' Ebay search has shown me that Big Al has had the most merchandise (in the past at least, I haven't seen any Country Bear specific merchandise since I became a fan).  When this vintage Big Al bank showed up on my Ebay home page, I just couldn't resist:

It came yesterday and is so cute and charming, and I think of the Country Bears every time I drop a

penny in!