Disney's Sing-Along Songs: Very Merry Christmas Songs

The title card for the original 1988 VHS release, a storybook opening

The title card for the 2002 re-release

Disney's Sing-Along Songs: Very Merry Christmas Songs is a Christmas-Themed Sing-Along Video Produced by Walt Disney Home Video, originally released on October 4, 1988. It was the fifth release in the Disney's Sing-Along Songs series of videos and was reissued in 1990 (as Volume 8) and 1994.

A new version of the video with some new songs added was released on November 5, 2002, with narration by the late Roscoe Lee Browne who voiced Francis from Disney's Oliver & Company.

Description

It's the happiest time of the year! And the season of Santa, reindeer and gift-wrapped surprises will be even jollier with this joyful volume of Disney's Sing-Along Songs: Very Merry Christmas Songs. Gather up the family and enjoy a fun-filled collection of the most beloved Christmas songs and carols, accompanied by a wonderland of wintry holiday scenes! It's a kaleidoscope of sights and sounds that is sure to make everyone's holiday very, very merry! Voices ready? Let's all sing!

Songs

The original 1988, 1990 and 1994 VHS releases contained the following songs:

Song	Set to clips from
"From All of Us to All of You" (new lyrics sung by Eddie Carroll as Jiminy Cricket)	Walt Disney Presents: "From All of Us to All of You" (colorized version)
"Deck the Halls" (sung by the Disneyland Sing-Along Chorus (Larry Groce is credited too))	Pluto's Christmas Tree
"Jingle Bells" (sung by the Disneyland Sing-Along Chorus)	Donald's Snow Fight Once Upon a Wintertime (Melody Time) Snow Foolin'
"Joy to the World" (sung by Larry Groce and the Disneyland Sing-Along Chorus)	The Nutcracker Suite (Fantasia)
"Up on the Housetop" (sung by Don Janse's Children's Chorus)	The Night Before Christmas Santa's Workshop
"Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow" (sung by Bing Crosby)	The Night Before Christmas Peter and the Wolf (Make Mine Music) Corn Chips The Wind in the Willows (The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad) Bongo (Fun and Fancy Free) Mickey's Orphans (colorized version) Once Upon a Wintertime (Melody Time) The Cold-Blooded Penguin (The Three Caballeros) Peculiar Penguins Squatter's Rights Dumbell of the Yukon Pluto's Christmas Tree Chip an' Dale Lady and the Tramp
"Sleigh Ride" (sung by Larry Groce and the Disneyland Sing-Along Chorus with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy)	Mickey's Christmas Carol
"Parade of the Wooden Soldiers" (sung by Don Janse's Children's Chorus)	The China Shop Broken Toys Santa's Workshop The Night Before Christmas
"Winter Wonderland" (sung by Larry Groce and the Disneyland Sing-Along Chorus (only the chorus is credited))	On Ice The Autograph Hound The Hockey Champ Donald's Snow Fight Bambi The Cold-Blooded Penguin (The Three Caballeros) Peter and the Wolf (Make Mine Music)
"Here Comes Santa Claus" (sung by Larry Groce, the Disneyland Sing-Along Chorus, with Mickey, Donald, and Goofy)	Disneyland parade footage
"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (sung by Gene Autry)	Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
"Silent Night" (sung by the Living Voices)	Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria (Fantasia)
"We Wish You a Merry Christmas" (sung by the Disneyland Sing-Along Chorus (Larry Groce is credited too))	Plays over the closing credits during Lady and the Tramp background and the fireworks ending from "A Present for Donald" on the 1988, 1990 and 1994 releases.

The 2002 reissue removed "From All of Us to All of You" from the actual program and added in the following songs:

Song	Set to clips from
"It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" (singer unknown)	Donald Duck: Stuck on Christmas
"Winnie the Pooh's Jingle Bells"	Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too Winnie the Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh Year
"Toyland" (sung by an unidentified children's chorus)	Mickey Mouse Works: "The Nutcracker"
"All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth" (sung by Goofy and Max (he is portrayed with a lisp))	A Very Goofy Christmas
"Seasons of Giving"	Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (song is from Winnie the Pooh: Seasons of Giving)
"As Long As There's Christmas"	Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas
"Jingle Bell Rock" (Bobby Helms' version)	Mickey Mouse Works: "Mickey's Christmas Chaos" Mickey Mouse Works: "Donald on Ice" Mickey Mouse Works: "The Nutcracker" Beauty and the Beast: Belle's Magical World Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas House of Mouse: "Snow Day"
"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" (Brenda Lee's version)	Winnie the Pooh: Seasons of Giving Winnie the Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh Year
"White Christmas" (Bing Crosby's version)	Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World Mickey's Christmas Carol Lady and the Tramp Mickey Mouse Works: "Mickey's Mixed Nuts" Beauty and the Beast: Belle's Magical World Mickey Mouse Works: "Mickey's Christmas Chaos" Mickey and Minnie's The Gift of the Magi
"The Best Christmas of All"	Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse

Gallery

VHS
Walt Disney Home Video, 1988

VHS
Walt Disney Home Video, 1990

VHS
Walt Disney Home Video, 1994

VHS
Walt Disney Home Entertainment, 2002

DVD
Walt Disney Home Entertainment, 2002

1st UK VHS release

2nd UK VHS release

1st Japanese VHS release

2nd Japanese VHS release

The 1993 laserdisc release, with Disney's Sing-Along Songs: The Twelve Days of Christmas (front)

The 1993 laserdisc release, with Disney's Sing-Along Songs: The Twelve Days of Christmas (back)

"From All of Us to All of You"

"Deck the Halls"

"Jingle Bells"

"Joy to the World"

"Up on the Housetop"

"Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow"

"Sleigh Ride"

"Parade of the Wooden Soldiers"

"Winter Wonderland"

"Silent Night"

"Seasons of Giving"

"As Long As There's Christmas"

"The Best Christmas of All"

"We Wish You a Merry Christmas"

Trivia

• In the original issues, a still image of the Christmas tree from the animated film Lady and the Tramp is used for the closing credits. The firework shot from "A Present for Donald" is used at the end, as well.
• "From All of Us to All of You" is played at the end of the advanced level of the Words of the Season vocabulary game on the 2002 DVD release.
• The VHS cover features artwork of Mickey and friends caroling, which was reused for the 2005 DVD release of Walt Disney's Classic Cartoon Favorites Volume 9: Classic Holiday Stories.
• The song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" used footage from the 1948 Max Fleischer cartoon of the same name, as Disney has never made their own Rudolph cartoon. This is due to the cartoon being in the public domain, allowing Disney to use it without any legal trouble.
• The lyrics to the song "Jingle Bells" used footage from the 1949 Famous Studios Screen Song cartoon "Snow Foolin'", which was also in the public domain. Much like the modern Sing Along Songs cartoons, the Screen Songs series used sing-along sequences and a bouncing ball to encourage crowd sing-alongs in the movie theatres.
• Here are some differences in the 2002 release:
  • In the 2002 release, "Winter Wonderland" and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" has the same design for the bouncing ball as the 1988 version but looks different. In addition, the timing of the words is also different.
  • In the 2002 release, the bouncing ball for "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" has the Mickey with the Rudolph design for all of the duration of the song but in the 1988 version, the regular Mickey bouncing ball appears but when it goes to the line, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", the Mickey bouncing ball with the Rudolph design appears and stays there for the rest of the song.
  • In the 2002 release, the wraparound segments between each song have been replaced; the 2002 release uses new wraparound segments consisting of live-action Christmas sets with narration by Roscoe Lee Browne over it. In addition in the 2002 release, the older faded prints of classic Disney cartoons and movies from the 1930s-1950s used in the 1988, 1990 and 1994 releases have been replaced by newer transfers from the 1990s, which looked far superior.
• The "Sleigh Ride" sing-along omits the first two lines.
• The "Seasons of Giving" sing-along uses the third version (introduction to the Christmas segment).
• The 2002 release is dedicated to Eleanor Richman-Adams.
• The ending from the House of Mouse episode "Clarabelle's Christmas List" with Santa Mickey signing off is featured in the 2002 release.
• There is a different arrangement for the 2002 version of "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers" than the original arrangement for the 1988 version.
• The songs "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" and "Jingle Bell Rock" use their original Brenda Lee and Bobby Helms recordings.
• The original 1988 release ended with a list of other Sing-Along videos, announced by Jiminy Cricket, but the 1990 release ended with a list of other Christmas related videos, announced by Brian Cummings, while the 1994 release ended with the 1994 version of the Disney's Sing-Along Songs promo.

See also

• Disney's Sing-Along Songs: The Twelve Days of Christmas

v - e - d

International Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah (1986) • Heigh-Ho (1987) • The Bare Necessities (1987) • You Can Fly! (1988) • Very Merry Christmas Songs (1988) • Fun with Music (1989) • Under the Sea (1990) • Disneyland Fun (1990) • I Love to Laugh! (1990) (a.k.a Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious) • Be Our Guest (1992) • Friend Like Me (1993) • The Twelve Days of Christmas (1993) • Let's Go to the Circus! (1994/1996 for countries outside of North America) • Campout at Walt Disney World (1994/1996 for countries outside of North America) • Circle of Life (1994/1995 for countries outside of North America) • Colors of the Wind (1995) • Topsy Turvy (1996) [Known as The Hunchback of Notre Dame in releases outside of the US] • Pongo & Perdita (1996) • The Early Years (1997) • The Magic Years (1997) • The Modern Classics (1997) • Sing a Song with Pooh Bear (1999) • Sing a Song with Tigger (2000, not an official Disney's Sing-Along Songs video) Outside of the US (Foreign releases) Let's Go to Disneyland Paris [Similar to Disneyland Fun] (1993) • 101 Notes of Fun (1994) [Similar to Fun with Music] • From Hercules (1997) US Exclusive Releases Beach Party at Walt Disney World (1995) • Honor to Us All (1998) • Happy Haunting: Party at Disneyland! (1998) • Flik's Musical Adventure at Disney's Animal Kingdom (1999) • Sing a Song with Pooh Bear (and Piglet Too) (2003) • On My Way (2003) • Little Patch of Heaven (2004) • Disney Princess Sing-Along Songs Vol. 1 - Once Upon A Dream (2004) • Disney Princess Sing-Along Songs Vol. 2 - Enchanted Tea Party (2005) • Disney Princess Sing-Along Songs Vol. 3 - Perfectly Princess (2006)