Sleeping Beauty (1959 Movie OST)

Artist : Various Artists
Album : Sleeping Beauty [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]
Label : Walt Disney Records
Genre : Soundtrack
Bitrate : 320 KBPS CBR
Source : CD (LP)
Runtime : 1:02:44 (144.1 MB)
Release date : 2008-04
Store date : 1997-02-04

Change .abc to .zip
DOWNLOAD PART 1! (74.4 MB) (ZIP file contains scans, info TXT, and tracks 1-8.)
DOWNLOAD PART 2! (71.7 MB) (ZIP file contains tracks 9-19.)

[Track List]
1. Main Title/Once Upon A Dream/Prologue
2. Hail To The Princess Aurora
3. The Gifts Of Beauty And Song/Maleficent Appears/True Love Conquers All
4. The Burning Of The Spinning Wheels/The Fairies Plan
5. Maleficent's Frustration
6. A Cottage In The Woods
7. Do You Hear That?/I Wonder
8. An Unusual Prince/Once Upon A Dream
9. Magical House Cleaning/Blue or Pink
10. A Secret Revealed
11. Skumps (Drinking Song)/The Royal Argument
12. Prince Phillip Arrives/ How To Tell Stefan
13. Aurora's Return/Maleficent's Evil Spell
14. Poor Aurora/Sleeping Beauty
15. Forbidden Mountain
16. A Fairy Tale Come True
17. Battle With The Forces Of Evil
18. Awakening
19. Finale

Pocahontas OST [Expanded With Bonus Tracks]

320 KBPS MP3, CD + DVD rip, change .abc to .zip
DOWNLOAD PART 1! (75.9 MB) (ZIP contains tracks 1-19.)
DOWNLOAD PART 2! (74.7 MB) (ZIP contains tracks 20-33.)

[Tracklisting]
1. Chorus - The Virginia Company (1:30)
2. Alan Menken - Ship At Sea (2:33)
3. Mel Gibson, Chorus - The Virginia Company [Reprise] (0:35)
4. Chorus - Steady As The Beating Drum (Main Title) (1:46)
5. Jim Cummings - Steady As The Beating Drum [Reprise] (0:45)
6. Judy Kuhn - Just Around The Riverbend (2:27)
7. Alan Menken - Grandmother Willow (1:27)
8. Linda Hunt, Bobbi Page - Listen With Your Heart I (1:13)
9. David Ogden Stiers, Mel Gibson, Chorus - Mine, Mine, Mine (3:06)
10. Linda Hunt, Bobbi Page - Listen With Your Heart II (2:46)
11. Judy Kuhn - Colors Of The Wind (3:34)
12. Mel Gibson, Judy Kuhn - If I Never Knew You (3:53)
13. David Ogden Stiers, Jim Cummings, Chorus - Savages Part 1 (1:43)
14. David Ogden Stiers, Jim Cummings, Judy Kuhn, Chorus - Savages Part 2 (2:15)
15. Alan Menken - I'll Never See Him Again (1:55)
16. Alan Menken - Pocahontas (1:22)
17. Alan Menken - Council Meeting (1:11)
18. Alan Menken - Percy's Bath (0:51)
19. Alan Menken - River's Edge (1:28)
20. Alan Menken - Skirmish (2:03)
21. Alan Menken - Getting Acquainted (1:30)
22. Alan Menken - Ratcliffe's Plan (1:47)
23. Alan Menken - Picking Corn (0:55)
24. Alan Menken - The Warriors Arrive (1:23)
25. Alan Menken - John Smith Sneaks Out (1:14)
26. Alan Menken - Execution (1:34)
27. Alan Menken - Farewell (4:48)
28. Vanessa Williams - Colors Of The Wind (4:18)
29. Jon Secada, Shanice - If I Never Knew You (4:11)
30. Judy Kuhn - Colors Of The Wind [Demo] (3:27)
31. Judy Kuhn - Just Around The Riverbend [Deleted Reprise] (0:33)
32. Unknown Singers - In The Middle Of The River [Deleted Song] (3:56)
33. Vanessa Williams - Colors Of The Wind [Single Version] (4:12)

The original soundtrack album, released on May 30, 1995, is one of Disney's most successful soundtrack releases ever, selling 2.3 million copies in the US and being certified triple platinum. The album reached #1 on the Billboard Albums Chart and produced Vanessa Williams' last top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with the single "Colors Of The Wind."

In 2005, Disney released a 2-Disc 10th Anniversary Edition of the film which included an optional extended version which re-integrated the newly completed deleted scene where Pocahontas and John Smith sing "If I Never Knew You" the night before he is to be executed. Unlike previous Disney films like Beauty And The Beast and The Lion King which got new soundtrack CDs including the newly added songs, Disney went the complete opposite direction with the soundtrack CD from Pocahontas and put it out of print in the US, although it's still available as an import on Amazon. So I've taken it upon myself to create an expanded soundtrack CD using audio from my DVD. Because my attempts at separating the 5.1 channels to create a version of "If I Never Knew You" without dialogue and such resulted in a terrible-sounding MP3, I decided to just directly convert the AC3 to WAV. Therefore, the track still includes all the dialogue from the scene.

I also decided to include some bonus tracks from the DVD's bonus features. The "Colors Of The Wind" demo comes from an early presentation reel. Although Judy Kuhn is not credited as a singer, I believe it's her voice as it sounds like her. The deleted reprise of "Just Around The Riverbend" was to be used during the scene where Pocahontas seeks advice from Grandmother Willow the morning John Smith is to be executed. I'm not sure about the story behind "In The Middle Of The River." The single version of "Colors Of The Wind" is slightly different from the pop version on the soundtrack album in that background vocals are also included.

Enchanted + Disney DVD woes + Sleeping Beauty stuff

In November 2007, Disney released the movie Enchanted. Enchanted marked something of a return to form in many ways for Disney. It was their first film to have a fairy tale theme since 1991's Beauty and the Beast and their first major fantasy-themed film since 1992's Aladdin. It was the first quasi-musical film from Disney in a number of years. And most importantly, it was the first theatrical release in quite a few years to use traditional 2-D animation. In addition, Enchanted was stuffed with all kinds of tributes and references to the Disney classics of the past. From costumes to specific shots to songs to cameos from Disney voice actors, Enchanted is a treat for any major Disney fan. In fact, the more you know about Disney animated classics, the more fun you'll have with Enchanted.

I suggest that the first time you watch it, you don't even think about all the Disney references. Just watch the movie and enjoy it for what it is. A few will pop out at you, but don't think too hard on it. Save that for the second viewing, when you can concentrate on that without worrying about missing the plot. I'll give you a few, just to give you a taste of the little or big things you can find:
The narrator at the beginning and end of the film is none other than Julie Andrews.
Robert Phillip's (Patrick Dempsey) secretary is played by none other than Jodi Benson, the voice of Ariel in The Little Mermaid.
When Prince Edward (James Marsden) and Nathaniel (Timothy Spall) are watching a soap opera in their hotel room, you can hear a few bars of Beauty and the Beast playing. When the woman turns around, it's none other than Paige O'Hara, the voice of Belle. In addition, the characters on the soap are named Angela, Jerry, and Ogden - references to Angela Lansbury (Mrs. Potts), the late Jerry Orbach (Lumiere), and David Ogden Steirs (Cogsworth and the narrator).
The movie starts with a storybook opening up, like many of the classic Disney films.
During the opening song, Giselle holds two gemstones up to her eyes and peers through them - a reference to a gag done by Dopey in Snow White.

Enchanted is not edgy or deep or anything like that. It's light fluffy fun, especially for Disney fans. It's completely predictable, but how could it not be? It's a groundbreaking concept for Disney - bringing people from their animated utopia and bringing them into modern day New York City and seeing how they deal. Definitely something worth watching multiple times. I'd give it 10/10. Absolutely fantastic.

In mid-March of 2008, Disney released separate widescreen and fullscreen DVDs of Enchanted. Single-disc sets with bonus materials not really deserving of a big budger box office hit that pays homage to Disney tradition while bringing freshness to it. A few deleted scenes, none of which are the deleted song performed by James Marsden and Idina Menzel, a blooper reel, a few fluffy featurettes, a short cartoon with the chipmunk Pip, and a Carrie Underwood music video. (Which isn't listed on the packaging at all.)

Seriously, Disney, I know Enchanted won't sell out in 26 seconds like your upcoming 2-Disc set for the Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best Of Both Worlds concert DVD, but it just proves that you no longer care about going above and beyond what you absolutely HAVE to for anything other than the biggest of moneymakers. Even Warner Bros. still goes beyond what they have to do for even their most obscure titles most of the time. (Some may not think so - look at Mame's crappy bonus materials listing. But Hell, it's Mame - they didn't even have to put it on DVD at all, let alone with a decent-looking transfer and a couple of trailers. It's not like millions were clamoring for it.) Disney's DVD releases of recent Pixar films and their own movies, animated or otherwise, have been disappointing to say the least. And don't get me started on the lack of behind-the-scenes material on the Ratatouille DVD, while ONLY the Blu-Ray version gets an audio commentary. WTF is up with that mess?

And then there's the recent reissues of their animated catalogue titles. Disney really dropped the bomb on the reissues of Dumbo, Robin Hood, The Fox And The Hound, The Aristocats, and the upcoming 45th Anniversary Edition of The Sword In The Stone. In addition to canning whatever theatrical trailers were present in previous editions, which is idiotic to me, they don't really add much, if anything substantial. There WAS a bit more effort put into The Aristocats at least - they bothered to make a new DVD-ROM game for it. And the upcoming The Sword In The Stone DVD simply gives it an ugly new cover and takes off a substantial bonus feature and adds a few crappy games. And all these releases, except Dumbo and crop the films for widescreen TVs...not a big deal to me though. The animated films from 101 Dalmatians through The Fox And The Hound were created in the 1.33:1 Academy aspect ratio, but also designed to be cropped for widescreen theatrical exhibition without compromising the framing too much. (Although there are times on The Jungle Book's 40th Anniversary Platinum Edition DVD where the framing feels a little cramped.) Some people don't mind it, like me. Some people see it as the same thing as pan and scan. I don't, because they were designed to be viewed both ways, and with more and more people getting widescreen TVs, it makes sense. I'd complain about a movie like Cinderella being cropped for widescreen, because it wasn't designed for that. But Robin Hood? Don't care. But I'm getting away from my point...

Even the Platinum Editions are getting lighter and lighter and more and more dumbed down for kids. Apparently, Disney's forgotten that adults enjoy their movies too and would like some more bonus materials geared for them. Both of 2007's Platinum Editions didn't even include trailers, and Peter Pan REALLY dropped the ball when they recycled the 15-minute making-of fluff from nearly all home video releases since 1998 and put a VERY useless capitioned version of the movie on disc 2. Fortunately, at least 101 Dalmatians includes plenty of trailers and TV spots, but there's no excuse for leaving trailers off DVDs. How hard can it possibly be for Disney to get a bunch of trailers?

If you buy Enchanted at Target, you get a bonus DVD with the 30-minute long making-of documentary Becoming Enchanted. How completely sad when a Target bonus disc has better bonus material than the actual DVD. And while I love the documentary, I can't help but wish that bonus DVD had included a little more. Like the theatrical trailers, the deleted song, and a few galleries. But the documentary alone is enough reason for me to wholeheartedly recommend buying the DVD at Target if at all possible. (I actually got it bought for me...after buying the DVD for myself at Blockbuster for way too much money. OI. I gave the extra DVD to the public library, as they only have it in icky fullscreen. I kept the bonus disc though. I'm not a fanatic. XD)

All this aside, I'm looking forward to October's re-issue of Sleeping Beauty, this time as a 50th Anniversary Platinum Edition. I'm interested in seeing if the restoration is even better than the 2003 2-Disc Special Edition DVD's already flawless transfer. And so far, I've heard about a NEW making-of documentary, which makes me happy, as well as some deleted scenes and songs. Having just gotten the soundtrack CD in the mail, I'm getting even more pumped up for this reissue. I hope Disney promotes the crap out of it, and maybe even brings the soundtrack back into print with some deleted songs tacked on as bonus tracks. (No need to remaster the audio again for a reissue...the CD issue sounds absolutely crisp, clean, clear, and gorgeous. Just add the bonus tracks to the 1997 CD master.) I probably won't pick it up, for a shallow reason - I love the packaging of the original 1997 CD too much. But it'd be nice for those who don't already have the CD. And to close out this post, here's some scans of the packaging of the 1997 CD release. Purty, ain't it?





















Here's a closer look at the text from the final booklet scan. It offers some notes about this particular soundtrack CD release.

BIRTHDAY: Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs

I'm a day late on this, but oh well.

On December 21, 1937 Disney unveiled their first ever feature-length animated masterpiece, Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs. The film opened to great critical acclaim and record-breaking box office success - adjusted for inflation, it's the 10th highest grossing film ever. The film's success was crucial to the survival and growth of the Disney studios, which until Snow White were merely a factory for making short cartoons.

Snow White was a breakthrough for animation, proving that audiences not only WOULD sit through a full hour and a half of animation, but that they could actually come to care about these cartoon characters as if they were flesh and blood actors on the screen. Techniques were perfected and sometimes invented to make the movie more cinematic and take full advantage of what animation can do.

CD REVIEW: Beauty and the Beast: Special Edition Soundtrack

In 1991, Walt Disney Pictures released the 30th film in their Animated Classics canon, Beauty and the Beast, to wild critical and commercial success, even nabbing an Oscar nomination for Best Picture (It is still the only animated film given this honor.) and becoming the first animated film to won a Golden Globe Award for Best Picture. In addition, Beauty and the Beast became the first film to have three of its songs be honored with Academy Award nominations. (The title track, along with the film's rich score, both won the Oscar.) The soundtrack also won Grammy Awards for Best Album For Children, Best Song Written Specifically For A Motion Picture, Best Instrumental Composition Written For A Motion Picture, Best Pop Vocal Performance By A Duo Or Group for the pop single version of the title track as performed by Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson, and Best Pop Instrumental Performance. In addition, the soundtrack was certified platinum three times by the RIAA, and the pop version of "Beauty and the Beast" was certified Gold and reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart.

In 2002, Disney re-released the film, this time to large-screen theaters such as IMAX. The film, which was animated using the CAPS system, (CAPS is a program that takes hand-drawn animation that has been scanned into the computer and allows the color artists to digitally color them and add shading and such, allowing for far more painted cels in a smaller period of time.) was enhanced to fix details that one might not notice on a TV screen or a regular theater screen, but would be very obvious in the larger format. In addition, a song that was dropped from the early storyboards but worked into the Broadway show, "Human Again," was voiced by the original cast, animated, and integrated into the film seamlessly. Just a couple of months prior to the film's January 1, 2002 IMAX premiere, Disney also reissued the soundtrack in a new Special Edition. The new Special Edition contained the digitally remastered original soundtrack, with the addition of Human Again, as well as two songwriter demos and the original early version of the Beast's death music. The new CD was issued in a brand new package with brand new liner notes and a new cardboard slipcover replicating the IMAX reissue's poster.

Beauty and the Beast is my all time favorite film. I've seen it at least fifty times, if not more, and the soundtrack is one of my all time favorite CDs. And unlike most subsequent "Special Edition" soundtrack reissues from Disney, this one does it right. The soundtrack has never sounded better. For music that is now sixteen years old, it still sounds fresh and vibrant and new, with the exception of the pop version of "Beauty and the Beast," which naturally sounds dated now. The lush orchestral arrangements of the score, written by Alan Menken, come to life as you listen, and the Broadway-like feel of the songs, written by Menken and lyricist Howard Ashman, makes it truly one of the most unique Disney soundtracks of all time.

The three songs from the film that were nominated for the Best Song Academy Award are "Belle," "Be Our Guest," and "Beauty and the Beast." The first two are big, loud, and splashy Broadway-styled numbers that blow you away, while "Beauty and the Beast" is its musical opposite. The subtle track is relatively quiet in its emotions, but very powerful. Performed in the film by Angela Lansbury, a Tony Award-winning Broadway musical star and Academy Award-nominated movie star best known outside of the film as Jessica Fletcher from the long-running mystery TV series Murder She Wrote and as the title character in the Tony Award-winning musical Mame, her vocal performance is very subtle and vulnerable. In a featurette on the DVD, Angela admits that she'd been hesitant to record the song and didn't want to do it as she felt she wasn't the right one to sing it. But they (As Judy Garland said at Carnegie Hall, "I don't know who THEY are...") insisted that Angela perform the vocal. In that same featurette, composer Alan Menken praised her performance, saying it was an absolutely incredible say in the studio and shared a nice little fact - Angela recorded only one take of the vocal, which is what you hear in the film and on the CD.

"Belle" is the perfect opening number for the film. Within five minutes, you're introduced to several of your major players and get a glimpse into their personalities - odd Maurice, kind-hearted Belle, pig-headed Gaston, and his sockpuppet, LeFou. It's big, loud, very theatrical, and opens the film with a bang. A short reprise that follows soon after also shows you more of Belle's burning desire to get away from "this provincial life" that she expressed in the full-length number.

"Gaston" and its reprise are basically what it sounds like - everyone, including Gaston himself, singing his praises. Another rousing Broadway-inspired number, this one boasts some of the film's most amusing moments. The reprise also shows us a little more of the devious side of Gaston, which comes out slowly as the film progresses, climaxing at the end when he completes his internal transformation into an all-out villain.

"Be Our Guest" is the biggest number in the entire film, performed to perfection by the late great Jerry Orbach, best known as Det. Lenny Briscoe in the TV series Law And Order and as the original Billy Flynn in the original Broadway production of Chicago. The Disney staff pulled out all the stops for this one. It's a non-stop feast for the eyes and ears.

"Something There" crams what would take almost an entire movie in non-musical and crams it into about five minutes. In this song, we see the budding friendship between Belle and the Beast. This song comes after the Beast gives his library as a gift to Belle. (One of my favorite scenes in the entire film, and I'm PISSED that the score for this scene isn't on the soundtrack.) In the original version of the film, this immediately segues into the bathtub scene where the Beast is preparing for the ballroom scene, so seeing the original theatrical version, to me, it kinda leaves me wanting more now. Just a little more interaction between the two. Which leads me to...

"Human Again" is the new song here. Well, it's only new in that it wasn't previously included in the film. The song was actually part of the storyboards and was even demo'd. (The full-length demo can be found on the now out of print The Music Behind The Magic box set. An edited version of the demo can be found, along with early storyboard footage, on the DVD.) However, due to a motif in the song about the passage of time, which caused some story issues, the song was deleted. When Disney was preparing the film for its stage adaptation, the song was dusted off and they realized that if they merely removed the "passage of time" bit from the song that it would actually work. Now, I much prefer seeing the Special Edition of the movie with this song. It feels so much more complete and offers something the original film didn't have - anything about the breaking of the spell from the point of view of the enchanted objects. It also provides one more little moment between Belle and the Beast, which also goes back to the original storyboards - Belle teaching the Beast how to read.

"The Mob Song" is the final song in the film, save for the pop version of the title track during the end credits. In this song, Gaston finally makes the transition that has been building up throughout the entire film from a pig-headed dumb guy to jerk to full-blown villain who would literally kill to get his way, never getting the hint that no matter what he does, Belle will never want to marry him. The best part of this is the same thing that's great about all of the songs - it's not just there for the sake of being there. It shows character development and moves the story along.

As for the gorgeous score, there's two tracks that stand out for me - "The Beast Lets Belle Go" and "Transformation." Both are gorgeously dramatic when they need to be and subtle and soft when necessary. "Transformation" ends with a beautiful choral reprise of "Beauty and the Beast."

My only complaint about this soundtrack is that I wish more score was present on here. I find it hard to believe that there's only approx. 55 minutes of music in a 90-minute movie where it seems like you're hearing background music almost every minute. The Special Edition CD is just under an hour and five minutes, meaning they could have placed 10-15 minutes more of score cues and such on here and made it more complete. I'm sure ALL of the score wouldn't fit onto here, but most of it would be nice. Especially the score from the scene where the Beast gives his library to Belle, which I think is one of the most beautiful pieces in the film.

However, it's hard to find any other fault with this CD. The sound quality is fantastic, the music is gorgeous, and it's just CLASSIC. I give it 9 stars out of 10. If only Disney had given the Pocahontas soundtrack this same treatment when they released a new DVD edition of the film with the deleted song "If I Never Knew You" fully animated and integrated into the film. Instead, they chose not to even BOTHER re-releasing it or anything, making the song commercially unavailable outside of the DVD. Shame on you, Disney!