I'm a creature of habit. One of my habits includes obsesively listening to songs and watching movies over and over again. Of course, my favorite combination of these two was always the sing-along-song videos we always had growing up.
Of these, my all-time favorite was one set entirely in Disneyland - Disneyland Fun!
Along with some old Disney favorites such as "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" and "Whistle While You Work", the collection also featured several songs based on the theme park itself, like "It's a Small World" and "I'm Walkin' Right Down the Middle of Main Street U.S.A."
Even watching them now, these songs put a grin on my face that only politics can wipe away. These videos were probably some of my first bits of exposure to musicals and musical theater, and I think that Disney was a huge part of lives of anyone who grew up in the nineties. I remember that my visits to Disney World were some of my most vivid memories, despite the fact that most of the rides terrified me. I liked being completely immersed in a world of fantasy. I expect that's true of most children), so naturally this video drew in more than the others, as it brought back a lot of what I felt on those visits.
Among the numbers in this video were two that especially marked me as a child: "Makin' Memories" and "Grim Grinnin' Ghosts".
Now, I know why "Grim Grinnin' Ghosts" has stuck with me all this time - because it thoroughly and completely terrified me as a child. I literally could not watch it. I remember constantly having to fast-forward through it because I knew that watching it would give me nightmares.
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| Like this, but with a much prettier nightgown. |
I guess it follows that "Makin' Memories" would be the other number I'd remember, seeing as it directly preceded "Grim Ginnin' Ghosts". I remember that I could never fully enjoy the song as I kept anticipating the moment I'd have to quickly press fast-forward on the VCR remote and avert my eyes so as only to read the lyrics so I'd know when it was safe to look again...
It's funny because though I almost always skipped it, I've apparently watched "Grim Grinnin' Ghosts" enough times to remember most of the lyrics. The riff at the beginning though, the ooooh ooooh ooooh ooooooooh... That would haunt my dreams. If I remember correctly, it became my trademark creepy song whenever I made up stories or games as a kid. It was the scariest thing I'd ever watched until "Signs" in sixth grade.
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| "The Duck in the ghost costume... HE'S COMING!!!!!" |
It's sort of an interesting contrast when you think of it - at least for the grown-ups watching - filling you up with nostalgia about happier times then WHAM a song that's basically a thinly-veiled reminder of your own mortality. Should this have been a Macabre Monday instead?
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| "Tonight, a commentary on our most ingrained fears." "Yaaaaaaaay!!!" |
Did you watch Sing Along Songs as a kid? Did you watch them, perhaps, with kids of your own? Do you have any favorites?
