Tigger Mania

Various Artists

Walt Disney Records, 1998

REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 08/17/2000

Any time I have to review a CD from Walt Disney, I have to become six years old again.

It doesn't matter that I'm within sniffing distance of 30, with a wife and child to take care of, car and house payments to make and two sites that eat up almost all my free time. For forty minutes or so, I have to forget all of that stuff, sit back and remember a simpler time. It's not always easy to do, and it sometimes is a real downer to return to adult life, but there's no way I could approach some of these discs as a grown man.

Take Tigger Mania, for example. If I reviewed this with the mindset of an adult, I'd probably be ripping it to shreds for its songwriting and the way that poor Paul Winchell, the original voice of Tigger (until Disney fired him for - land sakes! - being too old and shaky in the voice... baloney), has his movie lines inserted willy-nilly. Memo to Disney: Would it have killed you to have swallowed your pride, brought Winchell back into the studio and asked him to contribute a few new Tigger-isms to this project? I'd be criticizing the rewrite of Peter Frampton's classic song "Show Me The Way" to fit the Tigger theme.my_heart_sings_the_harmony_web_ad_alt_250

No, that's too easy - and, besides, the target market for this disc isn't old fuddy-duddies like myself. No, as the cover art clearly states, this is a disc for six- to 12-year-olds (though my four-year-old will probably love this disc, since she's advanced for her age). And for the kiddies, this is sure to be a real humdinger.

You really have something for almost every occasion (except for times when your child is sad - remember, Tigger is almost always happy). You've got your dance numbers ("The Tigger Bop," featuring Frampton on guitar and vocals, "Tigger Is Gonna Hop"), you've got your workout music ("The Tigger-cize Song"), you've got your party music ("Tiggerific Birthday Party"), your educational moment ("Tigger's ABCs")... you even have a rap song ("Gently, Tigger Dear") which... well... okay, forget it. I gotta look at this one as an adult and say that I don't think it was a great number. Sorry.

Add into the mix the occasional vocal delivery from Tigger himself, and you have a disc that should keep the kids occupied, at least until school starts in a few weeks. And, in all fairness, it is kind of a fun disc to pop into the player - though, as an adult, I am disappointed that "The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers" isn't either the original version from the Winnie-The-Pooh cartoon shorts or the expanded version from The Tigger Movie, but is a rerecording featuring anyone but Tigger.

Tigger Mania is the kind of disc that will keep your kids bouncing around the floor (and off the walls), and may even inspire a smile or two on Mom and Dad's face. For a kids' album, your kids could do a whole lot worse.

Rating: B

User Rating: Not Yet Rated


Comments

 








© 2000 Christopher Thelen and The Daily Vault. All rights reserved. Review or any portion may not be reproduced without written permission. Cover art is the intellectual property of Walt Disney Records, and is used for informational purposes only.