Disney Sing Along Songs: The Twelve Days of Christmas

Merry Christmas Eve to one and all! As a special entry for this year, I decided to go back to the 90s and review something from my childhood. As a kid, I was a huge fan of Disney Sing Along Songs VHS tapes. Even if I never actually sang along with the music, still listening to my favourite Disney tunes back to back was good enough for me. And this. In fact, it was probably my favourite. Although the version I had was a double feature of this and from 1988, I'll only be reviewing the Twelve Days of Christmas bit because the other one is just traditional Christmas songs set to clips from various Disney cartoons and shorts. So, with all of that said, will Disney's take on Christmas carols bring me Christmas spirit or will it make me as annoyed as listening to Christmas songs plaguing the radios in October? Let's take a look!

Story: There isn't really much of a plot to speak of. It's really just about the Disney characters we know & love spending Christmas in a cabin the the woods while waiting for Santa. I think it's safe to say that it leads to an overload of the bubbly happy fluff that you'd expect from Disney, especially during the holidays. And given that it is a Sing Along video, it's obviously the songs which are the main star. I won't say much about them in this section, but I guess a problem I had because of them was a lack of cohesion, starting off alright in terms of a story with the cabin before randomly deciding to do whatever it wants in the North Pole before the big happy ending at DisneyWorld. It just felt a bit distracting from the original storyline and it left me confused over what it was supposed to be. On top of that, there are subplots which are so random and either go absolutely nowhere or are quickly resolved in about a minute or two. And of course, they're cliched and predictable! I just didn't know what to think of all this that was going on, so I think it's pretty clear that the writers had no idea either. It just feels like they thought that the theme of Christmas would connect them all together, when it actually doesn't.

Visuals: OK, how do I put this with the visuals...? They're pretty bad. Probably the worst aspect has to be the editing. It all looks like somebody playing around with Windows Movie Maker, filled with awkward scene wipes and transitions, all of which make you feel like you're on a never-ending trip. This is mostly shown in Snow Ho-Ho-Ho, which distracted me from actually looking at what was going on. The green screens are also equally as terrible, especially during Hip Hop Noel as it shows the shape of Santa in different colours while break dancing. Also, while the costumes of the characters can look charming, after a while they can look creepy because of their never ending smiles and over the top movements. The rest of the costumes, make up and sets also look really cheap and bizarre, from life sized toys, the elephants in I'd Like to Have an Elephant for Christmas and fake North Pole. The only times where the sets actually look good are when they use real places, like the cabin does admittedly look cosy and Christmasy and when the characters are singing in the Disney parks, which are actually beautiful to look at with all the colours and Christmas lights (despite the fake CGI fireworks). Besides those though, the visuals really surprised me with how poor they were, even for the 90s.

Characters: I can't really say much about the characters because there are no arcs and they are all their same selves: Mickey's all chipper and happy, Minnie's his equally as sweet girlfriend, Donald can have a fiery temper while having a good heart, his nephews are all mischievous and spoilt and Goofy is his clumsy yet kind hearted self. None of them really have their own development or character besides their typical traits, but that doesn't mean that they're bad. Oh yeah, and Pluto is of course Mickey's loyal dog despite not really contributing much. As for Santa's elves, they all got on my nerves with how over the top happy they were with their massive Cheshire Cat grins and annoying attempts to be hip & cool. I'm sorry that I don't have much to say about the characters because they're either generic for the beloved characters we know, and infuriatingly annoying for the new ones.

Songs: Oh boy, let me tell you about these songs because they are so cheesy that they've already been piled on top of macaroni & bacon! Seriously, every single one made me cringe so much that I actually in embarrassment that I was letting these tunes pass my ear drums. While there are a few classics like a country jamboree version of Deck the Halls and an obnoxiously over the top version of Jingle Bells, most of the songs are original. Very Merry Christmas is an obnoxiously over the top introductory number, Dear Santa is just an excuse to fill the screen with Disney product placement, Snow Ho-Ho-Ho made me cringe so much. But this is nothing compared to Hip Hop Noel. This is definitely the worst out of all of them because it tries so desperately hard to be all cool & hip for the kids that it made me facepalm in shame that somebody actually composed and wrote this and was approved by Disney! He Delivers is no better with the modern references and the strange arc about Huey not believing Santa only to change his mind a minute later! Here Comes Santa is OK while a bit cringeworthy while showing a DisneyWorld Christmas parade because of the overtly happy tune and lyrics. I'd Like to Have an Elephant For Christmas is probably the second worst song because not only is the idea of Goofy wanting an elephant ridiculous, but it comes so out of nowhere and it has absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the clumsy plots. Probably the best songs are the versions of Twelve Days of Christmas, O Christmas Tree and We Wish You a Merry Christmas, both visually and in execution. They actually take the songs seriously while being light-hearted but not up to the point that they're obnoxious and annoying. They let them be what they are instead of desperately trying to modernize them. Despite being the main focus of this video, the songs are easily the worst part of because of how desperately hard they try to be happy, cool and obnoxious. Ironically, all they'll do is make you cringe into a smile.

Although it has A LOT of flaws, I can't really hate this. Just because I've grown up and have clearly become more cynical, it doesn't mean I don't appreciate this for what it is. I can guarantee children will eat this up and despite it being overtly saccharine and syrupy that it'd make you die of diabetes. But I can't say that it's anything beyond...OK. The nostalgia goggles admittedly had an effect on me after watching this, but I'm not gonna act like it's the most amazing thing ever. For the most part...it's mediocre. Yes, the songs are terrible, the modernizations annoyed me on top of the trippy visuals, but the heart is clearly in the right place and I think people are in need something over the top happy after the depressing year 2016 has been. This reminded me that Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa or whatever holiday you celebrate at the end of the year, should be a time to appreciate the people and things you love past and present (yes, I know this sounds beyond corny). To me, that includes movies and this was something I used to love. Sure, I think it's crap now, but I still appreciate it.
Story: 😠
Visuals:😠
Characters: 😕
Songs:😡
Overall:😕