Is Disney … okay? The company seems to be having whatever the version of a midlife crisis is for 100-year-olds. Following last year’s centennial anniversary, Disney lost sole custody of Steamboat Willie, had its data leaked in a companywide hack, and, worst of all, released Wish. Now, like a dad saying he’s gonna take up bass guitar, Disney is rebelling against the system, man, releasing an album of pop-punk covers called A Whole New Sound. The new record capitalizes on Rodrigo-core Y2K revivalism with Simple Plan, Yellowcard, and more artists playing songs like “Can You Feel the Love Tonight†and “A Whole New World.†Yes, this project feels dated upon arrival — what about Bowling for Soup screams a whole new sound, exactly? — but there’s something charmingly try-hard about seeing these “hot-diggity-dogâ€â€“ass children’s characters styled like Pro Skater NPCs.
Is this the result of out-of-touch marketing execs throwing trends at the wall hoping something sticks? Is an album cover bearing lowercase-g goofy visuals of drippy Mickey and streetwear Donald a symptom of Disney-adult saturation? Not entirely. A Whole New Sound isn’t a whole new idea at all; it’s simply the latest entry in a proud tradition, stretching back decades, in which Disney tries to keep its characters hip and fresh by staying up on the latest groovy tunes the kids are listening to. The company has typically done this in two ways: either by releasing albums with Disney characters covering an of-the-moment genre (Mickey Unrapped) or having A-listers put their own spin on Disney’s extensive back catalogue of cartoon tunes.
If you include the albums of spa-music-style instrumental covers — arranged by genre, like “Peaceful Piano,†“Jazz,†and “Hawaiian†— there are over 100 of these projects dating back to the late ’60s. To give you a sense of where something as seemingly random as A Whole New Sound came from, I’ve compiled some of the strangest and most noteworthy works in this mouse-eared subgenre. You think New Found Glory covering Princess Ariel is weird? Wait until you hear EDM Dumbo.
Mickey Mouse Disco (1979)
Disney’s first dip into a trending genre was an album full of disco ditties with names like “Macho Duck†and “Watch Out for Goofy!†as well as covers of “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah†and “Chim Chim Cher-ee.†The sheer amount of coke that must have gone into this …
“Digital Duck,†Mickey Mouse Splashdance (1983)
On top of having artwork that goes incredibly hard, this album of essentially children’s music in early ’80s New Wave style is extremely charming. The random session musicians give their best Huey (Dewey and) Lewis impression on songs like “One Little Android†and “Splashdance,†while “Digital Duck†sounds like a proto-DuckTales theme.
“Heigh Ho,†Tom Waits – Stay Awake (1988)
This compilation album named for a Mary Poppins song is the earliest example I can find of the Whole New Sound format, in which different artists cover Disney tracks instead of Disney characters tackling a genre. Come for the smooth stylings of Aaron Neville’s slow-jam “Mickey Mouse March,†stay for Tom Waits doing an industrial nightmare cover of “Heigh Ho.â€
Simply Mad About the Mouse (1991)
Simply Mad gave us a truly misguided Bobby McFerrin cover of the racist Siamese-cat song from Lady and the Tramp (albeit with awesome early CGI visuals).
“Bow Wow to the Beat,†Whoopi Goldberg – Mickey Unrapped (1994)
This cassette aimed at ’90s kiddos too young to do the Bartman mostly has Disney characters rapping but also features Tag Team and Color Me Badd, along with … Whoopi Goldberg, who doesn’t really rap so much as cash a check on her track, “Bow Wow to the Beat.â€
“Disney Mambo #5,†Lou Bega (2000)
“A little bit of Minnie in my life / A little bit of Mickey by her side …†Thank you, Lou Bega, for this one-off cover.
Eurobeat Disney Series (2000–01)
The best album art since Splashdance. Would absolutely ascend if I heard this live. Released exclusively in Japan, the five-album Eurobeat Disney series featured Japanese and Italian dance artists turning Disney songs into high-bpm club tracks. You could swap any of these out with the Challengers soundtrack and the movie would still work.
“The Tiki Tiki Tiki Room,†Hilary Duff – Disneymania (2002)
If you grew up on Disneymania, then A Whole New Sound is nothing new to you. This series’ nine-album run from 2002 to 2010 included Radio Disney faves like Raven-Symoné, Jesse McCartney, and Baha Men recording music from Disney movies and, in some cases, the theme parks. People talk about “It’s a Small World (After All)†like it’s the most insipidly catchy Disneyland song, but those people haven’t heard Hilary Duff’s take on this midcentury tiki artifact. This isn’t even the most offensively Orientalist song Duff did for the Disneymania series (you better believe she and sister Haylie had to do the fucking Siamese-cat song).
“Making Christmas,†Rise Against – Nightmare Revisited (2008)
Artists like Korn, Rise Against, and the All-American Rejects cover the Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack in a coup for Hot Topic checkout aisles — though the less said about Marilyn Manson’s “This Is Halloween,†the better. Nightmare Before Christmas is supposed to be spooky, not literally scary.Â
“Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah,†Toots Hibbert – The Disney Reggae Club (2010)
Toots Hibbert doing “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah†is a net positive. Matisyahu’s “Circle of Life,†not quite so much.
Lofi Minnie: Focus (2022)
Fast-forward to the 2020s, and Disney’s releasing far more cover compilations with Spotify and YouTube streaming playlists in mind. Take the Lofi Minnie series, in which Minnie has completely copped the style of a different cartoon baddie beloved the world over, Lofi Girl. Witnessing the amount of play time this modern-day Muzak station gets, Disney cleverly hopped on the trend by having SoundCloud lo-fi artists make their own chillcore remixes of Disney tracks. In light of this sort of Gen-Z grab, A Whole New Sound is basically an exercise in restraint.