"Mannheim Meets the Mouse" is a departure from Mannheim Steamroller's Fresh Aire concept series. In the same vein as the Christmas albums, Chip Davis took 12 Disney songs, and reworked them into pieces of neo-classical music.
The track list:
- Chim Chim Cheree
- Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah
- Under The Sea
- Hakuna Matata
- Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
- Go The Distance
- The Ballad of Davy Crockett
- Heigh-Ho
- You've Got A Friend In Me
- When You Wish Upon A Star
- Reflection
- Mickey Mouse March
As a music purist, (a trait that I am told is genetic), I am generally wary of any Disney music. But as this album was the only thing my father (whose genes provide this trait) wanted to bring home from Disneyworld, I accepted the possibility that it might have some merit.
After one listening, I found myself hooked. Chip Davis took several mediocre songs, and turned them into beautiful pieces of music. The original song was used as the theme, and multiple variations and embellishments were added. In some songs the melody of the orginal was clear, while in some songs it was obscured entirely (to the benefit of the listener, I assure you). In my opinion, this is the only agreeable way to listen to Disney music.