Was there ever an older version of Splash Mountain music???

[BrerDan]

Hi all!

I've had a mystery bugging me for a while, and hope someone might be able to clear things up for me: did there used to be a different version of the music at Splash Mountain??

I have the great 6-CD Musical History of Disneyland set and it has a great long version of the full Splash Mountain sequence, which appears to match up with the current ride version as best as I can tell. A while back I had downloaded some of my favorite Disney tunes via Limewire (I knew I was getting the 6 CD set for Christmas and didn't want to wait!) and the version of Splash Mountain I stumbled upon is quite a bit different. The lyrics seem to be the same, but the entire recording has an element of seeming from an older time period. The voices sound like people (rather than "cartoon animals") have that older "barbershop quartet" kind of quality. Additionally, the whole recording has a bit of that "tinny" and scratchy quality you often find in old recordings.

Does anyone know what this is from? Did Splash Mountain have a different soundtrack previously? Was there an older property (TV/film/ride) that had the same lyrics (I'm pretty sure most of the songs on the ride are new creations, not from Song of the South)?

To be clear: this is not the music from the queue, nor is it from the Tokyo version of the ride (which I found on You Tube).

Any help with this mystery is much appreciated!

Thanks

Brer Dan

[bearride]

I think I know the track your talking about. It has Thurl Ravenscroft singing at one point. I believe that it was a demo recording used when the ride was being planned.

[BrerDan]

Thanks for the reply!

I wondered if that might be the case. If it is a demo from the planning stages, it's amazing that track ever got released at all. I wonder if it was included on an album before the ride was actually released (you know how sometimes movie trailers include scenes eventually cut or such).

Anybody have any concrete details?

Thanks again!

I think I know the track your talking about. It has Thurl Ravenscroft singing at one point. I believe that it was a demo recording used when the ride was being planned.

[GhostHost2]

There is one part of the Splash Mountain music on The Musical History of Disneyland, that is very different from the music on the ride. The mother rabbit before the final lift hill is singing a very happy, upbeat song on the Musical History of Disneyland, but in the ride, she is singing a very dark and foreboding song. I perfer the song she sings on the ride, it adds darkness to the plot.

[yoyoflamingo]

All the songs sung in the ride are in Song of the South, with altered lyrics.

[BrerDan]

They are???? Really? Wow! Time to dust off my bootlegged copy! I had no idea!

All the songs sung in the ride are in Song of the South, with altered lyrics.

[IzzyInWonderland]

I love Song of the South. Thats why i love the Splash music. I wish i could find a copy of that movie someplace. It's crazy that they stopped making/selling this movie

[GhostHost2]

I love Song of the South. Thats why i love the Splash music. I wish i could find a copy of that movie someplace. It's crazy that they stopped making/selling this movie

EBAY is your friend.

[IzzyInWonderland]

I've looked on Ebay but unfortunately trying to get that movie on DVD is near impossible. Most are bootlegs.

[BrerDan]

True, but given that I'll buy the official version if they ever release it here, I didn't feel bad buying a bootleg. Actually I have a VHS copy I made of the Japanese laserdisk a friend of mine used to have, and then my partner got me the DVD (bootleg, yes) off Ebay last Christmas. It's great to be able to watch it again.

Growing up the tales of Brer Rabbit were my absolute favorites. I had the big storybook and re-read it a thousand times, we had a restaurant named after Brer Rabbit that had giant murals with fantastic illustrations (I wish I had pictures of them!), and we used to visit the home of Joel Chandler Harris in Georgia--so when Splash Mountain opened--I absolutely fell in love with it!

I've looked on Ebay but unfortunately trying to get that movie on DVD is near impossible. Most are bootlegs.

[Alex E]

Hey does anyone know when they recorded the soundtrack? 1987/88? A copy I think we bought from one of those arrange-it-yourself booths in the late 90's has a copyright date of 1984 but that might be a typo for 1944.

We also have one version of the soundtrack with a loud and proud gospel chicken in ZDD but that isn't in SM now, or in a video I watched of it from 1991.

[yoyoflamingo]

We also have one version of the soundtrack with a loud and proud gospel chicken in ZDD but that isn't in SM now, or in a video I watched of it from 1991.

I believe this was a sample track recorded that did not make it into the attraction. I have this track too, and I still love it!

[BrerDan]

Wow! Interesting stuff! Does anyone know where one could get this track (or the CURRENT ride track for Disneyland with the different song before the final lift OR the Magic Kingdom version) today? I would love to have all of these! Any cd s these are on or anywhere online I could download them?

Thanks!

Dan

I believe this was a sample track recorded that did not make it into the attraction. I have this track too, and I still love it!

[yoyoflamingo]

The previous ride track (Sooner or Later, as opposed to the eerie version of the Laughing Place song), is the version currently available on the Musical History of Disneyland 6 CD boxed set.

As far as the Gospel Zip a Dee Do Dah, that was on the first Official Album of Disneyland and Walt Disney World in the late 80s. It has been on a few CDs after that, up until they replaced the one song with the medley that is currently on the official albums.

[dland_lover]

The previous ride track (Sooner or Later, as opposed to the eerie version of the Laughing Place song), is the version currently available on the Musical History of Disneyland 6 CD boxed set.

As far as the Gospel Zip a Dee Do Dah, that was on the first Official Album of Disneyland and Walt Disney World in the late 80s. It has been on a few CDs after that, up until they replaced the one song with the medley that is currently on the official albums.

I forgot about the gospel version! I think I actually prefer that one over the current version. It's happier and more celebratory, IMO.