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Being only 24 years old, I only recognized maybe half of the songs on the album instantly from my own childhood. As a result, it's nice to hear the old-school material for the first time (Astro Boy, Jonny Quest, Spiderman, King Kong, Underdog, Mighty Hercules, Super Chicken, etc.) but I know I won't be popping in the CD to listen to them again. Some of them are catchier than anticipated, but they also tend to have noticeable noise and are just lower-quality recordings in general while newer songs (1990+) sound perfectly clear. However, the older tracks will have much nostalgia value for the elder buyer.
Nostalgia is most of the reason for purchasing this album; reliving one's childhood or sharing it with one's own children. But nostalgia aside, this CD is also worth purchasing for some hard-to-find Disney gems.
The themes for "DuckTales," "Chip 'N Dale Rescue Rangers" and "Tale Spin" are the long-out-of-print extended versions as published on the extremely rare "Disney Afternoon" CD from 1991. "Chip 'n Dale" and "DuckTales" could be easily mistaken for third-party remixes, but these longer mixes by Disney feature the original artists. Personally, I find the "Chip 'n Dale" theme (as performed by 1980's rock band The Jets, more well known for "You Got It All (Over Him)") survived the transition from 1-minute version better than "DuckTales" did. Also included is the TV version of the theme from "Darkwing Duck."
One of the nicer features of the CD is the inclusion of an insert with a (very) brief paragraph that offers trivia about each show covered on the album. There are at least two mistakes, however; Rockapella did not perform the theme to the "Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?" cartoon, but rather that of the PBS game show (more on this later). Another minor error: The stars of "Sailor Moon" were also not a rock group but rather teenage high school friends. Only a couple of the main cast ever did much in the way of musical performance on-screen. Despite these two errors, the included liner notes are informative and convenient.
Interesting to note that several of the included tunes are the English-version themes from Japanese cartoons as opposed to Western ones: Sailor Moon ("Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon"), Astro Boy ("The Mighty Atom"), Gigantor and Speed Racer ("Mach 5 Go!") all originated from Japan. This is not terribly surprising, as Rhino has released other anime-themed releases including "The Best of Anime" and two "Sailor Moon" CDs.
But the oddest of the odd on this album is the inclusion of the "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?" game show theme by Rockapella. This track is labeled as "Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?" which was a DiC cartoon that aired on Fox after the game show had premiered and sported a completely different (non-a capella) theme song which is not included in this compilation. Frankly, I'm glad the Rockapella theme is the included one, because the cartoon's theme was really nothing special: "Where is Caaaaarmen Sandiego?" The Rockapella song has much more creative and memorable lyrics like "She'd ransack Pakistan and run a scam in Scandinavia." All in all, a good call on Rhino's part even if it breaks from the "Toon Tunes" premise.
Overall, with catchy songs like "Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers," the totally 80's "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," the very retro "Popeye the Sailor Man," and many other classic songs of youth, this CD just might be worth a look for those who still have the kid inside lingering. If you're all grown-up and want to stay that way, skip this disc.
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