Disney's Sing Along Songs were a popular home video venue in the 1990s and now many have found a second incarnation being recycled for their debut on the DVD format. As is common with a number of these presentations, Sing Along Songs: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious - I Love to Laugh most prominently features tunes from a single Disney film, in this case Mary Poppins, and includes other songs from the same studio which follow a basic theme - here, laughter and the people who love to engage in it.

Starting out with the usual opening (recycled and dubbed footage of Professor Owl and class), Ludwig von Drake then takes the helm and introduces each song on an individual basis. As might be expected, a Mary Poppins song heads the list being "I Love to Laugh." Here, one of the most distressing and often occurring event takes place for the first time - not all of the lyrics appear on the screen. "Everybody Has a Laughing Place" from one of Disney fans' most-talked-about but least-seen films (Song of the South) follows with a promising clip of Brer Rabbit but turns into footage from one animated work to another, all featuring a character or characters enjoying some laughing time. The typical cheery Disney singers provide vocals for the catchy melody for the most part, but the song wraps up with some genuine crooning of the Uncle Remus variety. Also set to film clips, albeit only of one character in this instance, is "Quack Quack Quack Donald Duck", a silly song which is rather forgettable. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' "The Washing Song" ("Bluddle-Uddle-Um-Dum") is the least singable of the selections here, as there is more action than song, while "Jolly Holiday" fails for the most part by leaving out the on-screen words to some of the more indiscernible lyrics. Edited versions of the songs and film clips seem to be followed more closely as a theme than that of laughter. Robin Hood's "Oo-De-Lally" is repeated in its entirety in order to make the short tune seem longer while the 9-minute Silly Symphony "Three Little Pigs" is cut down to a mere minute and a half.

Although the back of the case claims a 31 minute running time, Sing Along Songs: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious - I Love to Laugh, supplies just over 27 minutes of entertainment, and it is not particularly entertaining.

VIDEO and AUDIO

Bad video quality well outnumbers the laughs in this DVD presentation. Mary Poppins probably suffers the most as a much older transfer is used which is not only poor in quality, but also fullscreen. Artifacting is abundant especially when Ludwig von Drake is at hand.

The DVD is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, but the final result is very mild reinforcement from the rear speakers as pertains to instrumental accompaniment. Obviously, the absence of picture remastering also applies to sound. While lyrics are generally intelligible, they often have a muffled quality, the all-around effect is that you might be watching a well-used VHS copy of this particular sing-along.

BONUS FEATURES, MENUS, and DESIGN

The main menu shows the bouncing notes of typical sing along fare, accompanied by that perky sing along tune. The only set-up option available is captions, which might seem silly at first but considering the fact that so many lyrics are missing on screen, some extra help might be needed in order to enjoy the full vocalizing experience.

Packaged in a spotless white keepcase, the DVD opens to reveal a double-sided insert and shiny yet blurry disc art.

Sneak peeks play at the start of the disc for Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin, the February 2006 Disney Princess wave (encompassing Disney Princess Learning Adventures and Disney Princess Sing Along Songs: Volume 3), and the delayed pair of standard Disney Learning Adventures Winnie the Pooh: Shapes & Sizes and Wonderful Word Adventure. The menu holds more dated spots for Little Einsteins: Our Big Huge Adventure, Lady and the Tramp: Platinum Edition, Bambi II, and "JoJo's Circus" on Playhouse Disney.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

Even with a lower suggested retail price, it would be hard to fully recommend this DVD, especially when there is so much out there more deserving by far of multiple viewings (namely the movies from which the featured songs hailed in the first place). For those who might have nostalgic feelings for this particular Sing Along or for those members of the younger set, it might be of a little more value, but still not enough to merit a purchase at over $10 a disc. As has been mentioned numerous times, it would be more reasonable for Disney to sell these sing along volumes in sets of three or more for a more reasonable price of $19.99 or the like. As it is, the current offering is less than desirable.

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