Disney and the Wizard of Oz???

[Kram Nebuer]

Okay, I am thoroughly confused with a record set I recently found in my basement. They're Disneyland 45 records with a story and songs and they each came with a storybook (which I can't find). The titles I have are understandable: Snow White, Peter Pan, It's a Small World, Mary Poppins, Pete's Dragon, and Robin Hood.

But I also have one of the Wizard of Oz and it has a picture of an animated version of the Tin man, the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion, and Dorothy. Included on the record are the songs "Over the Rainbow" and "Follow the Yellobrick Road." And not only that, but when played, the voice actress who voices Dorothy sounds like a mock of Judy Garland! Disneyland is written very clearly on the top. I'm so confused since this is all MGM stuff. They're all mostly copyright 1977, so they're before my time. Does anyone on the forum remember or have this record and storybook or does anyone know why on earth Disney released it with MGM material?

[Maerj]

They probably just licensed it out, I think. Those record/storybook combos were really big back then due to the fact that no one had DVDs or VCRs. I had an interesting player that played a small record on top and had a a view screen in the front. While you played the record, you also had to insert a long strip that had slides on it, that would switch with the record. Ahhhhh, I love modern technology!

[Prince Adam]

Disney also made records and books of The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, and I believe David Copperfield.

I have a bunch of the ones from the early '90's, commonly referred to as my "tapes and books". My first one was Peter Pan. I still love it!

[pinkrenata]

I have a Wizard of Oz book and tape set that's also put out by Disney. It's probably the same one, actually, just a few years later. Considering there are many stage versions of The Wizard of Oz, using songs from the movie, not to mention the songs are so popular, they can be found in any number of piano books, I would say that the songs themself are not licensed by MGM. The fact that the song recordings on your record are sung by a Judy Garland sound-alike rather than Judy Garland herself further establishes it. If Disney and MGM had had a connection at the time, the recordings would have been the ones done by Judy Garland. All Disney did here was do a good job of covering up the fact that they weren't affiliated with the MGM movie.

[STASHONE]

I still have a bunch of my old Disneyland 45's. Its A Small World, Hiawatha, etc...

I think I've still got an old scrathcy Three Little Pigs and Peter & the Wolf 7" that came with read-along story books lying around somewhere too.

Great memories. I wonder if they're worth anything...

:}

I dont know if Im crazy, but I also remember owning this Lp with Mickey Mouse on the cover decked out in this sparkly polyester pimp shirt with like shiny tight flare pants and 70s disco boots, dancing around like Robin Gibb... I dont remember what was on it, just the strange cover.

[pinkrenata]

I dont know if Im crazy, but I also remember owning this Lp with Mickey Mouse on the cover decked out in this sparkly polyester pimp shirt with like shiny tight flare pants and 70s disco boots, dancing around like Robin Gibb... I dont remember what was on it, just the strange cover.

Hahaha! Funny, a friend and I were just looking in a Disney book and saw a picture of that album. I believe it was called 'Disco Mickey'. Groovy!

[Kram Nebuer]

Thank you everyone for all your help! You certainly cleared up a lot of confusion!

I probably have the same "book and tapes" Prince Adam is talking about. The It's A Small World book and tape is exactly like the record, and I also have Disney Mother Goose, Pinnochio, Bambi, and Dumbo. Sigh, those are fun memories...

[Disneykid]

I remember that Oz read-along, too. It was basically a re-telling of the MGM version, only with Disney artwork and a couple of minor changes (the read-along included some scenes from the original book like the Witch sending a flock of crows after the gang which the Scarecrow fought off). I had a ton of those Disney read-alongs and loved them all. The ones I can remember owning are:

The Wizard of Oz
Mary Poppins
It's A Small World
Pinocchio
Dumbo
Bambi
Cinderella
Alice in Wonderland
Peter Pan
Lady and the Tramp
The Jungle Book
Robin Hood
Winnie the Pooh and the Hunny Tree
Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day
Winnie the Poo and Tigger, Too
The Rescuers
The Fox and the Hound
Beauty and the Beast
Pocahontas
Toy Story

Yeah, I had quite a few.

[Disney Guru]

I remember that Record. I used to own one. That I got for a christmas present ages ago. That brings back a lot of fond memories.