DVDizzy Forum

Hi guys. Here are some updated Soundscan totals for the Golden Age soundtracks:

The Little Mermaid - 1,504,349
Beauty and the Beast - 2,214,305
Aladdin - 2,480,651
The Lion King - 7,790,844
Pocahontas - 2,349,251
The Hunchback of Notre Dame - 598,923
Hercules - 423,081
Mulan - 698,487
Tarzan - 2,546,590

Note: The Little Mermaid was released in 1989, so it had two full years of sales before Soundscan was implemented in early 1991.

Note: The Little Mermaid was released in 1989, so it had two full years of sales before Soundscan was implemented in early 1991.

That explains it. I almost had a mini-aneurism.

Surprised Hunchback and Hercules are so low. I thought they were two of the best '90's soundtracks.

I'd like to point out that the only thing high then "Tarzan" is "The Lion King." The power of Phil Collins!

milojthatch wrote: The power of Phil Collins!

I'd admit that Tarzan has a pretty nice soundtrack (I love "Son of Man"), but I'm not crazy about Collins. Btw, his work for the musical version of Tarzan (the additional songs) is kind of terrible.

The Lion King is kind of a popularity thing. "CYFTLT" and "Circle of Life" are the only really good ones, imo. Still, congratulations to Elton John.

Also, I wonder if Mermaid would be next to the top if those two years were added in--the first two years after a film's released are the hugest, after all, so the fact that it's number is as high as it is, is pretty impressive.

Another thing--I had read so many reviews of people not liking the music of Aladdin that it's a little unexpected to see it do so well. I don't share the opinion (I enjoy just about every song in the film), but I'm surprised to see it higher than B&tB.

Aladdin had a huge Pop crossover hit in "A Whole New World" that helped sell it. That single hit #1 on the Hot 100.

I wouldn't exactly call the 90's the Golden Age, but I digress.

But even after the soundtracks were such a huge success (well, most of those on the list) we still haven't gotten any of the complete scores with all the songs and all of the scores. Why, Disney? And if they don't want to, there are enough soundtrack labels that would jump at the chance to do a complete Disney soundtrack, because they would sell incredibly well. You'd just have to license them out to another label.

In 2007, The Little Mermaid was certified 6x platinum for 6 million copies shipped. In its first two years, it did double platinum which probably means about 1.5 million sold. That means at least 3 million sold combined with the soundscan figure.

Hmmm, I wonder why the massive over-shipping. It's not like it's a Britney album.

Chaz wrote:Aladdin had a huge Pop crossover hit in "A Whole New World" that helped sell it. That single hit #1 on the Hot 100.

That and I don't find BAtB's music to be strong as far as hit singles go.

Awww, I thought this was going to be for Snow White to Bambi

Nice numbers. I wonder how much Tangled sold.

Disney's Divinity wrote:

milojthatch wrote: The power of Phil Collins!

I'd admit that Tarzan has a pretty nice soundtrack (I love "Son of Man"), but I'm not crazy about Collins. Btw, his work for the musical version of Tarzan (the additional songs) is kind of terrible.

I am, he is AWESOME! And I think the numbers show why Disney wanted him, and then gave him "Brother Bear" to work on. You may not be too big on Phil, but many are. As for the "Tarzan" musical, well, to be fair, not everyone was cut out fro Broadway.

As for Elton, musically, another genius, but I think a lot of those numbers are also from the fact that the African music in that film was amazing (hats off to Lebo M), and Haz Zimmer did the score (always a great talent) as well as the simple fact that "Lion King" was huge and people just wanted ANYTHING with Simba on the cover. Many factors.

rodis wrote:In 2007, The Little Mermaid was certified 6x platinum for 6 million copies shipped. In its first two years, it did double platinum which probably means about 1.5 million sold. That means at least 3 million sold combined with the soundscan figure.

Hmmm, I wonder why the massive over-shipping. It's not like it's a Britney album.

Wasn't the 2006 soundtrack a 2-disc release? That would account for more shipments.

Chaz wrote:

rodis wrote:In 2007, The Little Mermaid was certified 6x platinum for 6 million copies shipped. In its first two years, it did double platinum which probably means about 1.5 million sold. That means at least 3 million sold combined with the soundscan figure.

Hmmm, I wonder why the massive over-shipping. It's not like it's a Britney album.

Wasn't the 2006 soundtrack a 2-disc release? That would account for more shipments.

Nope. To be eligible for that, the two discs should be at least 100 minutes long, and TLM is far below that (about an hour long including the bonus disc).

milojthatch wrote:You may not be too big on Phil, but many are.

Yeah, I kind of assumed as much. There are many people who think he sucks, too. That's the life of a singer/musician.

Chaz wrote:Hi guys. Here are some updated Soundscan totals for the Golden Age soundtracks:

The Lion King - 7,790,844

The Lion King is far and away the best selling, the RIAA has TLK soundtrack certified Diamond, or 10x platinum, for shipping 10 million copies in the US.

Remember that Soundscan doesn't account for all sales; for example 7.7 million is pretty far away from the 10x platinum it is certified for. In the 90's music clubs were huge - Columbia House and BMG Music Clubs were the biggest. Soundscan does not account for any copies sold through music clubs, only over the counter sales.

seanjonmc wrote:

Chaz wrote:Hi guys. Here are some updated Soundscan totals for the Golden Age soundtracks:

The Lion King - 7,790,844

The Lion King is far and away the best selling, the RIAA has TLK soundtrack certified Diamond, or 10x platinum, for shipping 10 million copies in the US.

Remember that Soundscan doesn't account for all sales; for example 7.7 million is pretty far away from the 10x platinum it is certified for. In the 90's music clubs were huge - Columbia House and BMG Music Clubs were the biggest. Soundscan does not account for any copies sold through music clubs, only over the counter sales.

Yep, and big sellers used to sell around 1 million in each (Columbia and Universal).

"Another thing--I had read so many reviews of people not liking the music of Aladdin that it's a little unexpected to see it do so well. I don't share the opinion (I enjoy just about every song in the film), but I'm surprised to see it higher than B&tB."

I want to tread carefully here but I think the songs in Aladdin were more memorable than those in B&tB.

The_Iceflash wrote: I want to tread carefully here but I think the songs in Aladdin were more memorable than those in B&tB.

If there were still huge B&tB fans still around here, you'd be skewered alive.

I disagree though. "Be Our Guest" is likely the most memorable song of '90s Disney.

KubrickFan wrote:I wouldn't exactly call the 90's the Golden Age, but I digress.

What would you call an age where movie by movie, soundtrack by soundtrack, and one theme park ride after another, all prove to be off-the-charts successful?

Disney's Divinity wrote:

The_Iceflash wrote: I want to tread carefully here but I think the songs in Aladdin were more memorable than those in B&tB.

If there were still huge B&tB fans still around here, you'd be skewered alive.

I disagree though. "Be Our Guest" is likely the most memorable song of '90s Disney.

I disagree. Circle of Life from the Lion King is probably the most memorable Disney song of the 90s. It came from a more successful film and was hugely popular.

RIAA CERTIFICATIONS (Disney Classic Soundtracks)

Diamond (10xPlatinum)
The Lion King

6xPlatinum
The Little Mermaid

4xPlatinum
Bambi

3xPlatinum
Aladdin
Beauty and the Beast
Cinderella
Snow White
Pinocchio
Pocahontas
Lady and the Tramp
The Jungle Book

2xPlatinum
Tarzan
Peter Pan
The Fox And The Hound
Sleeping Beauty
101 Dalmatians
Dumbo

Platinum
Alice in Wonderland
Robin Hood
The Rescuers
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Lilo and Stitch

Gold
The Aristocats
Hercules
Mulan



Don't know if I'm missing any soundtrack... You can search it at:
http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata ... e-database