Taking a page from the Hal Willner-produced 1988 collection STAY AWAKE, the folks at the House Of Mouse enlisted 2002's bubble-gum brigade to achieve the same goals with DISNEYMANIA. Some of pop's biggest names have been handed over music from numerous Disney flicks (with most of the emphasis being on '80s and '90s fare), and then asked to give them totally new makeovers. Thus you have Smashmouth infusing a light trip-hop beat, turntable scratches, and surf guitar into "I Wanna Be Like You," Baha Men laying on a dash of steel drums to a bouncy "Hakuna Matata," and No Secrets frolicking amidst the beeping electronics of "Kiss The Girl."
Other highlights include Anastacia making over the normally saccharine "Some Day My Prince Will Come" with keyboard washes and a soulful delivery, A*Teens pumping in beats and toasting into "Under The Sea," and *Nsync putting an a cappella stamp onto "When You Wish Upon A Star." Not surprisingly, The Lion King soundtrack gets plundered the most as Aaron Carter puts a "Footloose"-like spin on "I Just Can't Wait To Be King," S Club delivers an understated "Can You Feel The Love Tonight," and Ronan Keating does likewise with a measured "Circle Of Life."