Piglet's Big Movie
Disney's latter-day attempts at building on its sterling character franchises have sometimes fallen short of the original's magic. But thisWinnie the Pooh-inspired spin-off is a joyous musical surprise from first track to last. Veteran singer/songwriterCarly Simonseems to have soaked up a half-century of Disney animated song tradition and joyously made it her own on the seven new songs here, as well as a smart, modern folk-jazzy reinterpretation of the traditional "Winnie the Pooh" title tune. "If I Wasn't So Small (The Piglet Song)," "Mother's Intuition," and "With a Few Good Friends" are all charmers, while the march-along "Sing Ho For the Life of a Bear" taps into the vaunted Sherman Brothers tradition with playful joy. This is children's music without an ounce of condescension; indeed Simon's own children--Ben and Sally Taylor--are present on several of the tracks. Simon's sparkling slate of songs is augmented by five sprightly selections from Carl Johnson's orchestral score, and the collection concludes with a handful of bonus track demos by a solo Simon.--Jerry McCulley