Tooning in For Christmas

Hello cover fans! I am Kurtis and I run a Disney cover blog called Covering the Mouse and I am happy to be a part of the holiday festivities here at Fong Songs!

I'm not just a Disney fan. I love cartoons of all sorts! Many great songs have come from the cartoon world and many people have covered them. Christmastime is Here from A Charlie Brown Christmas and You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch from How the Grinch Stole Christmas are two of the more popular songs to cover [Note: look for covers of the latter in an upcoming post...].

But what about the other way around? Since cartoons and Christmas specials seem to go hand in hand, it only makes sense that there would be a whole bunch of Christmas covers by famous cartoon characters.

Blue Christmas - Porky Pig (Most people don't know that this is not actually Porky Pig, but Denny Brownlee A.K.A "Seymour Swine".)

O Holy Night - South Park (This version of Eric Cartman singing O Holy Night has become a holiday standard on the radio since it's debut.)

Deck the Halls/We Wish You a Merry Christmas - Alvin and the Chipmunks (The Chipmunks' first hit single was a Christmas song and since then they have gone on to record three Christmas albums!)

Twelve Days of Christmas - Shrek (This one's new. I'm pretty sure it's authentic, although I haven't heard of Shrek releasing a Christmas album. I have no idea where you can find it, except right here!)

Twelve Days of Christmas - Disney (Disney, one of the biggest names in animation had their cast of characters record Christmas albums. These are all the real voice actors doing what they do best!)

Santa Claus is Coming to Town - Looney Tunes (Warner Bros, the other biggest name in animation, also had their cast record an album. Although the voices don't all sound exactly right since it was recorded after the death of Mel Blanc, the voice of almost all the Looney Tunes.)

An X-Mas Post

Well, just a few more days until Christmas. Guess it's time to start shopping (no joke). It's also time for Christmas shindigs, chopping down trees, and posting your favourite festive tunes. Usually I'm already at home for the holidays, but for the first time I've come home for the holidays, which is a bit weird since I basically only moved away for 3 weeks. I feel a bit lost without my own computer to blog from, though I did have the foresight to bring a portable hard drive with all my music on it (not the foresight, however, to write these posts in advance). Since I don't have my itunes here to guide me, I've randomly picked some festive music to brighten your holidays, or at least provide some conversation fodder for your x-mas parties.


Ah, the Chipmunk Song. While nothing has remotely encouraged me to check out the latest incarnation of Alvin & The Chipmunks, somewhere in my brain there is a slight fond spot for the original song. I don't really understand it because even as a kid, Alvin pissed me off with his obnoxious troublemaking ways, Simon was pretentious, and Theodore was slightly retarded. Each chipmunk drove me nuts in their own way and together they were insufferable. As a kid, I guess you watch any TV whether you even like the show or not. Anyway, for some reason or other I happen to like the Chipmunk Song and that solo line about wanting a hula hoop just gets me every time. The 2007 movie soundtrack features re-done versions of The Chipmunk Song and Witch Doctor (though they're not exactly covers) with Jason Lee filling in as the new Dave. Did you know Justin Long was the voice of Alvin? Why? I don't know.

Alvin & The Chipmunks - The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late) [DeeTown Rock Mix]
The soundtrack also features a "DeeTown Rock Mix", which sounds exactly as you might imagine it.

Powder - Christmas Don't Be Late (Chipmunk Song) [originally by The Chipmunks]
Ah, but Powder already did a rock cover for A Very Special Christmas 5. Do they still make those albums? The first two in the series have some of the best Christmas covers ever.

Mau - Chipmunks Christmas Mash-Up
A couple of years ago, someone named Mau made a mash-up of the Chipmunk Song and Royksopp’s Triumphant. The basis of the mash-up is a comedy bit by Patton Oswalt (who incidentally voiced the main character of an exponentially better CGI rodent film this past summer) in which he hilariously describes slowing down an LP of the Chipmunk Song... just listen, it's pretty out there.

Jonathan Coulton - Podsafe Christmas Song
While I haven't gone through all of Jonathan Coulton's Thing a Week songs (all available for free as an iTunes podcast), I think I should really buckle down and do that after recently listening to Tom Cruise Crazy and this one, a parody of the Chipmunk Song. They really nail it especially the hilarious between-verses banter. "I don't want to speak too soon... but, uh, we may have saved Christmas."


John Denver & The Muppets - Little Saint Nick [originally by The Beach Boys]
Anyone notice they re-did that Coke polar bears vs. penguins ad that used to have Little Saint Nick as the soundtrack to the penguin christmas hoedown? Now it's some generic "holiday" music that doesn't match the dancing penguins and when that little bear cub slides in they use that overly cliché record needle scratch sound... except the music doesn't even stop. Ah, the things that bug me that shouldn't.

The Beach Boys - (I Saw Santa) Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree
Thankfully this other Beach Boys song never became a standard. Along the same lines as I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, one boy tells his brother what he saw "going on" around the Christmas tree. It's a bizarre song, alternating between the boy talking over a repeated piano chord and the chorus, which has the weird line "And Mama was as close to Santa as you are to me". It's filled with presumably unintentional innuendo with mommy and Santa doing more than just smooching.


Brian Setzer Orchestra - The Nutcracker Suite
Vandals - Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies
A couple Tchaikovsky covers: swing and punk.

Vince Guaraldi Trio - Christmas Time Is Here [Markus Enochson Remix]
Whenever I hear this now I can only picture the cast of Arrested Development walking around all sad.

The Living End - Jingle Bell Rock (Feat. Kylie Minogue) [originally by Bobby Helms]
My favourite cover of this Christmas staple. I probably don't say this enough, but The Living End do some awesome covers and lead singer/guitarist Chris Cheney is one of the best (and underrated) guitarists in modern rock.

The OneUps - Super Mario's Sleigh Ride
I didn't post anything earlier this week because, um, I was off playing Super Mario Galaxy. Sorry. Anyway, this brilliant Christmas tune from last year [EDIT: 2002] by video game cover band The OneUps seamlessly integrates familiar Mario tunes with Leroy Anderson's Sleigh Ride. Seriously the best Christmas cover I've heard in years. Looking forward The OneUps next album...