Disney Announces The Legacy Collection, Rereleases of 12 Classic Soundtracks such as ‘The Lion King’, ‘Mary Poppins’, ‘Toy Story’ & More

Today, Walt Disney Records announced that it is releasing a new line of collectible CDs called the Walt Disney Records The Legacy Collection. This new CD line will celebrate the anniversaries of 12 of Disney’s most iconic and popular soundtracks and will be released through 2015.

The 12 soundtracks, anniversaries and release schedule is as follows:

The Legacy Collection 2014:

The Lion King            20th    6/24/14
Mary Poppins            50th    8/26/14
Sleeping Beauty        55th    10/7/14
The Little Mermaid    25th    11/17/14

The Legacy Collection 2015:

Fantasia                   75th    1/3/15
Pinocchio                  75th    2/3/15
Toy Story                  20th    3/17/15
Disneyland                60th    4/7/15
Lady and the Tramp 60th    5/12/15
Pocahontas               20th    6/23/15
Aristocats                  45th    8/14/15*
Cinderella                  65th    8/14/15*

It’s important to note that the final two soundtracks in the collection–Aristocats and Cinderella–will be released exclusively at the D23 Expo in August 2015. After D23, the soundtracks will be available to the public.

According to this schedule, a new soundtrack will be released every month to two months. That’s definitely something exciting for Disney fans to look forward to. Pixar’s soundtrack’s typically have less singing than Disney’s, so it makes sense that only one Pixar soundtrack, Toy Story, made the cut. Also, we’re going to get a special Disneyland album, which, other than Toy Story, is the only soundtrack to not be a Walt Disney Animation feature film. There have been hundreds of Disney Parks soundtracks released over the years, so it will be interesting to see what new material Disney adds to this one.

Each new album will feature artwork from Walt Disney Animation Studios visual development artist, Lorelay Bove. Bove has worked on films such as Tangled, Winnie the Pooh, and Wreck-It Ralph. She is also one of the artists featured in the new book Lovely: Ladies of Animation, which will be released later this month. According to Disney, “The illustrations, inspired by the original properties, will celebrate Disney’s rich heritage and create a unified look for the entire collection.”

The first soundtrack to be rereleased is The Lion King, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. This soundtrack will be released June 24, 2014. According to the press release, this will be a “two-disc set featuring the original motion picture soundtrack, 30 minutes of previously unreleased score, plus liner notes by Don Hahn (producer) and Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer.” The track list is as follows:

Disc One

1. “Circle of Life/Nants’ Ingonyama” Performed by Carmen Twillie, African Vocals Performed by Lebo M
2. “Didn’t Your Mother Tell You Not to Play With Your Food” Score
3. “We Are All Connected” Score
4. “Hyenas in the Pride Land” Score
5. “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” Performed by Jason Weaver with Rowan Atkinson and Laura Williams
6. “Elephant Graveyard” Score
7. “I Was Just Trying to Be Brave” Score
8. “Be Prepared” Performed by Jeremy Irons with Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin and Jim Cummings
9. “Simba, It’s to Die For” Score
10. “Stampede” Score
11. “Mufasa Dies” Score
12. “If You Ever Come Back We’ll Kill You” Score
13. “Bowling for Buzzards” Score
14. “Hakuna Matata” Performed by Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella with Jason Weaver and Joseph Williams
15. “We Gotta Bone to Pick With You” Score
16. “Kings of the Past” Score
17. “Nala, Is It Really You?” Score
18. “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” Performed by Joseph Williams and Sally Dworsky with Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella and Kristle Edwards
19. “Remember Who You Are” Score
20. “This Is My Home” Score
21. “The Rightful King” Score

Disc Two

1. “The Morning Report” Performed by James Earl Jones, Jeff Bennett and Evan Saucedo
2. “Warthog Rhapsody” Performed by Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella
3. “We Are All Connected” Score Demo
4. “I Was Just Trying to Be Brave” Score Demo
5. “Stampede” Score Demo
6. “Mufasa Dies” Score Demo
7. “This Is My Home” Score Demo
8. “The Rightful King” Score Demo
9. “Circle of Life” Instrumental Demo
10. “Circle of Life” Performed by Elton John
11. “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” Performed by Elton John
12. “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” (End Title) Performed by Elton John

With the massive success of the Frozen soundtrack this past year (the soundtrack is still number one in its 13th week on the Billboard 200), it’s no wonder that Disney has started looking into its musical archives looking for more gold nuggets.

You can pre-order the first soundtrack in the Walt Disney Records The Legacy Collection, The Lion King, on Amazon now.

Which Legacy Collection soundtrack are you most excited about and looking forward to?