Disneymania 5

The Disney franchise has been entertaining children for generations with memorable songs from its highly revered movies. For its DisneyMania series, current Disney stars put a contemporary spin on classic Disney tunes, making for discs that promise to have kids singing along -- and parents tempted to do the same.

DisneyMania 5 continues this successful tradition, drawing songs from a wide range of movies and breathing new life into them. Four of the artists -- Corbin Bleu, Lucas Grabeel, Ashley Tisdale and Vanessa Hudgens -- are stars of High School Musical, while a fifth artist, Drew Seeley, is from High School Musical: The Concert. Beyond the alum of the HSM machine, this album has a host of other Disney-related stars, including Everlife and Miley Cyrus.

The irresistible combination of star power and classic songs works once again, and although DisneyMania 5 doesn't have the instantly recognized songs of some of the previous discs, it is one of the strongest collections to date.

Kicking off with Cyrus's powerful rendition of "Part Of Your World" (The Little Mermaid), the song instantly sets a rocking, uplifting tone for what's to come. The songs here are familiar to Disney fans, but they have definitely been updated from soundtrack fare and transformed into more radio-friendly tracks. Bleu's rendition of "Two Worlds" (Tarzan) has a smooth R&B sheen to it, while The Cheetah Girls completely modernize "So This is Love" from Cinderella. The song doesn't feel at all like something from a 1948 film; it becomes a contemporary track about finally discovering true love.

Equally breathless and starry-eyed is "When She Loved Me," a Randy Newman-penned cut from Toy Story 2. Jordan Pruitt delivers this number with an appropriate sense of wistfulness and longing. The song has a sweet, searing sense of sadness as it tells the story of a toy whose owner has grown up and gone away, and Pruitt's delicate soprano is the perfect vehicle to deliver such a touching song.

Ashley Tisdale rocks her rendition of "Kiss The Girl" from The Little Mermaid, and T-Squad lends some hip-hop flair to "The Second Star to the Right" (Peter Pan). But perhaps the most transformed song is "Cruella DeVil," a classic from 101 Dalmations. Hayden Panettiere does the honors on this one, and she reworks it into a rock number with a deliciously fun vamp that makes it positively jump out of the speakers.

Songs like "Colors Of The Wind" (Pocohantas), "Go The Distance" (Hercules) and "Reflection" (Mulan) all represent newer offerings from Disney, and the artists didn't have to go far to present them in a modern light. Not surprisingly, they remain the most true to their originals. Some of the best moments on this disc come from older songs that have been updated -- such as "The Siamese Cat Song" (Lady and the Tramp). The R&B boy band B5 tackles this track and their rap-tinged number is a far cry from the original.

The biggest surprise here is the appearance of The Go-Gos appearing amongst the stable of rising Disney stars. Performing "Let's Get Together" from The Parent Trap -- a song written in 1960 -- they bring their '80s happy-girl surf sound to this number, giving it a glossy coating of retro-cool that makes it fit perfectly with this collection of revisited classics.