I admittedly was a tad too young to really savor “DTV Monster Hits” as around 1987 I was four. But years later I was able to check out the VHS copy from a cousin, and I’ve been fascinated by this compilation ever since. Although “Monster Hits” is meant to celebrate Halloween, and the long history of Disney being some twisted people under the skin, it’s also a fun compilation of some huge eighties hits. And this was 1987, the peak of the decade where Michael Jackson reigned supreme. And it’s not a surprise that the artist that leads this small compilation is Michael Jackson whose massive hit “Thriller” plays over segments of a lot of Disney animation.
Basically, “Monster Hits” is hosted by Queen Grimhilde’s infamous magic mirror that is tasked with introducing the line up of songs for the audience. He’s played by noted (now infamous) Jeffrey Jones. The mirror is aided by Witch Hazel, played by familiar voice June Foray. As well, there’s Maurice LaMarche, and Bill Farmer, respectively. I’m surprised how much footage Disney is able to pull for this special as Disney really didn’t explode until the late eighties, but surprisingly much of it works. Among the playlist there are the shortened versions of Ray Parker Jr.’s “Ghostbusters,” a mash up of “Bad Moon Rising” from CCR, Bobby “Boris” Pickett’s iconic “Monster Mash,” Rockwell’s creepy “Somebody’s Watching Me,” and Bing Crosby’s “The Headless Horseman.”
There’s also ELO’s “Evil Woman,” Stevie Wonder’s “Superstitious,” Pat Benatar’s “You Better Run,” “That Old Black Magic” from Spike Jones and His City Slickers, Darryl Hall’s “Dreamtime,” the “Heffelumps and Woozles” song from Winnie the Pooh and finally “Sweet Dreams” from The Eurythmics. Featured among the various music are scenes from 1952’s “Trick or Treat,” “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” “The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad,” and so much more. The edits are still quite effective even to this day and allow for a wonderful experience, especially if you fancy yourself a Disney fanatic. They’re mostly dubbed over with new dialogue and are chopped up to set the stage for the next song.
By today’s standards, “Monster Hits” is kind of dated, but it still is a lot of fun if you grew up during the older days of Disney Studios. It also was precursor to their long running “Sing Along Songs” series of videos, as well as their fun edits for The Disney Channel. It’s a neat Halloween party favor that I love to re-visit every year.