Hilary Duff in Lizzie McGuire soundtrack

The film is a sweet look at being young and in Rome and in love but you cannot expect everybody to like The Lizzie McGuire Movie. Besides, it might be best to simply admit it. It takes a certain age and a certain outlook to admire something like this. Think perky eight to 13-year-olds and avid watchers of the Disney Channel. But even if you simply found the film sheer mindless froth made for those young girls, I am sure you will agree with me when I say that Hilary Duff will be a very, very big star soon.

Of course, 15-year-old Hilary is already a star on television in the series Lizzie McGuire but she glows even more when magnified hundreds of times on the big screen. She is not what you would call beautiful in the Julia Roberts or Jennifer Lopez kind of way. She is instead what you would call cute and lovable in a girl next door or best friend kind of way. And watch out, Britney and Christina and company, Hilary’s singing has the kind of sparkle that says she has no other way to go but to the top.

So think twice before you allow your niece or daughter to keep that Lizzie McGuire soundtrack album among her treasured possessions. In fact, it might be best if you listen to it first. Hilary is a joy to listen to, be it in uptempo numbers like Why Not or Girl in the Band or wistful ballads like the lovely What Dreams are Made Of. It also includes something like Supermodel, where Taylor Dayne goes hip hop, a cover of Blondie’s The Tide is High, a revival of the old Italian favorite Volare by Vitamin C and even something by ‘50s crooner Dean Martin On an Evening in Roma.

What also surprises about the album is that it comes across as a well-thought out, well-produced soundtrack you can enjoy even if you had not seen the movie and are no Lizzie McGuire fan. There is a happy feel about the entire thing and something for everybody to like. The love songs, What Dreams are Made Of and Open Your Eyes to Love by LMNT are truly romantic and the Orchestral Suite of incidental music from the picture can send you daydreaming.

Superstars sing Disney classics

Still on Hilary Duff and Disney music. Her version of The Tiki Tiki Tiki Room from Disneyland’s The Enchanted Tiki Room is one of the featured cuts in Refresh! The album brings back Disney favorites but dressed differently. As the subtitle says this is an album where superstars sing Disney classics their way. Aside from the lovable and at times hateful characters and gorgeous images, the other most enduring legacy of Walt Disney movies are the beautiful songs. And the best proof of the massive appeal of these songs is that each is able to stand on his own even if performed by other artists with new arrangements outside of the soundtracks they belong to.

The result is varied fare that ranges from the power-packed rendition of Circle of Life from The Lion King by Ronan Keating to the boy group harmonies of ‘N Sync in When You Wish Upon a Star from Pinocchio to the lilting Beauty and the Beast by Jump 5 to the soulful Colors of the Wind by Ashanti featuring Lil’ Sis Shi Shi from Pocahontas and Reflection by Christina Aguilera from Mulan.

From The Lion King comes Just Can’t Wait to be King by Aaron Carter, Can You Feel the Love Tonight by S Club, and Hakuna Matata by the Baha Men. From The Little Mermaid comes Under the Sea by A*Teens, Part of Your World by Jessica Simpson and Kiss the Girl by No Secrets. Someday My Prince Will Come by Anastasia from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, You’ll be in My Heart by Usher from Tarzan, and I Wanna be Like You by Smash Mouth from The Jungle Book. And best of all for their many fans Refresh! features a version of Can’t Help Falling in Love from Lilo & Stitch by those heartthrobs from Taiwan, F4.

All in all though, what Refresh! does is make you marvel over all that Disney has accomplished by way of giving the world these enchanting songs. Truly a wonderful treat you can listen to again and again.