Los Lobos has made a number of musical twists and turns over its 36-year career, and the East Los Angeles group has done it again with its first new album in three years, "Los Lobos Goes Disney."

Los Lobos has been influenced by Tex-Mex, rock and roll, country, folk, blues, R&B, soul and traditional Mexican and Spanish musical styles over the years, but the three-time Grammy Award-winning band members were apparently also visiting Disneyland or watching "Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs" or "101 Dalmatians" while not recording or touring.

Los Lobos recorded "I Wan'na Be Like You" from "The Jungle Book" on 1988's "Stay Awake: Various Interpretations Of Music From Vintage Disney Films" (more about that later), and reprise it here along with 12 other songs from Walt Disney films and theme parks. David Hidalgo, Louie Perez, Cesar Rosas, Conrad Lozano, Steve Berlin and Cougar Estrada add Mexican instruments like the hidalguera, requinto jarocho, jarana, bajo saxto and guitarron to those more familiar to North American audiences to create an uplifting 39-minute journey that will bring back memories for young and old alike.

Los Lobos add Latino flair and lots of guitar to opener "Heigh-Ho" and a dash of tropicalia to "The Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room." The slightly spooky "Grim Grinning Ghosts" is driven by an organ but features a guitar solo in the bridge. Berlin's saxophone takes centre stage on a stompin' vintage R&B version of "The Ugly Bug Ball." Nifty jazz guitar picking blends with percussion and organ on "Cruella De Vil."

The acoustic "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" is laid-back and a bit bluesy, while the accordion gives "The Bare Necessities" toe-tapping fuel. Los  Lobos can't take Roger Miller's fingerprints off "Oo-De-Lally," and that's okay by me. The album ends with an instrumental medley of "When You Wish Upon A Star" full of twangy surf guitar and "It's A Small World" with a mariachi vibe and a Beatles finish.

Like a "Simpsons" episode, "Los Lobos Goes Disney" can be enjoyed by both kids and parents, which makes this largely overlooked album a great Christmas gift idea. You can listen to the album and see the "Heigh-Ho" video on the band's web site to give you a better idea of where I'm coming from.

"The kids record doesn't sound like a kids record," says Berlin. "It just sounds like Los Lobos playing funky old songs, so I imagine over time we'll  probably be integrating some of those songs into our set."

Los Lobos is touring off and on across the U.S. from now until early April.

"Los Lobos Goes Disney" isn't the first time that non-animated characters have performed Disney songs that weren't the original versions from the movies.

As mentioned above, the Hal Willner-produced "Stay Awake: Various Interpretations Of Music From Vintage Disney Films" is a fun listen with a star-filled cast including Natalie Merchant, Michael Stipe, Bonnie Raitt, Was (Not Was), Tom Waits, Suzanne Vega, Buster Poindexter, Aaron Neville, The Band's Garth Hudson, NRBQ, The Replacements, Sinead O'Connor, Harry Nilsson, James Taylor, Ringo Starr and Herb Alpert.

"Simply Mad About The Mouse" was originally released in 1991 and features Billy Joel, The Cars' Ric Ocasek, LL Cool J, Gipsy Kings, Harry Connick, Jr., Bobby McFerrin, Soul II Soul, Michael Bolton, En Vogue and Kirk Whalum spinning their takes on Disney favourites.

The "Disneymania" line was launched in 2002 with more teen-oriented artists, including Usher, NSYNC, Aaron Carter, Hilary Duff and Christina Aguilera. They're now up six volumes in the series, with the latest featuring Demi Lovato, The Cheetah Girls, Colbie Caillat, 2006 "American Idol" castoff Elliott Yamin and Plain White T's.

And let's not forget last year's "Princess Disneymania" with 14 young female artists, or a similar cast with the likes of Miley Cyrus, Vanessa Hudgens, Jordan Pruitt, Hayden Panettiere and Selena Gomez singing more recent Disney songs on Disney Girlz Rock 2, the successor to the 2005 original.

There's also 2005's "DisneyRemixMania" with Jesse McCartney, Baha Men, Ashanti, Bowling For Soup and Raven-Symone being among those having their Disney song interpretations remixed. It probably sold reasonably well to its target audience, but I can't think of a good reason why this album exists.

"O Mickey, Where Art Thou?" capitalized on the mini bluegrass revival caused by "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" earlier this decade and showcased Stonewall Jackson, Robbie Fulks, Charlie Louvin and Ronnie Milsap, among others, performing country and bluegrass versions of Disney songs.

But that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to country stars dipping into Disney.

"The Best Of Country Sing The Best Of Disney" came out in 1996 offering Tanya Tucker, Pam Tillis, George Jones, Shelby Lynn and nine others. "Country Stars Sing Disney Classics" arrived 10 years later with a dozen songs from the likes of Diamond Rio, Collin Raye, Larry Stewart and Hal Ketchum. "Country Sings Disney" — with Billy Ray Cyrus, Martina McBride, Alison Krauss, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw and others — followed in a similar vein last year.

As far as I'm concerned, however, "Stay Awake: Various Interpretations Of Music From Vintage Disney Films" and "Los Lobos Goes Disney" are all you really need from among all these titles.

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah.

—Steve McLean