Rate Adventures of Mutt!

[Jessie Lohner 0]

So, since the news that JW got nominated for Adventures of Mutt, I listened to this half a dozen times, and I finally "got" it!!

It's somewhat hard to get into, but I think what JW was trying to do was to compose a piece in the style of the 50s B-movies. I mean, this piece sounds like a period piece, completely from another era. It's very busy, energetic, and restless, but also full of life and fun and optimism. Like JW said himself, a piece that might fit the character of Robin Hood. It's not an easy piece to love, but I think that, in its own way, it's quite brilliant! It's something new, at least.

I have come to like this a lot--it's perfect for Mutt's character. I voted for B.

Don't be too hard on this piece, and vote for D or E! (Except, of course, you really HAVE to!)

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

It sounds a tad to 1930's, and certainly does not fit Mutt's greaser image. But it is a nice trck.

[Charlie Brigden 7]

I echo Stefan. It sounds much more like it would fit Robin Hood than Mutt, but it is nice to listen to. I pick option two.

[Nick Parker 3,040]

I would probably vote "B", but I have yet to truly decide. It actually reminds me of "The Cowboys Overture", and I love that piece of music. But "Adventures of Mutt" is my least favorite concert arrangement in "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull".

[Lurker 5]

Where's the "How does it go again?" option?

Neil

[Nick Parker 3,040]

That would be Option C, would it not?

[Ollie 1,059]

Didn't we come to the conclusion about Mutt's Theme when the soundtrack was released?

Plus Williams pretty much admitted that's the approach he took when composing it.

[MrScratch 294]

Option C, it's not a bad piece of music just a mediocre, run of the mill piece of work. Forgettable.

[John Crichton 4]

It's a bit too Hookish and kiddish to fit perfectly, along the lines of what Steef mentioned. But it's a fun listen that I enjoy, so it gets a B.

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

It's a bit too cheery for a fifties rebel. It also doesn't help that it makes me feel comfortable whenever this character is in mortal peril.

[Delorean90 42]

I think it works for two reasons: firstly, and most importantly, I think we had established that although there may be faint echoes of the AOM theme here and there in the score (and they are faint), the piece is the KOTCS equivalent of "The Forest Battle" or "The Asteroid Field," as a concert piece for a set piece, not a character theme; it was the swashbuckling/Erroll Flynn connection. Secondly, I thought it was pretty obvious that the point of Mutt is that he tries to act tougher and meaner than he is. If you're trying to score Marlon Brando, then it might be totally wrong, but I don't think that's the case with Mutt.

As to the music itself, I love it. I really enjoy the theme (and the B theme, unused in the film), and the Raiders March accents are just wonderful. I voted A.

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

Secondly, I thought it was pretty obvious that the point of Mutt is that he tries to act tougher and meaner than he is. If you're trying to score Marlon Brando, then it might be totally wrong, but I don't think that's the case with Mutt.

Good point.

Still, while it's a nice composition, I'm not that big a fan of it within the score (although there are more elements in that score I'm not a fan of...).

[odnurega1 0]

I voted Option "B". I heard this live in Boston, and yes, it is a very lively, energetic piece. I really don't think that it fits the character of "Mutt" (more like Robin Hood -and yes, I saw the JW interview). Also, it is very repetitive. By about 2 minutes in, I was ready for something new.

But, I'll listen to it every once in a while, especially if I went to be in a peppy mood.

-odnurega1

[Neimoidian 14]

I go for 'B'.

It's a bit too cheery for a fifties rebel. It also doesn't help that it makes me feel comfortable whenever this character is in mortal peril.

The samy could be said about several cues from the old IJes, especially RotLA.

[crocodile 8,006]

I like hints of Indy's theme in counterpoint to the main melody very much. It is nice and works well in the film, contrary to what most people say. It doesn't have to fit the character, because it's not his theme as such.

Karol - who picks option B

[Koray Savas 2,251]

It's OK, I like it.

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

It's not a theme for Mutt the Greaser.

It's a theme for Mutt's heroic (fencing, rope swinging) antics.

Therefore it fits wery well what it was composed for.

I give it a B. Very enjoyable piece of music, but its not a theme that will remain in time (neither it was meant to be, its just a secondary theme...)

[crocodile 8,006]

Indeed. Actual Mutt the Greaser theme wouldn't fit the score anyway. Lenny Rosenman is dead, you know.

Not that Erich Wolfgang Korngold is more alive. But he still is more in place in KOTCS.

Karol

[Romão 2,274]

Great piece, I absolute it love it. The orchestration is wonderful

[Richard Penna 3,686]

Ignoring the debatable context, I rate it A. Very memorable. One of the few tracks from KotCS I would rate highly actually.

[Jeshopk 8]

It's an awesome piece of music, and it completely fits the character, even though he is a greaser and I will tell you why.

- The greaser attitude for Mutt is actually just a "front". In the film, Mutt tries to come across as a man, but he's really a kid, as we see along the journey.

- The character undoubtedly saw Errol Flynn movies, and himself would associate sword fighting with Errol Flynn. The character obviously tries to emulate movie personas as a way to seem like a man.

- The character actually resembles Errol Flynn, with the shape of his face and slight facial hair.

- The leitmotif is not strictly for the character, but for the sword fight he gets into. There are other motifs for him that are inversions of the Indy theme. He's still forming, and Williams hints at a forming theme rather than a solid and mature one. He's treated much like young Indy was. You wouldn't know the Indy theme just from that train sequence.

[Ollie 1,059]

The music itself is a fun piece but totally inappropriate for an Indiana Jones score. It's too whimsical at times.

[TownerFan 4,983]

It's an awesome piece of music, and it completely fits the character, even though he is a greaser and I will tell you why.

- The greaser attitude for Mutt is actually just a "front". In the film, Mutt tries to come across as a man, but he's really a kid, as we see along the journey.

- The character undoubtedly saw Errol Flynn movies, and himself would associate sword fighting with Errol Flynn. The character obviously tries to emulate movie personas as a way to seem like a man.

- The character actually resembles Errol Flynn, with the shape of his face and slight facial hair.

- The leitmotif is not strictly for the character, but for the sword fight he gets into. There are other motifs for him that are inversions of the Indy theme. He's still forming, and Williams hints at a forming theme rather than a solid and mature one. He's treated much like young Indy was. You wouldn't know the Indy theme just from that train sequence.

Very well said.

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

- The character undoubtedly saw Errol Flynn movies, and himself would associate sword fighting with Errol Flynn. The character obviously tries to emulate movie personas as a way to seem like a man.

Where in the movie did you get that from?

[Ollie 1,059]

I thought it was because he took fencing while in school.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

And from Oxley yes, Jeshopkirk is talking rubbish.

[Nick Parker 3,040]

Does anyone else draw parallels with this piece and "The Cowboys Overture", or am I the only one?

[Hlao-roo 389]

The music itself is a fun piece but totally inappropriate for an Indiana Jones score. It's too whimsical at times.

Well, you also have one of the Kaplan brothers commenting in the Indy podcast that he felt that the "Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra" is "a bit fanciful" for his taste. And you have Jeff Bond on record as saying that "The Imperial March" is too "cartoonish" a theme for Darth Vader. I can see where they're coming from, and I can see where you're coming from, Mark, even as I disagree.

The other thing is that context, and, ultimately, time, are pretty important in determining how we feel about the "appropriateness" of a particular piece of music. When Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace arrived on the scene, many of us, including myself, felt that it really didn't sound like a "Star Wars score" (whatever we thought at the time that was supposed to mean). For one thing, choral work figured far more extensively into the score than it did in the original trilogy. You also had Jar Jar music that owed much more to "The Attack on the House" than to "The Little People Work" and action music that owed more to "T-Rex Rescue" than to "The Asteroid Field." The sound just didn't square with the crude stylistic and tonal (in the non-musical sense) amalgamation we had constructed over the years in our mind's ears, if you will, from the original trilogy scores.

But, lo and behold, wait some six, seven years later, after the release of two more entries in the Star Wars saga, and we have folks proclaiming that Episode I is the only prequel score that does sound like a Star Wars score. Indeed, if Lucas, serial childhood rapist that he is, chooses to plow the field again, some of us may find ourselves pleasantly surprised the next time we dust off our copy of Crystal Skull.

[Red 75]

A solid B.

It's a good piece, but like others have said it's a bit too out-there and repetitive.

[Hlao-roo 389]

Another thing to be said here is that Williams doesn't over-intellectualize his scoring of films. He tries to approach the film as an ordinary audience member would, and his response is more emotional than it is systematically rational. Now, that isn't to say that the man isn't eminently meticulous or thoughtful about what he does, just that he doesn't necessarily erect a point-by-point scaffolding the way an essayist would. We've seen this in part with the Star Wars scores with his liberal rather than literal use of character themes.

So when he's faced with the task of scoring Mutt's jungle antics, he's not going to think to himself, "Now, musically, how would I conflate James Dean and Errol Flynn?" Rather, he sees an old-fashioned swashbuckling jaunt, and that's what he scores.

[Jay 37,352]

Yea, "Adventures of Mutt" is not a theme for Mutt at all. It's a "The Forrest Battle"-like concert arrangement of the sword fighting section of "The Jungle Chase"

[Hlao-roo 389]

Yea, "Adventures of Mutt" is not a theme for Mutt at all. It's a "The Forrest Battle"-like concert arrangement of the rope swinging section of "The Jungle Chase"

I think what may be a little confusing is that featured in the Episode I concert suite is a piece titled "The Adventures of Jar Jar," which is in large part a concert arrangement of Jar Jar's character theme (though it does incorporate other material).

[indy4 155]

I give it an A. It is great, though not the best cue of KotCS.

Another thing to be said here is that Williams doesn't over-intellectualize his scoring of films. He tries to approach the film as an ordinary audience member would, and his response is more emotional than it is systematically rational. Now, that isn't to say that the man isn't eminently meticulous or thoughtful about what he does, just that he doesn't necessarily erect a point-by-point scaffolding the way an essayist would. We've seen this in part with the Star Wars scores with his liberal rather than literal use of character themes.

So when he's faced with the task of scoring Mutt's jungle antics, he's not going to think to himself, "Now, musically, how would I conflate James Dean and Errol Flynn?" Rather, he sees an old-fashioned swashbuckling jaunt, and that's what he scores.

This is very true, and it sheds some light on the use of Leia's Theme during Ben's death.

Yea, "Adventures of Mutt" is not a theme for Mutt at all. It's a "The Forrest Battle"-like concert arrangement of the rope swinging section of "The Jungle Chase"

You mean the sword fighting section? The vine swinging scene has Mutt's secondary theme, which is based off the Raiders March.

[Jeshopk 8]

The music itself is a fun piece but totally inappropriate for an Indiana Jones score. It's too whimsical at times.

I prefer to say surprising instead of inappropriate. Surprising just the way "The Basket Chase" was in the context of that score.

[King Mark 3,631]

Basket Chase

Short Round's theme

Parade of the Slave Children

Indy's Very First Adventure

No Ticket

all whimsical

[indy4 155]

I agree, except for "Parade of Slave Children."

[Desplat13 1]

B

I enjoy it, but musically it gets a little boring, reminding me too much of the scales I should be working on...

[John Crichton 4]

We should do these for all the Indy 4 concert pieces, now we've had some time to absorb them. I know my #1 has changed.

[indy4 155]

I'd say "Mutt" is my favorite concert version, but "Irina" is my favorite theme. Though that could switch. And "Crystal" is still great.

[John Crichton 4]

Call of the Crystal is my favorite now, though the Russian theme is still my favorite theme. I still don't care for Irina's theme very much.

[indy4 155]

Russian theme is certainly up there...I'm bummed that the best variation wasn't even on the OST.

[Jay 37,352]

Yea, "Adventures of Mutt" is not a theme for Mutt at all. It's a "The Forrest Battle"-like concert arrangement of the rope swinging section of "The Jungle Chase"

You mean the sword fighting section? The vine swinging scene has Mutt's secondary theme, which is based off the Raiders March.

Yes sorry brain malfunction

[King Mark 3,631]

Yea, "Adventures of Mutt" is not a theme for Mutt at all. It's a "The Forrest Battle"-like concert arrangement of the rope swinging section of "The Jungle Chase"

You mean the sword fighting section? The vine swinging scene has Mutt's secondary theme, which is based off the Raiders March.

Yes sorry brain malfunction

I think the real Mutt's theme is the one based on the Raiders variation: the vine swinging section,in the tomb when Indy wants the knife on the corpse,counterpoint in End Credits.

Adventures of Mutt is just a concert piece based on a specific action sequence.

[Jay 37,352]

Yes exactly

[indy4 155]

The themes really aren't put to good use (either one). They're both great themes, but one of them is heard twice throughout the score (and both variations are very similiar to the concert version), the other one is heard three times.

[Incanus 5,714]

Yea, "Adventures of Mutt" is not a theme for Mutt at all. It's a "The Forrest Battle"-like concert arrangement of the sword fighting section of "The Jungle Chase"

I disagree in this with those who do not think Mutt's theme is a theme at all but some kind of amalgamation of parts of the Jungle Chase where Mutt is doing the fencing and swinging on vines. Williams is taking a very subtle route with emergence of Mutt's theme in the film. The theme is vowen in the orchestration and up and down scales in A Whirl Through the Academe, even in the Journey to Peru (the clarinet part in the middle where we see Mutt faring his bike while Indy gives him an amused look),the Orellana's Tomb scene (with "You don't happen to have a knife?" section) and the light music of the Snake Pit and finally it comes to its own just before and in the Jungle Chase where Mutt emerges as a hero. So Williams is doing his typical "offering us 2 notes in the beginning of the 3rd reel, 4 notes on the 5th etc." and finally the entirely developed theme in the great action finale.

Oh and I love the piece so I'll give it an A.

[Hlao-roo 389]

Yea, "Adventures of Mutt" is not a theme for Mutt at all. It's a "The Forrest Battle"-like concert arrangement of the sword fighting section of "The Jungle Chase"

I disagree in this with those who do not think Mutt's theme is a theme at all but some kind of amalgamation of parts of the Jungle Chase where Mutt is doing the fencing and swinging on vines. Williams is taking a very subtle route with emergence of Mutt's theme in the film. The theme is vowen in the orchestration and up and down scales in A Whirl Through the Academe, even in the Journey to Peru (the clarinet part in the middle where we see Mutt faring his bike while Indy gives him an amused look),the Orellana's Tomb scene (with "You don't happen to have a knife?" section) and the light music of the Snake Pit and finally it comes to its own just before and in the Jungle Chase where Mutt emerges as a hero. So Williams is doing his typical "offering us 2 notes in the beginning of the 3rd reel, 4 notes on the 5th etc." and finally the entirely developed theme in the great action finale.

Oh and I love the piece so I'll give it an A.

Very astute, but the fact that Williams departs from his usual idée fixée approach to thematic writing here implies that the theme is not a character theme proper. That Williams plants seeds throughout to foreshadow the ultimate emergence of the theme is perhaps more a testimony to Williams's cleverness and skill as a composer.

[Ray Barnsbury 8]

Like a lot of people apparently, I enjoy the piece on its own, but don't really like how it works in the film.

[Incanus 5,714]

Very astute, but the fact that Williams departs from his usual idée fixée approach to thematic writing here implies that the theme is not a character theme proper. That Williams plants seeds throughout to foreshadow the ultimate emergence of the theme is perhaps more a testimony to Williams's cleverness and skill as a composer.

Well the use of the theme may imply that he did not think of it as a character theme or that his sensibilities have changed a bit over the years regarding the utilization of thematic material. I know it is hard to believe that Williams could be deliberately subtle with material like this for the reason of thematic development but without his own testimony we can't actually say if it is one way or the other. It all comes down to personal perspective and how you read these statements of the theme.

[Josh500 1,615]

On the KotCS album, only Raiders March, The Jungle Chase, A Whirl Through Academe, The Depature, and Finale deserve an A. So Adventures of Mutt gets a solid B from me.

Yeah, I like this piece a lot. It looks like JW was trying to do something different, and did he succeed? I guess so. It kinda reflects Mutt trying to do something different so... it's perfectly fitting, somehow.