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My complaint on John Williams' career


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My only complaint on John Williams' career is that he never got to write (and never will probaly) the score for a 2d animation musical (or non-musical) film.

I love these kind of films, all the classic Disneys, the Don Bluths etc.

Most of them have gorgeous scores and I really wished John Williams had written for a such kind of film with songs etc..

ok, he wrote the Tintin score which is an animation film, but this is different.It's a computer animation (and I prefer the 2d) and also he was playing in a known Indy-territory...

What if he had written the score for "An American Tail"? Or "Beauty and the Beast" (although I love the Alan Menken score)?

So, what is YOUR complaint on John Williams' career?

What would you like him to have written that he hasn't?

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No complaints, really.

I'm just curious about his one and only symphony. I'd love to hear him in that format.

And it would have been fun to hear him channel more contemporary rock and electronic trends. I don't think he would be particularly adept at it, but it would be fun nonetheless. More like the brief techno outburst in A.I. etc. And a pop song that isn't a ballad arranged from his themes.

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I wish he had done like Previn, left Hollywood and concentrated more on his concert works and conducting.

He has basically done that. Working with Spielberg, his friend, hardly counts as still being part of the industry.

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My complaint if any would be that he sticked too much to Spielberg and Lucas, and missed some wonderful opportunities for scoring other director's films. Most recent example being Deathly Hallows 2.

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I have really no complaint, but...

I really wish he'd worked with James Cameron at least once! He was Cameron's first choice for Titanic after all.

Oh well, maybe it could still happen? (I doubt it, but hey, it's not impossible!)

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I wish he had done like Previn, left Hollywood and concentrated more on his concert works and conducting.

He has basically done that. Working with Spielberg, his friend, hardly counts as still being part of the industry.

He should have done that in the early 80s, when he had the chance, having his conducting career such a bump with his appointment as Boston Pops conductor.

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I would have liked to see a large-scale leitmotiv-based ballet composed by him - in the sense of Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet" or "Cinderella". I am sure he would have had the possibility to really shine in this genre. It would probably have been like one of his film scores (including his avant-garde tendencies, maybe), but without the timings and formal restrictions due to the need to "follow" the movie.

I still hope he will write something like that before retiring...

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I wish he had done like Previn, left Hollywood and concentrated more on his concert works and conducting.

He has basically done that. Working with Spielberg, his friend, hardly counts as still being part of the industry.

He should have done that in the early 80s, when he had the chance, having his conducting career such a bump with his appointment as Boston Pops conductor.

Miguel. if he abandoned Hollywood to pursue concert work in the early 80s, we wouldn't have the scores to Temple of Doom, Empire of the Sun, Hook, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, Harry Potter, AI, and War Horse. You would prefer that?

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I wish John Williams had the chance to score a sword and scandal epic like Conan the Barbarian, or something like the religious epics of the 50s/60s. Who knows, it may happen if this Moses film pulls through!

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I wish he had done like Previn, left Hollywood and concentrated more on his concert works and conducting.

He has basically done that. Working with Spielberg, his friend, hardly counts as still being part of the industry.

He should have done that in the early 80s, when he had the chance, having his conducting career such a bump with his appointment as Boston Pops conductor.

Miguel. if he abandoned Hollywood to pursue concert work in the early 80s, we wouldn't have the scores to Temple of Doom, Empire of the Sun, Hook, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, Harry Potter, AI, and War Horse. You would prefer that?

Yes no option to me. Also I think JW finds it more difficult to find a programmatic source of inspiration for his concert works...which sound distinctly more 'difficult' than his movie scores. I love the directness and the naivity of his films score thematics.

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I wish he had done like Previn, left Hollywood and concentrated more on his concert works and conducting.

He has basically done that. Working with Spielberg, his friend, hardly counts as still being part of the industry.

He should have done that in the early 80s, when he had the chance, having his conducting career such a bump with his appointment as Boston Pops conductor.

Miguel. if he abandoned Hollywood to pursue concert work in the early 80s, we wouldn't have the scores to Temple of Doom, Empire of the Sun, Hook, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, Harry Potter, AI, and War Horse. You would prefer that?

But one would have a whole lot of other works, much more personal than his film scores. Granted, most around here don't find them as interesting -- maybe the lack of directness as mentioned by MSM. But I feel otherwise, and since I was asked my opinion, you got it :)

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Although I'd be curious to hear what JW could come up with for a Disney-style animated film, I don't think that would be his forte, and I doubt it would be better or even as good as what we have, for the most part. And I severely doubt he could have come up with a slate of Broadway-worthy songs.

Tintin and War Horse were perfect examples of the two genres Williams does best - whimsical adventure/fantasy and epic drama. That's why 2011 will be considered such a successful year for him.

My biggest regret is that he didn't score Harry Potter 4-8. Those films would have been right up his alley.

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If only Previn hadn't quit movies for concert stuff; we might have had some great film scores from the man.

Have you heard his concert works? I find them much more interesting than any of the film scores I know from him.

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I wish he had composed for Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice and Wuthering Heights (in the same way of Jane Eyre and A Window to the Past).

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It has always been a mystery that he didn't score a traditionally animated film, considering the Spielberg/Bluth collaboration. You would think that Spielberg would automatically add Johnny to An American Tail or even his short-lived Amblimation films, like Balto. Even Dreamworks Animation, also owned by Spielberg, has never had Johnny as the lead composer. For whatever reason, Steven wants Zimmer there.

He was going to score The Black Cauldron and Treasure Planet though, but he couldn't do them because of scheduling conflicts. It's a shame, considering Treasure Planet was tracked with Far and Away, Superman, Star Wars and many other Williams scores. Heck, even the trailer uses The Land Race!

However, now that people are praising Tintin, maybe this will open some doors for him at Pixar? As soon as Disney does a new traditionally animated feature, he has to score it. Somebody make it happen.

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My only complaint on John Williams' career is that he never got to write (and never will probaly) the score for a 2d animation musical (or non-musical) film.

I love these kind of films, all the classic Disneys, the Don Bluths etc.

Most of them have gorgeous scores and I really wished John Williams had written for a such kind of film with songs etc..

ok, he wrote the Tintin score which is an animation film, but this is different.It's a computer animation (and I prefer the 2d) and also he was playing in a known Indy-territory...

What if he had written the score for "An American Tail"? Or "Beauty and the Beast" (although I love the Alan Menken score)?

So, what is YOUR complaint on John Williams' career?

What would you like him to have written that he hasn't?

I suggest you check out Williams' score for Thomas and the King, a British musical that never made it very far. It's obviously not animation, but it is Williams writing for Broadway (although it never came close to making Broadway). A lot of people dislike it, but I think it's great.

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I wish he did more horror. His few "scary scores" are genius.

Still, the Ark theme remains one of cinema's most frightening gifts.

I consider its straight-up-shit-yourself biblical foreboding miles more profound than anything delivered by his contempories; including Goldsmith's exceedingly literal Omen music.

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Honestly, Horner's Aliens affected me more. It scared me.

I appreciate Goldsmith's Alien for laying down the groundwork, but it never did get under my skin in that way.

I put it down to timing.

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Honestly, Horner's Aliens affected me more. It scared me.

I appreciate Goldsmith's Alien for laying down the groundwork, but it never did get under my skin in that way.

I put it down to timing.

And because Ridley Scott doesn't appreciate good music. Really, I think that he's just hired Goldsmith to score his films just so he could screw the man out of his dignity and respect. That's why even though I respect Ridley Scott for his contributions, I dislike him for what he did towards Goldsmith.

But in regards to Goldsmith's Alien score, I rather much like and preferred his own original interpretation rather than the butchered and watered down score that you heard on film. It's very creepy and signals terror lurking in the dark.

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And I for one tend to see both the film score as it was intended to be used on film and as its own separate merit. And I also tend to listen to rejected scores and compare them to their preferred counterpart.

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I love it, but not in that way. But if we're dick comparing, John never did anything as scary as ALIEN.

I don't find Alien to be particularly scary. It's just mysterious.

Nothing as scary as The Omen. Just saying.

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Personally, I'm not very fond of Images and Rosewood, although the latter has its highlights. They're both good scores as JW's worst are still better than the average, but I never found myself visiting back to them much.

Listening to Black Gold right now, I now want JW to score a film like Lawrence of Arabia with a classic desert theme. And Raiders does not count as a desert movie in my book ;)

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My only complaint on John Williams' career is that he never got to write (and never will probaly) the score for a 2d animation musical (or non-musical) film.

I love these kind of films, all the classic Disneys, the Don Bluths etc.

Most of them have gorgeous scores and I really wished John Williams had written for a such kind of film with songs etc..

ok, he wrote the Tintin score which is an animation film, but this is different.It's a computer animation (and I prefer the 2d) and also he was playing in a known Indy-territory...

Hook comes very close to being such a score. After watching the film and listening to the score again after a long while I have to say that the whole thing had a feel of an animated movie. And the almost sing song style melodicism is something Williams has very rarely delved into so deeply ever since even though strong melodies are his forte. Of course the ideas from the proposed Hook musical carried over into the score but that only enhances the Disney styled animation feel of the score.

If I have any complaints it is that he has not finished writing concertos for all the major instruments in the symphony orchestra yet. :)

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My complaint is that John Williams has never scored porn.

My complaint is that John Williams has never scored porn.

LOL. He did say that "Across The Stars" has some sensual, eroticism in it.

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I love it, but not in that way. But if we're dick comparing, John never did anything as scary as ALIEN.

I think he did. IMAGES, for example. Or the abduction scene from CE3K. Or the ritual scene in TEMPLE OF DOOM. Rivals ALIEN any day!

The man really needs to write a piano concerto.

He did....or rather a piano sonata, back when he was 19 or so. No one has ever heard it, though. So yeah, I'd love to hear a piano concerto from him.

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I would have liked to see a large-scale leitmotiv-based ballet composed by him - in the sense of Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet" or "Cinderella". I am sure he would have had the possibility to really shine in this genre. It would probably have been like one of his film scores (including his avant-garde tendencies, maybe), but without the timings and formal restrictions due to the need to "follow" the movie.

I still hope he will write something like that before retiring...

This.

The man really needs to write a piano concerto.

And this.

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My complaint is that John Williams has never scored porn.

Thats it! Screw the ballets, biblical epics or the classical concertos! We need Spielberg to direct a porno so we can have the JW score...its sounds very epic!

LOL. He did say that "Across The Stars" has some sensual, eroticism in it.

Indeed, didn't he say Irina's theme had the same vibe? Erotic and sensual? Its obvious JW is very ready to score a porno...

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I too wish he could have done a disney classic animation, it could have been wonderful!

I'm also bitterly dissapointed that he did not score Harry Potter 4-8, I always find myself listening to pieces of his music and thinking 'this kind of thing would have been great for that bit' like I've always thought he could have written some kind of 'summon the heroes' thing for the goblet of fire or something more serious like 'sean's theme' for when stuff got more dark. It may be a flawed series of films but it always had such a variety of emotions and set pieces that could have been wonderful music.

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I'm also bitterly dissapointed that he did not score Harry Potter 4-8

Yeah, I would say that's my biggest gripe, as far as film work goes. I'm sorely disappointed he didn't do those last five films. Putting aside the possibilities of what he could have done with the material, it was just a big missed opportunity for what could have been an amazing and cohesive listening experience, rather than the somewhat erratic one we ended up with.

It also majorly bums me out that Spielberg never commissioned a musical from JW. I have to wonder if that was ever on the table. It seems like something they would have at least discussed, given how much Spielberg wants to do one...

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I'm really just dissapointed that Williams didn't do Harry Potter 7.

As far as the others are concerned, I'm not necessarily dissapointed that Williams didn't score them, I'm dissapointed they didn't find better composers for them.

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