Mulan - Goldsmith Score

[wartex 0]

Hi! Do you like "Mulan"? I'm very like Goldsmith score. I have a question... What kind of motif do you Hear in "Suite from Mulan" (4:38 - 7:07). I think it is "love Theme", but I not sure.

[David Coscina 4]

Hi! Do you like "Mulan"? I'm very like Goldsmith score. I have a question... What kind of motif do you Hear in "Suite from Mulan" (4:38 - 7:07). I think it is "love Theme", but I not sure.

Great score. One of Jerry's finest of the late '90s. There's not really a Love Theme per se in the score but more a self-actualizing one or self-empowering one. I think the theme you speak of is derived from the song Reflections which wasn't written by Goldsmith. If it's the other one, which is more of the daughter-father theme, that was penned by Goldsmith and beautifully realized in the last couple tracks in the promo CD release. Sadly lacking on the official score though. Someone really needs to put out this expanded score. It's excellent. How Goldsmith did NOT win an OScar for this is beyond me. Really.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

He lost because the Academy were used to the sing-a-long simplicity of the Menken Disney efforts.

[wartex 0]

Hi! Do you like "Mulan"? I'm very like Goldsmith score. I have a question... What kind of motif do you Hear in "Suite from Mulan" (4:38 - 7:07). I think it is "love Theme", but I not sure.

Great score. One of Jerry's finest of the late '90s. There's not really a Love Theme per se in the score but more a self-actualizing one or self-empowering one. I think the theme you speak of is derived from the song Reflections which wasn't written by Goldsmith. If it's the other one, which is more of the daughter-father theme, that was penned by Goldsmith and beautifully realized in the last couple tracks in the promo CD release. Sadly lacking on the official score though. Someone really needs to put out this expanded score. It's excellent. How Goldsmith did NOT win an OScar for this is beyond me. Really.

No it is not theme from "Reflections". Theme from"Reflections" is in "Suite from..." (1:45 - 3:35). I asked about Jerry Goldsmith theme.

[Red 75]

It's a great score, one of my favorites for an animated film. One of Goldsmith's best.

[GoldsmithFanatic2000+ 0]

Mulan is my hands down favourite score for an animated feature film.

Alan Menken? None of his scores compare to Goldsmith's level of excellence implemented in Mulan.

[Hlao-roo 389]

Hi! Do you like "Mulan"? I'm very like Goldsmith score. I have a question... What kind of motif do you Hear in "Suite from Mulan" (4:38 - 7:07). I think it is "love Theme", but I not sure.

Great score. One of Jerry's finest of the late '90s. There's not really a Love Theme per se in the score but more a self-actualizing one or self-empowering one. I think the theme you speak of is derived from the song Reflections which wasn't written by Goldsmith.

Matthew Wilder's contributions are significantly underrated, though. Goldsmith's thematic material is strong, to be sure, but Wilder's melodies (woven in seamlessly by Goldsmith) help lift the score to 4-star heights.

[Ollie 1,059]

I think the songs in Mulan were just as good as Menken's and they were surrounded by an even better orchestral score than any of Menken's were.

Goldsmith should have gotten an Oscar for this.

[Marian Schedenig 8,211]

Some of those songs are underrated, yes. I really like that matchmaker thing a lot.

Goldsmith hardly used the song themes in his score though. The suite is a big exception here, but it appears nowhere in the film.

[Romão 2,274]

One of my favorite Goldsmith scores and one of the best scores for an animated film of all time. The Huns Attack is one of my all time favorites. Although I think the score selections from the oficial cd are quite good and well thought, one really needs to listen to the whole thing to understand how brilliant and unpretentious this score is.

[indy4 155]

Eh, it's okay, but nothing amazing, IMO.

[Red 75]

Shows what you know!

[indy4 155]

Why thank you, I think you are very wise too!

[Jacob 0]

Does anyone have a chronological tracklist for the promo?

[David Coscina 4]

I think the really amazing thing about Goldsmith's score is that it sounds BIG. Very ominous too in places- like his theme for the Hun baddie. That sounded more ballsy than Arnold's Godzilla which came out the same summer. Actually that was a pretty good summer for films. Mulan, The Truman Show, Saving Private Ryan, Zorro, yeah, fun times. ^_^

[Pieter Boelen 740]

I really like this score; one of my favourite Jerry Goldsmith scores. And I think I'd probably have to rate it as best score for an animated film as well. The OST had some nice tracks on it, but there's a lot of greatness that you miss out on without the complete edition. What I really like is that apart from the comedy tracks, it really doesn't sound like music for an animated film.

[Morlock 11]

He lost because the Academy were used to the sing-a-long simplicity of the Menken Disney efforts.

The only reason I'm glad he didn't win is because the song-writers would share the award with him. And most of those songs are terrible.

[Marian Schedenig 8,211]

The Mulan score is really good, but best animated score? Sticking with Goldsmith, I'd say NIMH is quite a bit better still. And then there's Rosenman to consider.

[Romão 2,274]

And there's no denying Menken did write some fantastic stuff.

[BurgaFlippinMan 7]

The Mulan score is really good, but best animated score? Sticking with Goldsmith, I'd say NIMH is quite a bit better still. And then there's Rosenman to consider.

Indeed. And then there's Horner's contributions...

[GoldsmithFanatic2000+ 0]

The Mulan score is really good, but best animated score? Sticking with Goldsmith, I'd say NIMH is quite a bit better still.

Oh how much do I love "The Secret of NIMH" It's Goldsmith's family friendly equivalent of Poltergeist. Both are great scores.

[Red 75]

And there's no denying Menken did write some fantastic stuff.

Oh, of course. The Hunchback of Notre Dame is maybe my favorite animated score of all time, it being Menken's greatest work.

[GoldsmithFanatic2000+ 0]

Oh, of course. The Hunchback of Notre Dame is maybe my favorite animated score of all time, it being Menken's greatest work.

Enchanted is really good by him. My favourite Menken score to date though would have to be "Aladdin".

[Morlock 11]

Hunchback is mine, too. And that choral stuff is some of the best I've heard in a score.

[Romão 2,274]

I third that. Hunchback is amazing, even most of the songs. It's great background music when building my LEGO cathedral

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

It was without a doubt the most oomphy and powerful score for a Disney animated feature.

A breath of fresh air, amidst a field of stale monotonous mickey mousing.

[Romão 2,274]

Hellfire, both as a piece of music and an animated sequence, is quite an achievement.

[Trumpeteer 302]

He lost because the Academy were used to the sing-a-long simplicity of the Menken Disney efforts.

Wrong. He lost because the voters didn't want to deal with listening to all the scores in the Original Musical or Comedy Score and went with the movie they all knew about and were voting for elsewhere: "Shakespeare in Love." I think they remembered the songs more than the score, which has been described here as inferior to the score. Which they were.

While we're on the topic of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," I agree it's Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz's best collaboration. They lost the Oscar because voters didn't think Menken deserved NINE Oscars, so they gave it to Rachel Portman, who wouldn't have stood a chance if "Pochahontas" hadn't been released the year before. Voters didn't want another "Beauty" and "Aladdin" double win.

It's all so terribly political, and ignorant, when looking back on many of the Oscar winners for Original Score. At least they were fine with giving a lesbian an Oscar for writing a song for Al Gore's documentary.

[Romão 2,274]

The fact that Hunchback was as big a box office smash as previous Disney movies didn't help either.

[artyjeffrey 20]

Does anyone have a chronological tracklist for the promo?

01. Honor To Us All

02. Reflection

03. Man Out of You

04. A Girl Worth Fighting For

05. True to Your Heart

06. Attack At the Wall

07. Preparation

08. The Matchmaker

09. Short Hair

10. One Chance

11. The Master Plan

12. Shan Yu

13. Blossoms

14. Shoulders Back

15. Ping

16. The Real Work

17. Morning Assembly

18. Deserted Village

19. Bogus Letter

20. Letter Delivered

21. The Doll Survives

22. Save the Cannons

23. The Huns Attack

24. Avalanche

25. What's Wrong with Ping?

26. Truth All Around

27. Imperial Palace

28. The Imperial Palace

29. Sword Snatcher

30. Boo

31. A Lucky Bug

32. Gratitude

33. The Pendant

34. The Sword

35. Reflection (End Credit)

Of course, things can't be simple. There's another tracklist that varies (the German Emperor Entertainment release):

1. Main Title (01:09)

2. Attack At the Wall (02:15)

3. Preparations (02:55)

4. The Matchmaker (01:54)

5. Blossoms (03:05)

6. Short Hair (03:17)

7. One Chance (01:22)

8. The Master Plan (01:00)

9. Shan Yu (01:00)

10. Shoulders Back (01:56)

11. Ping (00:58)

12. The Real Work (01:50)

13. Morning Assembly (01:10)

14. Deserted Village (01:06)

15. Bogus Letter (00:57)

16. Letter Delivered (00:38)

17. The Doll Survives (03:16)

18. Save the Cannons (01:20)

19. The Huns Attack (01:53)

20. Avalanche (02:38)

21. What's Wrong with Ping? (02:44)

22. Truth All Around (03:25)

23. Inperial Palace (01:34)

24. The Imperial Palace (00:44)

25. Sword Snatcher (00:43)

26. Boo (02:31)

27. A Lucky Bug (02:41)

28. Gratitude (01:14)

29. The Pendant (00:45)

30. The Sword (01:17)

31. The Matchmaker (Alternate) (01:56)

32. Short Hair (Alternate 1) (04:05)

33. Short Hair (Alternate 2) (03:17)

34. One Chance (Alternate) (01:27)

35. The Master Plan (Alternate) (01:01)

36. Ping (Alternate) (01:01)

37. Avalanche (Alternate) (02:31)

38. Mulan's Decision (01:12)

39. Suite from Mulan (07:03)

[Elmo Lewis 6]

At least they were fine with giving a lesbian an Oscar for writing a song for Al Gore's documentary.

That sounds very much like the Academy to me - they like to make (usually political) statements awarding the circumstances around each work, instead of voting for the film itself.

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

I third that. Hunchback is amazing, even most of the songs. It's great background music when building my LEGO cathedral

I just had a vision of Romão hanging off a lifesize LEGO Cathedral tower singing Out There at full volume...

[Romão 2,274]

[Ollie 1,059]

As far as Mulan goes it's worth it to have both the Academy Promo and the "other" version. The original soundtrack is ok but I'd look for the other two.

[Red 75]

The fact that Hunchback was as big a box office smash as previous Disney movies didn't help either.

It had a bit of controversy surrounding it as well. It was boycotted by some Christian groups for having a priest as the (quite evil) villain. It also didn't help that was Disney's darkest film in recent years.

[Elmo Lewis 6]

The fact that it was a lousy wreck of a movie didn't help, either.

There actually were half a dozen lousy movies packed in it - none of them was too good.

[Romão 2,274]

I agree, but Frollo was fantastic to watch, due to the great character design and animation, and Tony Jay's mighty voice.

[Jacob 0]

Does anyone have a chronological tracklist for the promo?

Of course, things can't be simple. There's another tracklist that varies (the German Emperor Entertainment release)

Thanks, but yeah. That's the conundrum.

Upon closer examination however the only actual difference in the ordering is Blossoms. I think it's supposed to go between The Matchmaker and Short Hair. Does anyone know for certain?

[Pieter Boelen 740]

Blossoms is for the scene where Mulan is talking with her father after everything went pretty much wrong at the matchmaker. After that, she decides to go away. So between Matchmaker and Short Hair is the right spot.

[tpigeon 3]

Mulan's Decision - the film version - is wonderful. I like the orchestral version on the sountrack, but Goldsmith's use of electronics to build a rhythm of that nature is incredible. It's only 72 seconds long, but it's very memorable.

Ted

[Pieter Boelen 740]

That's the one thing I remembered about the soundtrack from Mulan, even before I was a film music fan. I like both versions a lot, but I think they made the right decision with the film version: it's much more powerful.

[Hlao-roo 389]

That's the one thing I remembered about the soundtrack from Mulan, even before I was a film music fan. I like both versions a lot, but I think they made the right decision with the film version: it's much more powerful.

It's appropriate on a symbolic level as well. The ostentatious use of electronics in an otherwise largely orchestral score highlights the radical nature of Mulan's actions.

[Ollie 1,059]

From what I heard, Goldsmith was "asked" to re-write the cue several times in order to please the suits at Disney who wanted a "hip" or "popular" sounding tune for that scene instead of the proper one he originally wrote.

[Ray Barnsbury 8]

I always liked that more electronic version too. It kinda has the same effect as the drum loops in "Setting the Trap."

[tpigeon 3]

Yeah, but if we're comparing the two, it's more than obvious that Goldsmith was far more adept with electronic percussion than Williams. I get the feeling Williams could do it; he just shies away. I would still argue that Williams is downright brilliant at times with electronic ambiance, whereas Goldsmith seemed more interested in contrasting and juxtaposing electronic and orchestral sounds.

Ted

[Jeshopk 8]

I think the really amazing thing about Goldsmith's score is that it sounds BIG. Very ominous too in places- like his theme for the Hun baddie. That sounded more ballsy than Arnold's Godzilla which came out the same summer. Actually that was a pretty good summer for films. Mulan, The Truman Show, Saving Private Ryan, Zorro, yeah, fun times.

I saw all those in the theatre. I hardly ever go to the movies anymore.