WampaRat 1,105 Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 Three of some of James Newton Howard’s funnest scores ever. Which is your favorite? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mstrox 6,651 Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 Dinosaur by far. The other two have good themes but I wouldn't play them often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Fabulin 3,511 Posted November 9, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted November 9, 2020 Quote Q: You scored three animated films for Disney: Dinosaur, Atlantis, and Treasure Planet. Do you take a different approach to scoring animation? JNH: I had about the same amount of time to work on them, it's just that the Disney methodology is such that you'll come on board, and meet with the filmmakers - it's very "committee". It's roundtable discussions, instead of a composer working in their ivory tower, you're just a working man among other working men. There are writers, and animators, and producers, and music supervisors, and everyone sits around and works it all out. In each case, what I did first was the main thematic material which is difficult for me because I like thematic stuff usually to evolve out of spending time with the movie. With Dinosaur, the first thing they wanted me to do was the flying sequence. That was very hard! My first pass was mostly accepted, except for the biggest part where the pteradon takes off and we go into the main theme; they wanted something more tuneful. So I went back and did it again - and I think it was right! But you do it in sections. We did that, everyone signs off on the themes, then you go back and do 40-minutes, then that's ready, then you do another 40-minutes, and that's ready. Overall it was about 4 months. The thing about animation is that the detail is enormous. I think it requires you to be much broader in your approach. There are iconic versions of every kind of music you've ever heard: fanfares, big band, broadly comic, broadly tragic, and all in one film - and moving constantly from moment to moment. I think that's the hard part - you need to make it feel unobtrusive and yet inextricably attached to the movie in some way. Animation is really hard, but I think I learned more about orchestral writing on those projects than anything else I had ever done, so there were a rite of passage - I think it's a rite of passage for every composer! As one Disney exec said in the DVD extras "we should have given James a story credit on Dinosaur". My vote goes for that one. Once, A. A. Ron, Muad'Dib and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Thor 7,504 Posted November 9, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted November 9, 2020 3 hours ago, mstrox said: Dinosaur by far. The other two have good themes but I wouldn't play them often. Yes, definitely DINOSAUR. The others are fine too ("The Crystal Chamber" from ATLANTIS is one of JNH's highlights tracks ever), but not on that level. Here's some footage I shot of a live performance of "The Egg Travels" from DINOSAUR in Ghent a few years ago, with JNH present: LSH, Fabulin and WampaRat 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WampaRat 1,105 Posted November 9, 2020 Author Share Posted November 9, 2020 @Albus Percival WulfricI’d never read that interview excerpt before. Thanks for sharing that! Great find. Does anyone know if Jerry Goldsmith lent James some of his African chant samples? “The Courtship” (vocal at 1:32) was definitely straight outta Ghost and the Darkness...I know Howard is a big fan of his. Perhaps it was just a tip of the hat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabulin 3,511 Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 . WampaRat 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crocodile 8,012 Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 I like all three but Atlantis is my favourite. I would buy expansions of all three. Karol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edmilson 7,448 Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 Gee, that's a tough question. I love all three of them. Dinosaur has the opening montage, terrific themes and some great emotional music. Atlantis has some excellent action and epic music. Treasure Planet (which I just re-listened the other day) has some brilliant moments and the "Silver Comforts Jim" cue which is very touching. In general, I believe Dinosaur is the superior score, but as I said, all three of them are great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
publicist 4,643 Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 All three haver fine moments, but with a gun on my head i'd answer that the reflective romantic parts of Treasure Planet are my favourite. Once and igger6 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romão 2,274 Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 Atlantis. It's not a particularly consistent score throughout, but its highlights make it take the cake, in my view Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jurassic Shark 12,075 Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 There's a poll option missing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GerateWohl 4,368 Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 I just know the Dinosaurs score. IT's good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muad'Dib 1,802 Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 4 hours ago, WampaRat said: @Albus Percival WulfricI’d never read that interview excerpt before. Thanks for sharing that! Great find. Does anyone know if Jerry Goldsmith lent James some of his African chant samples? “The Courtship” (vocal at 1:32) was definitely straight outta Ghost and the Darkness...I know Howard is a big fan of his. Perhaps it was just a tip of the hat. Dinosaur was originally supposed to be scored by Goldsmith, if I'm not mistaken. It was tracked to hell with Ghost and the Darkness, among other Goldsmith scores. Fabulin and WampaRat 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Datameister 2,042 Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 Tough toss-up for me between Atlantis and Dinosaur. "The Submarine" and "The Egg Travels" still make my jaw drop. I'll give it to Dinosaur today, but it could have gone the other way just as easily. Atlantis arguably does a better job of building a unique musical world. blondheim 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSH 968 Posted November 10, 2020 Share Posted November 10, 2020 7 hours ago, Thor said: Yes, definitely DINOSAUR. The others are fine too ("The Crystal Chamber" from ATLANTIS is one of JNH's highlights tracks ever), but not on that level. Here's some footage I shot of a live performance of "The Egg Travels" from DINOSAUR in Ghent a few years ago, with JNH present: Such a good night. Thor 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A. A. Ron 1,742 Posted November 10, 2020 Share Posted November 10, 2020 Dinosaur and it's not even close. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSH 968 Posted November 10, 2020 Share Posted November 10, 2020 I give all three equal attention... `I think each score has something great to offer. Treasure Planet is possibly the least inventive... but even still, it's so well executed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igger6 894 Posted November 10, 2020 Share Posted November 10, 2020 Thanks for the thread on one of my most favorite Special Topics in Film Music! I voted for Treasure Planet just because it's such a criminally underrated film, and the score is one more well-oiled cog in the machine. The production design in that movie is freaking visionary―honestly, I defy you to find a major-studio animated film from the past 30 years that's as bold and original in its designs as that one. They had a concept and committed to it 1,000 percent. And the score is just a fantastic seafaring adventure score. Minus the theremins for Martin Short's B.E.N. and the guitars for Jim, you could put this score on a straight-up Treasure Island movie and it would work like gangbusters. And holy cow, there are a lot of leitmotifs! Jim, Silver, the voyage, B.E.N., Flint and the pirates, Morph―even Captain Amelia gets a one-off melody. I could go on and on about this score, and I've already bought the expansion in the various parallel universes where it exists, but they couldn't make it back through the wormhole with me. What holds me back from picking Dinosaur is how un-melodic the predator music is, and how dominant it becomes later in the score. Likewise, the Atlantean sections of Atlantis have some lovely moments (@Thor, I agree: that solo soprano moment in "The Crystal Chamber" is one of the most gorgeous simple melodies anyone ever wrote, and the buildup to it is priceless). But there's a little too much atmospheric percussion and wailing vocals for my tastes in the midsection. The main theme of Dinosaur is the best of the lot, and Atlantis has some very high highs, but Treasure Planet will always have my heart. As a kid raised on the Disney Renaissance, I was contractually bound to purchase these soundtracks on release, and because of that, JNH deserves a lot of credit for getting me into film music. These might be the first all-instrumental non-Star Wars soundtracks I owned. @WampaRat or anyone else, can you post the bit from Ghost and the Darkness that sounds most like "The Courtship"? I read that comparison on Filmtracks decades ago and never found the smoking gun―or else I did find it and wasn't convinced by the smoke. But hearing it again here, I'm wondering. Edmilson and WampaRat 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WampaRat 1,105 Posted November 10, 2020 Author Share Posted November 10, 2020 @igger6There’s a motif/unique call/chant that Goldsmith uses all throughout the Ghost and Darkness. (On the OST you can hear it in “Lion’s Reign” or “Remington’s Death” and throughout a couple other tracks) Listen to at least those two tracks. And then listen to “The Courtship” from Dinosaur. At around the 1:32 you can hear that same unique chant pop up. Nothing egregious. Just a little “tip of the hat” I would say. The only other connection you could loosely make between Dinosaur and Ghost and the Darkness might be the theme in “Stand Together” cue (Dinosaur) kinda resembles the theme in “ Prepare for Battle” (Ghost/Darkness OST) But Id say Howard does a terrific job at skirting around any serious “temp-track-itis” Dinosaur is a terrific score all around. (Again, it’s just a tiny sample he uses once. But my ears perked up the first time I heard it in Dinosaur) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manakin Skywalker 4,892 Posted November 10, 2020 Share Posted November 10, 2020 Treasure Planet and Atlantis I'd personally say are about equal. Believe it or not I've never listened to the Dinosaur score on it's own (but have been meaning to!) I've heard the score in the film a few times, but it's been years since I've seen it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor 7,504 Posted November 10, 2020 Share Posted November 10, 2020 17 hours ago, Albus Percival Wulfric said: All I know is that Disney suggested LeboM to organize an African chorus after their succesful collaboration on The Lion King. Maybe that's where the entirety of the African element comes from. Sort of, yes. No doubt Lebo M's success with THE LION KING spurred his hiring on CONGO (which you've all forgotten, for some reason), which again led to THE GHOST AND THE DARKNESS - not including Lebo M in that case, but the general colours of Goldsmith's preceding African score. I wouldn't be surprised if any of this 'general African ambiance' bled over to a few JNHs as well. But the African colours in a western-style idiom did not start with THE LION KING, even if it popularized it over here. Zimmer himself nurtured similar elements in THE POWER OF ONE, for example (also with Lebo M). Or Small in MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON. Or Fenton in CRY FREEDOM. Etc. Fabulin and Yavar Moradi 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igger6 894 Posted November 10, 2020 Share Posted November 10, 2020 Oh, yeah, I definitely hear it. For that matter, the opening percussion of "Lions Reign" is very similar to the percussion that kicks off "The Egg Travels." Again, it's more textural than anything. Cool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now