James Horner's JUMANJI (1995) - 2022 2-CD Intrada Records

[Jay 37,290]

Interesting, maybe Jade will get revisited some day!

[Brando 1,856]

Might rewatch the movie tonight to get familiar with the score.

[Jay 37,290]

Jumanji?  We actually watched it this weekend because of this release!

It was a $4 rental in 4K HDR on Amazon, though strangely it looked very grainy and had other issues when we watched it.  After 15 minutes or so I fired up the PS4 to play it through the Amazon app there, and it was better, but still not great.  I wonder if Amazon's compression ruined a gook 4K master, or if the 4K UHD disc also has bad pq?

 

Anyway, the film was good, it holds up as a good, fun film.  It's paced extremely well, the whole thing was over before you know it!  James Horner's scored worked great in it, and I enjoyed all the music I noticed that wasn't on the OST album.  The best stuff was all the early cues before Robin Williams shows up, and all the music in the Sir Sav-A-Lot sequence.

Can't wait to hear the new main program now!

[Brando 1,856]

4 minutes ago, Jay said:

Jumanji?  We actually watched it this weekend because of this release!

It was a $4 rental in 4K HDR on Amazon, though strangely it looked very grainy and had other issues when we watched it.  After 15 minutes or so I fired up the PS4 to play it through the Amazon app there, and it was better, but still not great.  I wonder if Amazon's compression ruined a gook 4K master, or if the 4K UHD disc also has bad pq?

 

Anyway, the film was good, it holds up as a good, fun film.  It's paced extremely well, the whole thing was over before you know it!  James Horner's scored worked great in it, and I enjoyed all the music I noticed that wasn't on the OST album.  The best stuff was all the early cues before Robin Williams shows up, and all the music in the Sir Sav-A-Lot sequence.

Can't wait to hear the new main program now!

Yes. Really good movie, Robin Williams is always a blast. I didn't know it was releasing till I saw this thread, the Intrada site kind of confused me so I wasn't sure it was happening. I have the 4K disc of it and the picture on there looks great.

[Jay 37,290]

2 minutes ago, Brando said:

I didn't know it was releasing till I saw this thread, the Intrada site kind of confused me so I wasn't sure it was happening

 

They release titles on Monday nights around 6pm EST ish, but they tell us what their next title(s) are going to be beforehand, so threads go up on forums before you can actually buy them

[Brando 1,856]

3 minutes ago, Jay said:

 

They release titles on Monday nights around 6pm EST ish, but they tell us what their next title(s) are going to be beforehand, so threads go up on forums before you can actually buy them

Ah, I see. Looks like I'll have to register so I can stay up to date.

[LSH 968]

51 minutes ago, Henry Sítrónu said:

1995 is closer to 1969 than to 2022. 

 

Meryl Streep's first and most recent Oscar wins are separated by the same amount of time as the Hindenburg disaster and the Apollo 11 moon landing.

[Holko 9,499]

48 minutes ago, Brando said:

Really good movie, Robin Williams is always a blast.

Looking over the wiki, I was really shocked to see how much they had no clue how to play Alan:

Quote

Tom Hanks was the first choice to play Alan Parrish but turned it down due to his commitments to Apollo 13. Other stars were considered, including: Dan Aykroyd, Bruce Willis,[7] Michael Keaton, Kevin Kline, Chevy Chase, Sean Penn, Kevin Costner, Richard Dreyfuss, Michael Douglas, Rupert Everett, Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Bill Paxton, Bryan Cranston, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Alec Baldwin.[8]

 

[Jay 37,290]

I can't picture anyone but Williams in the role!

[LSH 968]

7 minutes ago, Holko said:

Looking over the wiki, I was really shocked to see how much they had no clue how to play Alan:

 

 

Some awful options there but...

 

7 minutes ago, Holko said:

Arnold Schwarzenegger

 

Fuck Off. 

 

[Jay 37,290]

@Jean-Baptiste Martin says on FSM:

 

"The drums that are heard in the movie (for example when Peter and Judy first approach the game in the attic) are not on this album.

 

The booklet explains very well that these percussions are not part of James Horner's original soundtrack. It is a sound heard by the actors.

 

The composer recorded only one percussion track, the one on disc 2. And it is the same percussion that is heard at the beginning and end of the album."

[LSH 968]

This reminds me... I actually began a little mock-up of a cue from Jumanji (the second half of the opening cue, after it segues into 1969... when Parrish is cycling through the town. I just love that melody). I must finish it one day.

[bruce marshall 1,315]

Must.

Have.

Drums!

[Brando 1,856]

5 hours ago, Holko said:

Looking over the wiki, I was really shocked to see how much they had no clue how to play Alan:

 

This list is all over the place….it’s not even one general direction either🤣

5 hours ago, Jay said:

@Jean-Baptiste Martin says on FSM:

 

"The drums that are heard in the movie (for example when Peter and Judy first approach the game in the attic) are not on this album.

 

The booklet explains very well that these percussions are not part of James Horner's original soundtrack. It is a sound heard by the actors.

 

The composer recorded only one percussion track, the one on disc 2. And it is the same percussion that is heard at the beginning and end of the album."

So the drums whenever the game is referenced or on screen is a sound effect?

[LSH 968]

46 minutes ago, Brando said:

This list is all over the place….it’s not even one general direction either🤣

 

Robin Williams was perfect. I can't imagine anyone else coming close.

 

An actor with impeccable comic timing and yet he could play 'forlornness' and 'loneliness' so beautifully. None of those other actors (as much as I love some of them) could have portrayed Alan Parrish as well as Robin.

 

God bless him. 

 

Quote

Bruce Willis

 

WHaaat 

[Holko 9,499]

1 hour ago, LSH said:

An actor with impeccable comic timing and yet he could play 'forlornness' and 'loneliness' so beautifully. None of those other actors (as much as I love some of them) could have portrayed Alan Parrish as well as Robin.

Imagine Arnold in the scenes when he's coming to terms wih the world having changed (for the worse) without him. Running around the house calling for his parents.

[LSH 968]

49 minutes ago, Holko said:

Imagine Arnold in the scenes when he's coming to terms wih the world having changed (for the worse) without him. Running around the house calling for his parents.

 

"ARE YOU MY LITTLE SISTER???"

 

[Jay 37,290]

7 hours ago, Brando said:

So the drums whenever the game is referenced or on screen is a sound effect?

 

I mean, it's still a person playing drums, he's just saying they learned it wasn't recorded by Horner at the scoring sessions, it was recorded somewhere else.

[Richard Penna 3,673]

When I saw that track title I immediately thought, oh cool, they've included those spooky drums.

 

Is the track they come from on the OST? I could've sworn the prologue track had some percussion but I just listened and couldn't find any.

[Jay 37,290]

IIRC the OST track doesn't have the drums, but the isolated score track version does. 

[Jean-Baptiste Martin 249]

The percussion rhythm is very slow in the track "Jumanji Drums". The same rhythm as at the end of the "End Titles".
In the movie there are several rhythms. And there are also several layers of percussion as the kids get closer to the game hidden in the attic. Not all of these variations are in the album.
Tarkis wrote that "Jumanji Drums" can be heard in the movie during the prologue.
Douglass Fake wrote that the drums recorded by Horner could be looped at different lengths, depending on the specific needs of the film.

 

[Corellian2019 384]

22 hours ago, Jean-Baptiste Martin said:

Thank you @Jay for your message. It makes me happy!

 

I did what I could because I had very little time between writing the book and family life...

 

A little off topic:
During my research for the book, I discovered that The Spitfire Grill was recorded in December 1995 so depending on how you look at it, this score could be part of the 1995 vintage.
And James Horner's collaborators have very clear memories of Jade. The LLL edition seems to correspond to the music as it appears in the film and not to the recording sessions.

 

Interesting. Sorry to bring up Jade in this thread again, but there are still some bits in the film not accounted for on the LLL CD. As Jay mentioned, it would be cool if that score was to be revisited at some point

[Jay 37,290]

Doug reports that Jumanji sales are strong

 

 

 

 

5/4/2022

It’s really satisfying to have so many orders come in for Jumanji, immediately upon our release of the soundtrack yesterday. We’ve expanded it from the original 1995 album to include previously unreleased music and included on a second CD the original album for anyone interested in retaining the slightly altered and edited selections chosen by composer James Horner. It was a fantastic album I played a lot when it was first released by Epic and I’m admittedly thrilled to see it now attached to an Intrada release. I’m thankful to Sony Entertainment for that honor. It’s cool to get the opportunity to expand a classic soundtrack and also present the original alongside it for new listeners discovering the excitement of Horner’s music. Given the success of the Jumanji franchise, there are likely quite a few fans now making that discovery!

 

http://www.intrada.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8907

[Jay 37,290]

Holy cow! I just went and got the mail and learned my copy arrived in yesterday's mail! 

 

Sadly my car doesn't have a CD player so I won't even be able to listen to it until after I can rip the disc somehow lol

[Positivatee 327]

My 2019 trim has a disc player, but that's the newest year I know that has one. 

 

I'm pretty sure you can't connect an external laptop CD drive to a car usb input to play music. I haven't tried it though. 

 

I haven't seen a car with a 3.5 mm input for a long time. Too bad I didn't sell my Discman when it had value. 

[Edmilson 7,393]

38 minutes ago, Jay said:

Sadly my cat doesn't have a CD player

Why would your cat have a CD player? And why that would be good?

[crumbs 14,302]

1 hour ago, Jay said:

 

Sadly my cat doesn't have a CD player

 

Do they have a vinyl player though?

 

 

[Jay 37,290]

Typos fixed

[Jay 37,290]

Luckily there is a USB DVD-Rom drive here at the office, ripping now so I can put on my phone to listen to on my drive home tonight!

 

Anybody else get their copy yet?

[Bespin 8,480]

That's the surreal thing with CDs...

 

You hold a CD in one hand and your phone in the other, and you can't do anything with them.

[Jay 37,290]

I listened to the new set over work commutes this week and... I LOVE IT!

 

Disc 1 is just an awesome 70 minute program.  It flows great, never has a dull or repetitive moment, and is instantly my preferred and only way I want to take in the score when I'm in the mood for it.  The old 51 minute score album was a very good one, and you can't argue it doesn't have all the highlights.... but this is one of those complete scores where all the bits not included on that are just as good as those that are, and including them all amongt the music you already knew doesn't detract from the experience at all, and in fact enhances it!

 

I really like all the new music, each little run of it enhances that part of the score nicely, but the most fun is probably the Rampage / Store Mayhem / Car Crash collection of cues - really fun!  However the extra early cues that help set everything up really help a lot too.  It's just all good!

 

The sound quality is fantastic!  Everything sounds very clear and is fun to listen to.  For a score that can suddenly go from normal orchestral stuff to wacky antics for the monkeys or other dangers, then right back again, this is important, and it all works.

 

I read John Takis' liner notes the other night and they are very nice.  When talking about the music he refers to the score sheets and uses some musical terms I appreciate because I am always trying to learn more of that stuff.  And John does it in a way that doesn't go over your head.  Interestingly, there is no cue list assembly spread like most Intrada releases?

Overall, a great release!

[Holko 9,499]

1 minute ago, Jay said:

The sound quality is fantastic!  Everything sounds very clear and is fun to listen to.

That I can agree on, great sound!

 

1 minute ago, Jay said:

Disc 1 is just an awesome 70 minute program.  It flows great, never has a dull or repetitive moment

That, based on a first naughty listen, I hard disagree with unfortunately. Jumps all over without much consistent ramping up or development or structure, cues not connected to each other, too many stuff fighting over too little runtime, some action's a bit too much at times (monkeys), others so understated that I missed that I already went past the climax of the movie.

[publicist 4,643]

Yeah, there's too much functional stuff that needs editing work desperately, by either connecting it to a more musically substantial piece or editing it down. But that's half the fun of being a film music fan.

[crocodile 7,984]

To be honest, I like it as it is. 

 

Karol

[Kasey Kockroach 2,343]

On 14/05/2022 at 1:22 AM, publicist said:

Yeah, there's too much functional stuff that needs editing work desperately, by either connecting it to a more musically substantial piece or editing it down. But that's half the fun of being a film music fan.

Have you tried editing it down to 51 minutes and 13 tracks?

[publicist 4,643]

2 hours ago, Kasey Kockroach said:

Have you tried editing it down to 51 minutes and 13 tracks?

 

Dude, i don't pay 30€ for recreating Horner edits. 

[Jay 37,290]

I listened to my physical copy in a real CD player on my desk at my home office and loved the release all over again.

The first disc is a spectacular 70 1/2 minute program that flows really well and and consistently engaging the whole time.  It tells the whole story of the movie and has a great collection of ideas that all work together.  The emotional themes really balance out the danger and suspense moments.

The second disc gets off to a bit of a weird start with no real flow between 3 bonus tracks, but then the OST remaster is an engaging of a listen as the OST album has always been.  Horner certainly did a good job pairing the whole score down to a 51 minute program at the time, and it flows very well - I simply prefer the full thing over this version now that I have both.  There really isn't any essential alternate material on this second disc, so I'll just put disc 1 exactly as it is on my phone and that's that!

 

Very happy with this release and look forward to the next Horner expansion!

[blondheim 1,157]

Would someone who has the album mind revealing the recording dates for the sessions?

 

I wouldn't mind being able to add Jumanji to my Horner timeline.

[Jay 37,290]

The booklet says "September 14-October 3 and October 21, 1995"

[Edmilson 7,393]

9 minutes ago, blondheim said:

I wouldn't mind being able to add Jumanji to my Horner timeline.

Do you have a Horner timeline? With the recording dates for his scores? That's great! Could you share it? He had some pretty intense years during the mid-90s.

[blondheim 1,157]

It's basically just a compilation of information gleaned from cd booklets, etc. It's led to some interesting revelations. If the dates for Pagemaster and Legends of the Fall are to be believed:

 

Pagemaster - Apr 8-9, 11-13 1994

Legends of the Fall - Apr 8, 11-15, 18-19

 

Then the two scores were recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra at the same time!

 

Which is pretty remarkable.

[Edmilson 7,393]

Interesting!

 

I'm curious about his schedule in the year of 1995. In that year, he had both Braveheart and Casper opening on the same Memorial Day weekend:

 

https://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/1995W21/occasion/us_memorialday_weekend/?ref_=bo_rl_table_2

 

Apollo 13 opened a month later, followed by Jade in October. Then, in December, two family films: Jumanji on Dec 15 and Balto a week later. 

 

It's fascinating how, despite being movies for children scored by the same man, both Jumanji and Balto had completely different scores. 

[Jean-Baptiste Martin 249]

9 hours ago, blondheim said:

Pagemaster - Apr 8-9, 11-13 1994

Legends of the Fall - Apr 8, 11-15, 18-19

 

Then the two scores were recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra at the same time!

This is a mistake on the booklet. Pagemaster was recorded in August.

10 hours ago, blondheim said:

I wouldn't mind being able to add Jumanji to my Horner timeline.

The book will offer a chronological list with dates of 90% of the recordings. I was able to complete the list thanks to James Horner's collaborators and also by paying for research at the AFM local 47.

[publicist 4,643]

3 hours ago, Edmilson said:

I'm curious about his schedule in the year of 1995. In that year, he had both Braveheart and Casper opening on the same Memorial Day weekend

 

 

Afair, Casper was recorded in LA January 1995 and Braveheart early spring in London, Apollo 13 directly after that in late spring back in LA. Balto. 

[Jean-Baptiste Martin 249]

6 hours ago, Jay said:

The booklet says "September 14-October 3 and October 21, 1995"

Note that the day of October 21, 1995 was devoted to additional sessions for Balto in the morning  and for Jumanji the afternoon.

[blondheim 1,157]

I was wondering about that! Thanks for clearing that up.

 

It did seem like a lot to score both movies with the same orchestra at the same time. I'm not saying it hasn't been done, or can't be. It just seems like it would be very stressful and difficult to organize. August for Pagemaster makes a lot more sense.

[Jean-Baptiste Martin 249]

You're welcome. The recording dates for The Pagemaster can be found on page 864 of this PDF.

https://lso.co.uk/images/pdf/DiscographyLSOWeb2018b.pdf

[Jay 37,290]

I like this release a lot, I've listened to the main program many times now!

 

Anybody else really digging it?

[Raiders of the SoundtrArk 2,429]

Great score, "Jumanji" is such a terrific cue, I could listen to it all day

[Kasey Kockroach 2,343]

On 25/05/2022 at 9:36 PM, Edmilson said:

Do you have a Horner timeline? With the recording dates for his scores? That's great! Could you share it? He had some pretty intense years during the mid-90s.

Intense for the ghostwriters, you mean!