Originally Posted By BlueOhanaTerror Having read some of the script, I'm glad they went with Newman. It makes more sense. The score and songs should have a feel authentic to the breezy, frolicky atmosphere of 1920's (I think that's the era) New Orleans. I'm sick of Menken. A lot of his OWN stuff is forgettable, especially a lot of the work in his last few animated efforts. Time for some new blood... I wish they'd actually gone for someone altogether new on this. Gotten Quincy Jones on the project, and had him partner with someone to do some amazing stuff. Just my opinion. This movie is going to be very different from what folks are expecting, in terms of the whole "Disney fairy tale" thing.
Originally Posted By u k fan <<I'm sick of Menken. A lot of his OWN stuff is forgettable, especially a lot of the work in his last few animated efforts. >> I'm sorry I disagree strongly with that. I watched HOTR again a few weeks ago and the music is one of the highlights of that movie!!!
Originally Posted By mawnck >>This movie is going to be very different from what folks are expecting<< (1) That's box office poison. (2) Now I can't wait to see it.
Originally Posted By Dlmusic <<(1) That's box office poison.>> Not necessarily. Box office poision usually comes into play when audiences can't relate to the concept. If the Frog Princess does the whole new take on the fairy tale bit, obviously audiences can relate to that.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA <I watched HOTR again a few weeks ago and the music is one of the highlights of that movie!!!> I find 'Home on the Range' to be one of the most pitiful animated features in recent memory. Disney or anyone else. And the music ranks right up there. Bleccch!
Originally Posted By basil fan I love the songs in HOTR. I like the movie, too, but it's not in my top 20 or anything. Speaking of Randy Newman, there's one thing he does in his songs that bugs me. I'm no musician, so I may not be able to explain this correctly, but here goes. It seems like the lyrics don't always fit the meter (metre?) of the lines, like he sometimes has more syllables to say than the line of music can fit, so he just talks faster to get 'em all in. If that doesn't make sense to anybody, especially to you musicians, just ignore it and move along. Disney Glitches <a href="http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/disney/dglitch.html" target="_blank">http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/ disney/dglitch.html</a>
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA <It seems like the lyrics don't always fit the meter (metre?) of the lines, like he sometimes has more syllables to say than the line of music can fit, so he just talks faster to get 'em all in.> I know exactly what you're saying. It's his creative choice to rattle off the lyrics that way.
Originally Posted By BlueOhanaTerror >>>There are so many incredibly talented composers out there, and I think Disney should not use Menken again on an animated fairy tale. Menken is EXTREMELY talented, but they need to get new voices in there so that people don't feel like they are watching LITTLE MERMAID again. Disney is now doing successive fairy tales again, and they need to avoid the problems they boxed themselves into in the 90s.<<< Agreed and agreed. >>>Could this be Disney's first African American princess and animated cast?<<< Hmm. That answer kind of depends on your definition of a real "princess." As to the ethnicity... You might just be on to something.
Originally Posted By BlueOhanaTerror Here's a hint: when they cast the voice of MADDY, you'll have your answer, via the IMDB.
Originally Posted By tcsnwhite ^Wow, now I am really excited for this film. And it's so far off!!! =( "Time for some new blood... I wish they'd actually gone for someone altogether new on this. Gotten Quincy Jones on the project, and had him partner with someone to do some amazing stuff. " Are you reading my mind??? haha I LOVE Quincy and I WISH he would write music for a Disney musical. I wonder if they have even thought of that? His music, while so diverse, is unbelievable. Probably not considered his best work, but the film version of The Wiz by Quincy just screams Disney-style musical. Bright, heartfelt, jazzy, funky. Especially "Everybody Rejoice (Brand New Day)" at the finale. Even though I think Luther Vandross originally wrote it, Quincy's orchestrations on it are unbelievable. Oh, what a missed opportunity. If it was my project, that is who I would have gone for. but hey, that's just me.=)
Originally Posted By BlueOhanaTerror I think Quincy did amazing work on THE COLOR PURPLE, and there's so much heart in the music. He just has excellent and a tremendous capacity for diverse approaches to each project. There's a magnificent Disney musical waiting for his touch and influence.
Originally Posted By Liberty Belle >>If She Loved Me felt forced to me in the movie. Just a too obvious attempt to tug at the heart strings at an "appropriate" point.<< I couldn't agree more. I don't mind the song, but compare it to most of Disney's classics and it's just ... I don't know. Contrived, maybe. I am *not* a Randy Newman fan. I shudder and press 'skip' whenever the Toy Story songs appear on my Disney compilation CDs. I can't STAND the music from James and the Giant Peach, although I wasn't a big fan of the movie either. His (Randy's) songs also all sound the same in a way, although that could be his singing voice (and these, I believe, are sung by the characters?) I guess I should keep an open mind and wait and see, but I'm not exactly tap-dancing with excitement. However, the movie does sound fairly good to me at this stage.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA I'm not totally familiar with Randy Newman's complete body of work, ['I Love L.A.' 'Short People'] so I took a listen to some of his stuff, just to get a feel for it. I found that 'Rednecks' sounds very much like 'You've Got Friend in Me' which has a lot in common with 'Short People.' 'Strange Things' has a lot in common with 'I Love L.A.' And I'm talking about arrangement here. Honky tonk piano accompaniment, Randy's raspy voice, same kind of musical arrangement -- so, yeah, his stuff does sound the same. Same as Danny Elfman. People really love his work. But to me, 'Batman' has a lot in common with 'Spiderman' and also 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' and the theme from 'Desperate Housewives.' Not saying it's a bad thing, but I do understand when people suggest that Randy Newman has a 'sameness' to his music.
Originally Posted By basil fan I'd be more concerned whether his songs will sound like authentic Dixieland. Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? <a href="http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/glitch/sdglitch.html" target="_blank">http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/ glitch/sdglitch.html</a>
Originally Posted By Dlmusic <<Not saying it's a bad thing, but I do understand when people suggest that Randy Newman has a 'sameness' to his music.>> That doesn't mean though that he's only capable of that. Some composers write in very similar styles then break out and surprise everyone. John Williams for example has many scores that sound very similar, but then has some that sound completely different.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA <That doesn't mean though that he's only capable of that.> Totally agree, dlmusic. I was just saying that I understand when people feel that Randy Newman's songs sound 'the same.'
Originally Posted By DlandJB I'm late to the thread. However, I'm a huge fan of Newman and have a great deal of his music. Some of his best music was done for films...Ragtime, Pleasantville, Avalon are wonderful. His "Faust" is one of my favorite concept pieces ever. The song "Feels like Home" comes from that and it is magical. Yes, he has a lot of stuff that sounds alike, but he also has elements of pure genius too. I love that Lassiter uses him and my only problem with finding Nemo was that he didn't use him and I thought the music was really lacking. Music is a matter of opinion/taste so I don't mind if people disagree -- to each his own.
