Category Archives: Films

Danny Elfman “Planet of the Apes” scoring session (2001)

*warning, extreme plot spoilers for this film and the 1968 original appear below

Danny Elfman “Planet of the Apes” scoring session

There are two iterations of the Planet of the Apes franchise that most people know very well. The first is the original film series led by Charlton Heston beginning in 1968. This was the first of a series of five films created between 1968 and 1973. The other is the ongoing reboot that began with Rise of the Planet of the Apes in 2011. Inbetween the two is the sometimes forgotten (at least by me) remake Planet of the Apes that launched in 2001.

The 2001 Planet of the Apes was directed by Tim Burton and starred Mark Wahlberg as the astronaut who finds himself stranded on “the planet of the apes,” where apes (gorillas, chimpanzees, etc.) are the dominant species and humans are treated like animals. Unlike the 1968 original, which ends with Charlton Heston’s astronaut discovering that the “planet of the apes” is in fact the planet Earth in the distant future (he finds the twisted remains of the Statue of Liberty on a beach and realizes this is the ruins of Manhattan), the 2001 film ends with Mark Wahlberg’s astronaut using a space pod to launch himself back to his own time. Except, when he crash-lands in Washington D.C., everyone is still an ape (an ending that is never fully explained and was criticized by some for being too confusing).

Though the 2001 film was a financial success, Fox decided to not make any sequels and instead rebooted the series in 2011 with the hit “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” series starring Andy Serkis.

The music for this film was composed by Danny Elfman (of Batman fame), as Tim Burton was directing and the two are well-known for their collaborations. The above clip is a short excerpt from a recording session of the film’s soundtrack. It seems to focus primarily on the brass section, which is great because the music is stunning. I hope you enjoy this brief look at the music of Planet of the Apes (2001)! -Becky

See also:

Danny Elfman talks Batman (1989)

Danny Elfman talks Batman Returns (1992)

Danny Elfman talks Spider-Man (2002)

Danny Elfman talks Meet the Robinsons (2007)

Danny Elfman talks Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Danny Elfman talks Fifty Shades of Grey (2015)

Danny Elfman talks Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016)

Film Composer Interviews A-H

Film Composer Interviews K-Z

Become a Patron of the blog at patreon.com/musicgamer460

Check out the YouTube channel (and consider hitting the subscribe button)

Don’t forget to like Film Music Central on Facebook 🙂

*poster image is the property of 20th Century Fox

John Powell talks How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)

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Following the success of the original How to Train Your Dragon (2010), a sequel was released in 2014 to general praise. Five years after the village of Berk made peace with dragons, they live together in harmony and Hiccup is still riding Toothless and exploring new lands.

John Powell talks How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)

But there’s an enemy on the horizon: the mad warlord Drago Bludvist is on the move with an enormous dragon army. He seeks to conquer the world with his dragons and it’ll be up to Hiccup and his friends to stop him.

Composer John Powell returned to compose the music for this film (having scored the original film and earning an Academy Award nomination in the process). The interview that I have found features the composer speaking in-depth about his score for the film, how he created the various themes and what his creative process was. John Powell is familiar with scoring animated films, having previously worked on such films as Robots, Rio, Happy Feet, Antz and three of the Ice Age sequels (to name a few).

This is another film series that I haven’t seen due to a lack of free time, but I’ve heard good things about it, so if you haven’t seen it, I recommend it to you. A third film, How to Train Your Dragon 3 is due out in 2018. Enjoy Powell’s talk about How to Train your Dragon 2!

You can become a patron of the blog at patreon.com/musicgamer460

See also:

Film Composer Interviews A-H

Film Composer Interviews K-Z

Don’t forget to like Film Music Central on Facebook 🙂

*poster image is the property of 20th Century Fox

Mulan “The Huns Attack” (1998)

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After discovering that the Huns have wiped out the Imperial Army, Shang and his small group of men move towards the pass that leads to the Imperial City, as they need to warn the Emperor of the danger. They seem to be alone…but as they move through a snowy valley, Mushu inadvertently sets off one of the rockets (he tries to blame Lucky Cricket), which quickly reveals that the Huns have been following them all this time as they launch an ambush, destroying many of the valuable rockets in the process. Most of the ambush party is taken out, and suddenly only one rocket is left.

But now the true attack is coming: the smoke clears to reveal Shan Yu up on the hillside, alone. But then his advisors ride up to join him, and then more men and more men…suddenly the entire top of the mountainside is bristling with Hun soldiers, and a loud roar indicates that there are thousands more behind them. Shang orders everyone to prepare to fight, but this is really a suicide mission now (and everybody knows it). Even if they had a hundred men, they wouldn’t even put a dent in Shan Yu’s massive army, which now comes spilling down the mountainside as their leader charges forward.

This moment never fails to send chills down my spine: the sight of the army pouring down in this huge wave, it really is incredible. In fact, so determined were the Disney animators to get this right, that a whole new software program was invented just to render the Hun army realistically. And Jerry Goldsmith’s music for this moment adds the right level of tension, even though the whole army hasn’t crossed over the mountain yet, you know that this is a huge and awesome force, nothing stands a chance against them!

With one cannon left, Shang decides to use it to take out Shan Yu. But as Yao prepares to fire, Mulan looks up and realizes that the taller mountain above them is thick with snow. A cannon blast there would trigger a huge avalanche….with no time for explanations Mulan grabs the cannon and runs ahead to get in proper range to fire. With Shan Yu quickly advancing, Mulan is forced to use Mushu to light the cannon, which fires just as Shan Yu rides up. It’s a perfect hit and Mulan can’t help but smirk a little as the massive avalanche begins. It’s also worth pointing out that the music momentarily vanishes during the beginning seconds of the avalanche and all you hear instead is the rumble of the falling snow (a good example of when it’s better to have no music).

A stunned Shan Yu looks back and sees his massive army being slowly wiped out. Enraged, he swings back to Mulan who suddenly remembers that there’s a really angry Hun standing in front of her. He swipes his sword across her chest but Mulan has no time to react as she needs to run with everyone else to safety before the avalanche takes THEM out as well.

Mulan and Shang are saved in just the nick of time, while the entire Hun army (Shan Yu) included appears to have been taken out. All seems to be well, except now that the adrenaline is wearing off, Mulan suddenly remembers that she has a serious chest wound and quickly passes out. Things are going to be very different when she wakes up….

Next time: Mulan is finally caught, the Huns aren’t all dead and the Emperor is in serious danger!

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See also:

Mulan “Honor to Us All” (1998)

Mulan “Reflection” (1998)

Mulan “Mulan’s Decision” (1998)

Mulan “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” (1998)

Mulan “A Girl Worth Fighting For” (1998)

Mulan “I’ve Heard a Great Deal About You Fa Mulan…” (1998)

For more great Disney songs and films, check out the main page here: Disney Films & Soundtracks A-Z

Don’t forget to like Film Music Central on Facebook 🙂

*all images are the property of Walt Disney Studios

Alan Silvestri “Lilo & Stitch” scoring session (2002)

See also:

Film Composer Interviews A-H

Film Composer Interviews K-Z

Don’t forget to like Film Music Central on Facebook 🙂

*poster image is the property of Walt Disney Studios

James Horner scoring Braveheart (1995)

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braveheart

James Horner scoring Braveheart (1995)

As I’ve mentioned before, 1995 was a very good year for James Horner. In that year alone he composed the scores for Casper, Apollo 13, Jumanji, Balto, Jade and Braveheart.

Braveheart was one of the standout films of 1995, eventually winning Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Directed by and starring Mel Gibson, the film tells the story of how William Wallace led the First War of Scottish Independence against King Edward I of England.

Braveheart

Wallace is spurred into action after his new bride Murron is executed by the English after she attempts to flee being raped. The Scots have several victories, including sacking the city of York. King Edward sends his son (also named Edward) to deal with Wallace, but that proves to be a failure. Then Prince Edward’s wife Isabella is sent (in hopes that Wallace will kill her and spur the French to jump into the war), but instead the two become enamored of each other and end up having an affair instead. Ultimately, Wallace is betrayed by would-be ally Robert the Bruce and is painfully executed by the English while Isabella is pregnant with Wallace’s child.

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While the film takes numerous liberties with actual history (Isabella and William Wallace never had an affair for example), the film was still very well received and James Horner’s score became one of the most commercially successful soundtracks of all time.

The footage features Mel Gibson’s comments on the music as James Horner leads the scoring sessions. If you’ve never seen Braveheart before, the music is absolutely gorgeous, a perfect example of James Horner at the top of his craft. Since the weekend is here, take some time, sit back, relax and enjoy the sounds of Braveheart.

James Horner talks Aliens (1986)

James Horner talks Field of Dreams (1989)

James Horner talks The Rocketeer (1991)

James Horner talks The Perfect Storm (2000)

James Horner talks A Beautiful Mind (2001)

James Horner talks Windtalkers (2002)

James Horner talks Avatar (2009)

James Horner talks The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

Film Composer Interviews A-H

Film Composer Interviews K-Z

Become a patron of the blog at: patreon.com/musicgamer460

Check out the YouTube channel (and consider hitting the subscribe button)

Don’t forget to like Film Music Central on Facebook 🙂

*poster image is the property of Paramount Pictures

Nicholas Hooper “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” scoring session (2009)

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The sixth installment in the Harry Potter film franchise was released in 2009 to general acclaim. Harry, now in his sixth year at Hogwarts, becomes obsessed with a textbook that belonged to someone named “the half-blood Prince” while also falling in love with Ginny Weasley (Ron’s little sister). Voldemort and his Death Eaters are on the move (Draco Malfoy has been assigned a mission by the Dark Lord himself) and Harry and Dumbledore are searching for the key that could destroy Voldemort once and for all.

It turns out that the secret of Voldemort’s power lies in the fact that he constructed Horcruxes: magical objects that contain a portion of a wizard’s soul and thereby prevent death if anything happens to that wizard’s body (this is why Voldemort wasn’t outright killed when his Killing Curse rebounded onto him the night Harry’s parents were killed).

The only way to kill Voldemort once and for all is to first destroy every last Horcrux. It won’t be easy, with Death Eaters lurking everywhere and a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher (in the form of Professor Slughorn), it might be impossible even for Harry Potter. One thing is for sure, this story has an ending you’ll never see coming.

The score for this film was composed by Nicholas Hooper, who first provided the music for the fifth film: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007). The footage above comes from one of the scoring sessions held at the famous Abbey Road Studio. There you see one of the conductors, an orchestrator, as well as the composer himself. This particular session involves recording the opening cue of the film, which, as always, features a reprise of “Hedwig’s Theme” (possibly the most famous theme from the entire Harry Potter film series).

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Enjoy this behind the scenes look at recording the score for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince!

And for more Harry Potter, see also:

Alexandre Desplat talks Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (2010)

Thoughts on Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)

Don’t forget to like Film Music Central on Facebook 🙂

Mulan “A Girl Worth Fighting For” (1998)

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Mulan “A Girl Worth Fighting For” (1998)

Believe it or not, this is the last song in the film (though I plan to cover several more orchestral moments to round out the film). Here’s the set up: while Mulan’s training is now going very well, there have been no orders for the soldiers to move out to battle, making it very possible that they won’t see any combat at all. This goes against Mushu’s plans of making Mulan into a hero (to improve his reputation back home) so he conspires with Lucky Cricket to create some fake orders that are ostensibly from Shang’s father General Li. According to the “urgent news”, Shang and his troops are needed at the front, so they quickly head out on the march.

During the long march, the soldiers begin to complain about the never-ending boredom of marching along, but Ling has an idea to keep their minds occupied: talking about girls! Specifically, the dream girls that they’d love to have waiting for them when they get home after the war.

For a long time, we’ve been marching off to battle
In our thund’ring herd,
We feel a lot like cattle
Like the pounding beat,
Our aching feet aren’t easy to ignore
Hey, think of instead
A girl worth fighting for

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The “dream girls” are animated in a style similar to traditional Chinese art

That’s what I said: a girl worth fighting for

I want her paler than the moon
With eyes that shine like stars
My girl will marvel at my strength, adore my battle scars
I couldn’t care less what she’ll wear or what she looks like
It all depends on what she cooks like
Beef, pork, chicken…
Mmm…

Bet the local girls thought you were quite the charmer
And I’ll bet the ladies love a man in armor
You can guess what we have missed the most since we went off to war
What do we want?
A girl worth fighting for

My girl will think I have no faults
That I’m a major find
Uh… How ’bout a girl who’s got a brain
Who always speaks her mind?
Nah!
My manly ways and turn of phrase are sure to thrill her
He thinks he’s such a lady killer

Ling, Yao and Chien-Po each have their idea of the “perfect woman,”: Ling wants a really pretty girl; Yao wants a girl that admires his physical strength; and Chien-Po (predictably enough), would like a girl that can cook really well. When pressed on the type of girl Mulan/Ping would like, she lamely sings about a girl with “lots of brains, who always speaks her mind” but that idea is rejected as being “unrealistic.” Chi-Fu (the stuck up advisor from the Emperor’s court) claims to have a girl waiting for him back home (but Yao is of the opinion that the only girl who could love Chi-Fu is his own mother).

But when we come home in victory they’ll line up at the door
What do we want?
A girl worth fighting for

Wish that I had
A girl worth fighting for
A girl worth fighting-

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Now approaching the mountains, the men continue to whistle about “girls worth fighting for” and everything seems about to break down into a snowball fight when suddenly-the song abruptly ends (this is one of the few Disney songs to end this way). The reason for the song ending is frighteningly clear: the small army has encountered a burned out village in the mountains. Incredibly, while Mushu’s news was meant to be fake, there really IS danger up at the front, because this is where General Li is supposed to be with the bulk of the Imperial Army.

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But the bad news isn’t over. Just over a rise, Chi-Fu sees the full extent of what’s happened: the entire Imperial Army has been slaughtered, including Shang’s father. Heartbroken, Shang sets up a small memorial to honor his father’s memory and then makes ready to pursue the Hun army. With the Imperial Army wiped out, the only thing standing between the Huns and the Imperial Palace are Shang and his men (and one dragon and a cricket).

mulan-corpses

What should have been an easy mission to support General Li’s forces has now turned into a life or death scenario: Shang’s forces are hopelessly outnumbered by the Hun Army, how are they possibly going to defeat them? It’s going to take a lot of ingenuity on the part of a certain soldier named Ping….

Next time: the Huns begin their attack!!!

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Danny Elfman talks Batman Returns (1992)

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Danny Elfman talks Batman Returns (1992)

It is a sad reality in Hollywood that many times a sequel does not live up to the original and this is the case with Batman Returns (1992) (though it is infinitely better than the two films that followed it). Set sometime after the events of the original film, Gotham City’s new nemesis is Oswald Cobblepot, aka “The Penguin” (Danny DeVito), a deformed child abandoned by his parents and raised by penguins, who seeks to become a respectable member of Gotham society and will employ any means to make that happen.

At the same time, corrupt businessman Max Shreck is plotting to monopolize the city’s electricity supply, a scheme that his secretary, Selina Kyle, stumbles onto. When Shreck tries to have her killed by pushing her out a window, she is mysteriously revived by a swarm of cats and adopts the identity of Catwoman. Batman has to deal with Penguin, Shreck and this mysterious female vigilante, all part of his ongoing efforts to protect Gotham City.

I’m sure I’ve seen this film as many times as the original Batman, but I simply don’t enjoy this one as much. When you’ve grown up with Burgess Meredith’s Penguin, seeing the creepy Danny DeVito Penguin is a real shock. I still like Michael Keaton as Batman/Bruce Wayne though, and I wish he could’ve stayed for the remaining two films (even though I like George Clooney in Batman & Robin). The on-again/off-again romance between Catwoman and Batman is well-known to fans of the comics, and it’s nice to see it play out on the silver screen.

Danny Elfman returned to score this film and was much more confident during the process (because the first Batman had been such a big hit). Knowing that his methods worked, it wasn’t hard to derive a new score for this sequel. Regretfully, this interview isn’t very long, but I was glad to find anything relating to Batman Returns at all (finding info on sequels is relatively hard, especially if they don’t do as well as expected). The different themes for Selina/Catwoman and Penguin are discussed, and if I ever find a more in-depth discussion for this particular film I’ll be sure to add it in. For now though, please enjoy!

See also:

Danny Elfman talks Batman (1989)

Danny Elfman “Planet of the Apes” scoring session (2001)

Danny Elfman talks Spider-Man (2002)

Danny Elfman talks Meet the Robinsons (2007)

Danny Elfman talks Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Danny Elfman talks Fifty Shades of Grey (2015)

Danny Elfman talks Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016)

Film Composer Interviews A-H

Film Composer Interviews K-Z

Become a Patron of the blog at patreon.com/musicgamer460

Check out the YouTube channel (and consider hitting the subscribe button)

Don’t forget to like Film Music Central on Facebook

*film poster is the property of Warner Bros. Pictures

Alice in Wonderland (1951) takes us down the rabbit hole

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On July 26th, 1951, Disney’s Alice in Wonderland was released in theaters. The 13th Disney Animated Feature was based on Lewis Carroll’s 1865 children’s novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Alice (Kathryn Beaumont, perhaps better known as the voice of Wendy in Peter Pan (1953)), finds herself drawn into an adventure in the topsy-turvy Wonderland after following a White Rabbit down a rabbit hole and falling down into the magical place.

While seeking a way out, Alice encounters a wide variety of crazy creatures, from singing flowers, a caterpillar that smokes a hookah, Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum, the Mad Hatter and the March Hare and perhaps most importantly, the semi-deranged Queen of Hearts, who has a thing for shouting “off with their heads!!”

Alice in Wonderland failed spectacularly at the box office and unlike other Disney films, was not re-released to theaters during Walt Disney’s lifetime. At the time of release, critics (and fans of the books) did not appreciate the liberties Disney had taken with the story and felt that he was trying to “Americanize” a great piece of British literature. The film’s reputation has improved in the following decades, but (in my opinion) it still remains one of the lesser known (and somewhat under-appreciated) entries in Disney’s animated film series.

One flaw that I’ve come to recognize in the film is that it is not so much a unified story as it is a series of vignettes (short scenes) ostensibly tied together by the presence of Alice. A notable exception is “The Walrus and the Carpenter” which, being a story told by Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, doesn’t feature Alice at all and really feels like it’s from another story entirely.

Alice in Wonderland “Painting the Roses Red” (1951)

Interestingly, during the production process, almost the entire film was shot live-action for reference, and the footage that survives is a fascinating look into how the earlier Disney films were put together. This was actually a common practice for the Disney studio, though unfortunately not all of the footage has survived to the present day. Some films that I know had live-action footage shot include: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs; Sleeping Beauty; Peter Pan (particularly for scenes involving Tinker Bell interacting with the drawer in the Darling home); Cinderella and Pinocchio.

One of my favorite pieces involves the Un-Birthday Party/The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party. Broadway Classixs on YouTube synched up the live-action footage with the animated result and it’s amazing to watch the voice actors at work.

Alice in Wonderland Tea Party: Live action vs. animation

What do you think of the animated Alice in Wonderland? Do you think it’s been neglected compared to other Disney films? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

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Check out the YouTube channel (and consider hitting the subscribe button)

Danny Elfman talks Batman (1989)

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With the exception of Superman: The Movie, I’m hard pressed to think of a superhero film more iconic than Tim Burton’s Batman (no offense to fans of the Christopher Nolan trilogy). Based in part on The Killing Joke and The Dark Knight Returns comics, Batman helped to establish the modern superhero film genre and also helped ignite the DC Animated Universe (launched with the premiere of Batman: The Animated Series). The Caped Crusader was portrayed by Michael Keaton, and his eternal nemesis the Joker was brought to memorable life by Jack Nicholson.

Several factors contributed to make this film so iconic: one is the amazing sets and backgrounds that make up Gotham City. The second is Danny Elfman’s awe-inspiring score for this film. Elfman was brought in by Burton after the two had previously collaborated for Beetlejuice (1988), this despite the fact that Elfman knew very little about the current state of Batman in comics (he was given a copy of The Dark Knight Returns for reference).

Having grown up watching re-runs of “campy Batman” starring Adam West and Burt Ward on television, I initially didn’t like this “dark” Batman at all, but as I grew older and learned about the comics history of the character, I grew to appreciate what Tim Burton had done (and there’s no denying that Jack Nicholson’s performance as The Joker is one for the ages).

I was pleased to find this interview and “making of” for the Batman score and I hope you enjoy listening to it too (Elfman shares a funny story about how he came up with the iconic main theme for the film). Let me know your thoughts on Batman in the comments below!

Danny Elfman “Planet of the Apes” scoring session (2001)

Danny Elfman talks Spider-Man (2002)

Danny Elfman talks Meet the Robinsons (2007)

Danny Elfman talks Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Danny Elfman talks Fifty Shades of Grey (2015)

Danny Elfman talks Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016)

Film Composer Interviews A-H

Film Composer Interviews K-Z

Become a Patron of the blog at patreon.com/musicgamer460

Check out the YouTube channel (and consider hitting the subscribe button)

Don’t forget to like Film Music Central on Facebook

*poster image is the property of Warner Bros. Pictures