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The Jungle Book Composed and Produced by: Basil Poledouris Conducted by: David Snell Orchestrated by: Greig McRitchie Label: Milan Records Release Date: December 13th, 1994 Also See: Free Willy Audio Clips: 2. Main Titles (0:32), 160K jungle_book2.ra 3. Shere Kahn Attacks (0:29), 145K jungle_book3.ra 9. Baloo (0:31), 156K jungle_book9.ra 11. Finale (0:30), 150K jungle_book11.ra Availability:   Regular U.S. release, but out of print as of 1999. Awards:   None.

• Printer Friendly Version Audio | Availability | Viewer Ratings | Tracks | Viewer Comments | Notes & Quotes Compare Prices: Half.com (new and used) Find it Used: Check for used copies of this album in the: Soundtrack Section at eBay (including eBay Stores and Half.com listings) Filmtracks Recommends: Buy it... if Basil Poledouris' massive action cues are pleasing to you despite the lack of much coherent organization or dominant theme. Avoid it... if you prefer Poledouris' more creative orchestral and synthetic adventures featuring memorable themes. Filmtracks Editorial Review: Poledouris The Jungle Book: (Basil Poledouris) There have been several film and video adaptations of Rudyard Kipling's original story of The Jungle Book. On film you can go back all the way to the diverse 1940 Miklos Rozsa score for the original film rendition of the tale. Most people, though, are familiar with the 1967 Walt Disney animated version and its Academy-Award recognized song "The Bare Necessities." The 1994 live-action version, starring Jason Scott Lee, Sam Neill, Cary Elwes, and John Cleese, offers a similar Tarzan-themed story with additional challenges for the forest-dwelling young man to conquer. Despite newly revamped action sequences, this new revival of The Jungle Book didn't click well with audiences, and thus fell out of mainstream attention with haste. Composing the score for this adventure is Basil Poledouris, who was already established for ten years as an A-list composer in Hollywood. He was in between his popular and successful Free Willy assignments, and was going through a phenomenon much like James Horner in the early 1990's; both composers experimented considerably with the children's film genre despite their original appearances on the scene in more adult fantasy and adventure genres during the early 1980's. For Poledouris, The Jungle Book would be a project for which an orchestral ensemble was essential, and he would leave behind the usual electronic elements that were a trademark of his scores at the time. Surprisingly, there are moments of playful underscore in The Jungle Book that will very much remind the listener of James Horner's similarly veined efforts of 1993 and 1994. The sound was becoming almost an unmistakable cliche, especially given Horner's tendencies to re-use the same motifs over and over again. Poledouris' score for The Jungle Book accomplishes its mission in accompanying the film with the full force of the orchestra. He does offer a manageable title theme, but it never fully realizes a noteworthy performance like the Free Willy one does on countless occasions. The theme for The Jungle Book pleases as it plays, but is impossible to recall once the score has finished. A slightly desperate, but persevering orchestral consistency in sound often explodes into exciting action cues that are seemingly out of control. They use their massive noise to propel the film, without much guidance, but these moments are astonishingly enjoyable to hear on album. Even without a cohesive element to draw these fast action cues together, the London Studio Orchestra impresses with volume, counterpoint, and harmony. There is only a sparing use of jungle percussion, which is a major disappointment considering how well Poledouris utilizes that section of the orchestra in his other scores for outdoor adventures. As is, the score is fluffy in tone and light in thematic breadth, and is thus a pleasant listen. It is begging, though, for some originality, and the inclusion of more diverse and interesting percussion could have assisted this score in standing out. Somber underscore for character-building scenes does little to assist the score's search for a personality. The album situation is a curious one. Released by Milan in 1994, most American pressings contain ten cues of Poledouris score at 48 minutes in length. Some European pressings by Milan seem to have the "Two Different Worlds" pop song by Kenny Loggins at the front of the album (and then the same Poledouris contents). Both albums are out of print, and even though they present some strong Poledouris action material, can be missed without too much worry. *** Purchasing Options: eBay/Half.com (Used)    Viewer Ratings and Comments: Regular Average: 3.56 Stars Smart Average: 3.43 Stars* ***** 40  **** 40  *** 32  ** 15  * 13  (View results for all titles)     * Smart Average only includes          40% of 5-star and 1-star votes               to counterbalance fringe voting. Most Recent Comments: Read All     •  dance scene   leo -- 7/8/06 (12:16 p.m.)   •  Good Score for a Good Film   c. j. -- 4/11/04 (10:59 p.m.)   •  correct review of the score   Thomas Glorieux -- 9/6/03 (8:35 a.m.) Read All | Add New Post | Search | Help      Track Listings: Total Time: 48:06 - 53:57 • 1. Two Different Worlds* - performed by Kenny Loggins (5:51) • 2. Main Titles - The Caravan (4:23) • 3. Shere Kahn Attacks (4:48) • 4. Mowgli (3:40) • 5. Monkey City (4:39) • 6. Kitty (5:22) • 7. Treasure Room (4:11) • 8. Civilization (5:33) • 9. Baloo (2:51) • 10. Spoils (9:11) • 11. Finale (3:29) * track does not appear on some pressings of the album    Notes and Quotes: Insert includes a short note about Poledouris' career up to 1994.

All artwork and sound clips from The Jungle Book are Copyright © 1994, Milan Records. The reviews and notes contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Filmtracks Publications. Audio clips can be heard using RealPlayer but cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 6/23/03, updated 7/2/03. Review Version 4.2 - PHP (Filmtracks Publications). Copyright © 2003-2008, Christian Clemmensen. All rights reserved.