Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if you enjoy James Newton Howard's usual standard of strong, orchestral and choral music for children's films. Avoid it... if you are hoping for a majestically soaring score that can convincingly compete with John Williams' Hook on a massive scale. Filmtracks Editorial Review:
Peter Pan: (James Newton Howard) As surprising at it may have been in 2003, there had never been a full, live-action film adaptation of Peter Pan since the silent age of Hollywood. The beloved children's book by James M. Barrie, originally becoming famous as a stage production, had more recently inspired a 1953 animated Disney movie, a Broadway play, television spin-offs, and a 1991 Steven Spielberg sequel (of sorts). Pooling their resources and presenting a cast without any big name stars, Columbia and Universal were counting on the special effects magic and a return to the authenticity of original story to propel their film during a late 2003 season that was largely devoid of any other spectacular children's films. The story of Peter Pan is well known for its broad strokes of fantasy and adventure, offering any composer a magical opportunity to soar over the speakers of the big screen. Film score collectors cannot discuss the merits of musical ideas for the classic story without repeating due praise for John Williams' 1991 score for Hook, a masterpiece of orchestral magnificence that continued to impress long after the utter failure of the film itself. So total and influential is Williams' score that today, to offer an opinion about any modern Peter Pan score automatically demands a comparison between it and Williams' ever-popular work. As film music enthusiasts also know, James Newton Howard is no slouch, and if anyone could capture the same majestic spirit of the story, he would be a good candidate. Howard was hired for Peter Pan just after a series of very successful animated children's film scores he wrote as part of a three-picture contract with Disney, including Dinosaur, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, and Treasure Planet, for which he provided orchestral themes and soaring character that solidified his standing in the genre. Not to disappoint, Howard expanded the size of the Hollywood Studio Symphony to nearly its fullest capacity for Peter Pan, adding a large adult chorus and decently sized children's choir to the mix. The table was set for a Peter Pan score to rival John Williams', and yet, Howard seems to have gotten caught trying to fly without pixie dust. This isn't to say that Howard plunged straight to the street from an upper level window, but his music for Peter Pan skips along with a grand vision and makes all the right moves while somehow failing to build itself a convincing identity or memorable personality. A somewhat weak collection of themes may be the culprit here; if any film needed themes of splendor and adventure on an elevated scale, Peter Pan would be the one. Howard indeed provides plenty of thematic ideas for Peter, Tinkerbell, Hook, and others, but none of them is performed with the gusto and energy necessary to carry your imagination. If you are looking for brassy statements of elegance like those heard in the original trailer music for Hook, then you'll be disappointed, because Howard has taken a less extroverted approach to his magic. The score tingles with pleasant rhythms and string themes but stops short of exploding with the kind of sustained magic necessary. Even the choirs for children and adults are restrained from the spirit of the awe-inspiring statements of harmony in Atlantis, which is an even greater disappointment given the rarity with which an ensemble like this is assembled. The middle portion of the album is sustained by a wandering harmonic spirit that functions as very pleasant background material. This section is abruptly ended by Howard's one unique touch in Peter Pan: an electric bass and popish drum rhythm. Heard in "Flying" and "I Do Believe in Fairies," this contemporary motif is followed by the full, swinging title theme. There is surprisingly little swaggering, swashbuckling action in Peter Pan, with Howard pulling out familiar, almost cartoonish music from the stock bin to replace any notion of swash or buckle. The final three cues seem constructed with the best intentions of majesty in mind, and they are indeed beautiful thematic outbursts. But their lack of a crisp, spirited edge perhaps raises questions about a lackluster performance by the Los Angeles musicians. For such a massive ensemble, they often sound undersized, which could perhaps point to mixing problems. At any rate, this relatively lightweight Peter Pan score, while nearly getting off the ground in many cues, never really takes flight, and anyone comparing it to Hook will be vastly disappointed. One of the greatest ironies in film music is that the light rock portions of this score were licensed for use by Disney over several years in television advertisements for its theme park travel packages. *** Track Listings:
Total Time: 44:29
All artwork and sound clips from Peter Pan are Copyright © 2003, Varèse Sarabande. 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 12/18/03, updated 3/17/09. Review Version 4.1 - PHP (Filmtracks Publications). Copyright © 2003-2013, Christian Clemmensen. All rights reserved. |
