Buy it... if you seek an impressive preview of Jerry Goldsmith's future
wealth of strong music for fantasy and animated films.
Avoid it... if more of a dynamic and powerful spirit is what you seek
in your Goldsmith material.
Filmtracks Editorial Review:
Goldsmith
The Secret of N.I.M.H.: (Jerry Goldsmith) Animated
films were undergoing a significant change in the 1980's, one which would
eventually lead to the vast business of made-for-video animated pictures for
small children. For a long time, Disney held a grip on the large-scale,
animated film industry, but by the time The Little Mermaid revived
their dominance in 1989, several offshoots of the industry were thriving.
One such offshoot was Don Bluth, who had been a Disney animator until 1979,
when he started his own animation business. Eventually, he would be best
known for bringing to life the An American Tail and The Land
Before Time series. One of his early efforts was the animated adaptation
of "The Story of N.I.M.H.," the tale of rats (made intelligent in human
laboratories) who escape and try to make a community life for themselves in
the wild. Bluth certainly succeeded in stealing some attention from Disney,
with his film The Secret of N.I.M.H. meeting with critical and
popular success. One of the reasons for this positive response was the score
by Jerry Goldsmith. The early to mid-1980's were a remarkable time in
Goldsmith's career (and some will argue that it was the best), and The
Secret of N.I.M.H. was a departure for the veteran composer into a realm
which he had not yet explored: animation. In fact, his body of work was
limited on the children's front, with the majority of attention paid to him
for his horror, science-fiction, and war drama scores at the time.
Goldsmith admits that he at first did not know how to go
about scoring the film, remarking that animated films require a different
role for the music than live action films. His solution was to treat The
Secret of N.I.M.H. as though it were a live action project. Still,
Goldsmith also notes that animated films need a great continuity in music to
help ease the quick transitions between scenes and angles. Thus, the end
result of his work for The Secret of N.I.M.H. is a score that does
not play like a post-2000 animated film score. There are no jumpy phrases,
sudden blasts, or joke-line crescendos. Instead, he tackles the score with
the same lengthy cue structure as Poltergeist or Star Trek: The
Motion Picture, with the music taking its good time building up to
action sequences and then letting off its steam slowly. Sparingly mixed into
the orchestral performance by the National Philharmonic Orchestra is The
Ambrosian Singers, a usual group of collaborators with the composer. The
choral use is expected and not of particular note, though the orchestra's
recording is crisp and surprisingly clear in the upper brass regions during
elevated action cues. The consistency aids and hinders the score, not
allowing Goldsmith to pull out all the plugs as would for
Legend.
For many listeners, however, the most memorable aspect of
The Secret of N.I.M.H. is the "Flying Dreams" song. Written by
Goldsmith, the song is performed by Paul Williams, whose lazy voice melds
perfectly into the fantasy genre. The theme from the song is adapted
throughout the score, with additional vocal performances and several dynamic
statements. The finale and end title cue offers the same gentle and lyrical
treatment of theme that existed at the end of Poltergeist, but
without the choir. The score was released on identical LP and CD formats,
being one of the very early Japanese-pressed Varèse Sarabande CDs
(complete with a piece of foam over the center of the CD in its packaging).
Eventually, in 1994, Varèse Sarabande re-pressed the album with
different artwork and notes, and took the opportunity to reorder the tracks
into their natural progression. The original CD is long out of print and
difficult to find, but the 1994 release has identical contents overall and
decent sound quality. Goldsmith fans may be disappointed by the lack of a
true dynamic spirit to many parts of this score, but you cannot discount the
number of people who became fans of Jerry Goldsmith the day they heard
The Secret of N.I.M.H.. ****
• 1. Main Title (3:14)
• 2. The Tractor (2:58)
• 3. The Sentry Reel/Story of N.I.M.H. (6:04)
• 4. Step Inside my House (4:41)
• 5. The House Raising (4:34)
• 6. Moving Day (7:56)
• 7. No Thanks (2:01)
• 8. Allergic Reaction/Athletic Type (2:41)
• 9. Flying Dreams - Lullaby (3:17) - performed by Sally Stevens
• 10. Escape from NIMH/In Disguise (4:59)
• 11. Flying High/End Title (2:41)
• 12. Flying Dreams (3:25) - performed by Paul Williams
Track Listings (1994 Album:):
Total Time: 49:05
• 1. Main Title (3:13)
• 2. Allergic Reaction/Athletic Type (2:40)
• 3. Flying Dreams - Lullaby (3:45) - performed by Sally Stevens
• 4. The Tractor (2:58)
• 5. The Sentry Reel/The Story of N.I.M.H. (6:03)
• 6. Escape from N.I.M.H./In Disguise (4:58)
• 7. Flying Dreams (3:21) - performed by Paul Williams
• 8. Step Inside my House (4:40)
• 9. No Thanks (2:01)
• 10. Moving Day (7:57)
• 11. The House Rising (4:33)
• 12. Flying High/End Title (2:38)
Notes and Quotes:
Both albums feature notes about Goldsmith's career up to the date of pressing.
