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Orchestrated by:
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Lawrence Ashmore
Fiachra Trench
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Release Date:
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March, 1991
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Availability:
Regular U.S. release, but the album quickly became out of print after Disney stopped its production in 1991. Valued at $60 or more.
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Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... only if you are a Patrick Doyle completist and would be
inclined to seek even one of his less mature early efforts on a rare,
shortly-produced album.
Avoid it... if you enjoy the more structurally balanced orchestral
action and comedy of Doyle's writing in subsequent years after 1991.
Filmtracks Editorial Review:
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Shipwrecked: (Patrick Doyle) It's not often that a
composer storms the mainstream of moviegoers' attention with the gusto of
Patrick Doyle; in 1989, his score for Henry V was a pleasant surprise
from out of nowhere, and immediate fans of the composer would look to
Shipwrecked about a year later, Doyle's second feature film work, for
a continuation of that quality. The project was produced in Norway under the
name of O.V. Falck-Ytter's original book, Haakon Haakonsen, and hit
the theatres there in 1990. Disney purchased the film for distribution in
America, where it debuted in March of 1991 without much fanfare. Despite the
misconception that this children's film was an animated venture, the film
was the unfortunate live-action offering alongside Beauty and the
Beast at the time, and it's no wonder why Shipwrecked (the
American name for the film) slipped by unnoticed. Despite receiving warm
reviews from critics, Shipwrecked has even been neglected fifteen
years later in the larger DVD realm, with only foreign region versions
available. The story of the film involves a young Norwegian boy of the
1850's era working on an English sailing ship as a cabin boy. After the crew
is taken over by a pirate posing as a naval officer (the always mysterious
Gabriel Byrne), the ship is sunk in a hurricane, and the boy and a young
girl who stowed away on the ship are stranded on a tropical island where
they find the hidden treasure the pirates were after. Of course, they manage
to sneak it all the way back to Norway through some ingenuity and luck. It's
a feel-good variant of the "Treasure Island" story that's decent enough to
sit any kid down in front of. After the solemn and serious Henry V,
however, Shipwrecked was quite a departure for Patrick Doyle.
Adventures similar to this one for the composer would include Into the
West and Quest for Camelot in future years. Despite the fact that
the scope of his work had been limited to radio, television, and theatre in
the 1980's, Doyle gave a valiant effort to raise the spirit of the Korngold
era of classic Hollywood swashbuckling music for Shipwrecked.
At a fundamental level, his music for Shipwrecked
suffices for the purposes of the film, but collectors of the composer's
works over the subsequent decades might find that the score is a portrait of
the composer just getting his sea legs. Like Into the West a few
years later, Doyle seems to restrain himself in the adventure genre; his
Shakespearian scores never often required the kind of swing and bombast for
such sustained lengths with a full orchestral ensemble. In light of that,
both Shipwrecked and Into the West offer Doyle with the right
idea in mind, but often without the substance in performance to back it up.
The title theme for Shipwrecked is easily its highlight, although one
major criticism that could be leveled against the work is the endless
repetition of that theme. Its excitement and flourishing string swells are
trademark Doyle in optimism and fluff. The strings would be the key to the
score, for Doyle relies upon them heavily to provide swirling effects during
both the action and the sneaking around of the kids in the film. Slapstick
effects are thankfully held to a minimum, although the plentiful woodwinds
set prancing rhythms in the lower ranks while the omnipresent flute flutters
along with the violins. The weakness of Doyle's Shipwrecked, however,
is that he assigns the strings to perform lines of theme and accompaniment
that swashbucklers usually demand from the brass. In fact, the very
diminished role of brass in the score is its eventual downfall; Doyle's
theme and upbeat underscore could very well have excelled had some of the
string performances been replaced by brass. And when horns and trumpets are
employed, such as in "Mary is Rescued," they seem to be lacking in numbers.
Without any convincing brass depth, Shipwrecked is downgraded from a
very strong composition as originally written on paper to a lightweight (of
Alan Menken proportions) in actual performance. In the end, the score is
certainly well-natured and a enjoyable 40 minutes on album. That album,
however, was printed shortly by Disney in 1991 and quickly pulled from
production. Original printed copies sold for over $60 just a couple of years
after its release, as Doyle's career became solidified. Overall, however,
unless you have expendable cash and time, the Shipwrecked album may
be one of the lesser Doyle priorities for you due to that scarcity. ***
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Viewer Ratings and Comments:
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• 1. Opening Titles (1:39)
• 2. Death of Howell (1:02)
• 3. Homecoming (0:59)
• 4. The Sheriff's Arrival (1:11)
• 5. Off to the Sea (2:02)
• 6. Scrubbing the Deck (2:22)
• 7. The Flora Departs (0:50)
• 8. Captain Madsen is Poisoned (1:54)
• 9. Hakon Finds Mary (1:12)
• 10. Mary is Rescued (1:39)
• 11. Exploring the Island (1:20)
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• 12. Dreaming of Home (1:06)
• 13. Hakon Survives a Fall (1:27)
• 14. Treasure is Found (1:06)
• 15. Building the Traps (1:51)
• 16. Hakon Builds His Boat (1:56)
• 17. Pirates Discovered (1:34)
• 18. The Chase (1:59)
• 19. Home to Norway (3:35)
• 20. End Titles - Part I (2:39)
• 21. End Titles - Part II (3:29)
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The insert includes a short description of the film, but no extra information about the score.
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