(The following donated review by Jon Turner was moved by Filmtracks to this comment section in June, 2008)
Dinosaur: (James Newton Howard) In many ways, Dinosaur charts a
new direction for Disney, both in terms of animated films and music soundtrack
albums. With the exception of The Black Cauldron and The Rescuers
Down Under, all of the soundtracks from Disney's animated films were
musicals. This format has proven to be very
successful, although things like this cannot last forever. Probably beginning
to notice the fact that more non-musical animated films are currently attracting
more attention than even the Disney films of the past, this probably explains
why Dinosaur is a non-musical.
Disney's soundtrack albums haven't really featured a whole lot of the scores
from its animated films (even though there were some exceptions), and it feels
like a breath of fresh air that Disney is finally releasing a score-only album
to its recent animated film. Well, actually, their first in-house computer
animated film. And it's a non-musical. And the music
packed inside this 52 minute album, contributed by James Newton Howard, is
anything but destined to go the way of the dinosaur.
For the score to Dinosaur, James Newton Howard employs a full symphony
orchestra, a few keyboards, and a chorus. The result is a rich full sound that
is definitely not normally something you'd hear in a typical Disney soundtrack.
In addition, there are a few primitive percussion instruments, and a lot of
really impressive choral chanting, particularly on tracks 2, 4, 14, and 16.
There are moments where we hear a few synthesizers, but they work beautifully
with the orchestration. There is a very brief moment on track 7 where we get to
hear some really fast - and awesome - percussion beating. Yes, it's brief, but
its still very impressive to hear something like this in any score.
The whole score sounds like a combination of The Land Before Time and
The Lion King. This shows tremendously throughout the whole album, from the lovely
lyrical moments on track 1 to the furiously exciting action cues on some of the later tracks.
Track 7 in particular is arguably one of the most exciting cues I'e ever heard in a Disney
soundtrack aside from the battle music in
Mulan. There are some moments when the music is dissonant - and eerie -
but I guess that's to conjure up a feeling of suspense for some of
the more intense scenes in the film. A score has to contain themes in order to
work well, but as I listened, I heard a vast number of themes introduced
carefully in the opening tracks, then hinted as the score moves on.
My one puzzlement is that Howard seems somewhat indecisive when it comes to
using a chorus. There are moments when the choir sounds African when they do
chanting (incidentally, Lebo M, responsible for the choir vocals in The Lion
King, worked on this soundtrack as well). Such shifting seems somewhat
jarring, especially since at other times the chorus sounds more like people
humming or 'ooing' along in the backround, like a church choir. But on the
other hand, this switching of styles makes this score interesting to listen
to.
All in all, Dinosaur is a soundtrack album that isn't just worthy of the
name Disney. Some could mistake this for coming from a dramatic or a
science-fiction flick. Mulan fell into the category of almost getting mistaken
for a dramatic score, and Dinosaur does the same thing. It's really
impressive to say something like that about a score to come from Disney,
especially when one looks back at the scores that are in their past films.
Credit, of course, should go to James Newton Howard for making this score spin.
If you think Disney's soundtracks are just lame and forgettable, give this one a
try. Jampacked with enough themes, action, and loveliness, Dinosaur
should satisfy die-hard score collectors, and grown-up fans of Disney. (It was
even included in the trailers for the movie - a sign that Disney is also proud
of this score as well.) Now if only the album was a little bit more
longer. ****
