> Hrm, I feel like a lot of people (and I include myself) were perhaps a little *too* hard on that one. Now, I look at it as something of a transitional Score between the stuff he made before and what he proceeded to make immediately after.

The parallels between Tom in this era and Zimmer in the early/mid 90s are fascinating. Both started working with compositional collaborators who could help them realize a more orchestral sound (Pacific Heights leads to Backdraft leads to House of the Spirits and so on). Both also eventually got into animated / kid-friendly films - and, yeah, Sonic and Scoob! aren't The Lion King, but those assignments follow a similar template of genre diversification.