> Whereas the 1980s were fertile ground for animation director Don Bluth,
> the 1990s turned into a creative wasteland, with nearly all of his films
> becoming critical and commercial failures (the sole exception being 1997’s
> Anastasia musical). Rock-a-Doodle, his animated conversion
> of the famed comedic play Chantecler into a rooster Elvis tale, was the
> first of his movies to be released in that decade. The film was originally
> planned to come out in 1990 but financing difficulties delayed its release
> until fall 1991 in Europe, with an American release pushed to spring 1992
> to avoid Beauty and the Beast and the sequel to An American
> Tail. That shuffling still put the movie out in a crowded family movie
> space with the disruptive dog comedy Beethoven getting released in
> the same weekend, FernGully set to come out the following week, and
> Beauty and the Beast still raking in dollars after over 20
> weeks in theaters - and the competition didn’t make critics any kinder
> anyway.
> Robert Folk had a tremendous run in the early 1990s, with 1991 alone
> having his music accompany Beastmaster 2, Toy Soldiers, the
> U.S. release of The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter, and the
> European release of this film. His work for this film is perhaps the
> halfway point between the longer-lined material Jerry Goldsmith and James
> Horner wrote for animation scores in the prior decade (the Goldsmith
> influence as apparent as it was in Beastmaster 2) and the zanier
> Mickey Mousing music Randy Newman would put in Pixar films in the years to
> come - in essence toggling between The Secret of NIMH and Carl
> Stalling. The tension between those two modes may diminish the score for
> some, at least as a standalone listen, but those not put off by its
> instrumental density or occasional hyperactivity will find plenty to
> enjoy, and the occasional harmonica usage will appeal to those who like
> how Goldsmith deployed the instrument in various earlier
> Americana-flavored scores.
> What’s bizarre about the whole contraption is that Folk’s music is a world
> away from the 20 minutes of songs written and arranged by T.J. Kuenster, a
> longtime music director for the legendary country music singer Glen
> Campbell who also secured Campbell’s voice acting for the lead role. Most
> of them are akin to the Elvis-like nature of the protagonist but all of
> them are essentially impossible to appreciate outside of the film, even
> with Christopher Plummer clearly having a ball singing the villain parts.
> For a long time these songs were the only representation of the film’s
> music on any album. MovieScore Media and Quartet Records finally rectified
> this in January with the release of Folk’s score alongside Kuenster’s
> songs, though thankfully the labels had the good sense to not weave the
> two into a chronological program that would’ve had listeners’ heads on
> swivels. Daniel Schweiger’s informative liner notes feature extensive
> comments from both contributors, though if you don’t want to throw down
> for a CD the album is also on U.S. digital / streaming services.
> Score: ***½
> Songs: **½
This movie is suuuuuper nostalgic for me - for a big chunk of my childhood years it was one of my most favourite flicks, probably watched it more times than any other Disney movie (minus Aladdin and Lion King) combined. Loved it. Such an odd flick, but still pretty fun.
I'd say your ratings are probably pretty accurate. I'd rank the songs higher primarily because of that awesome banger of an opening tune, which I can still sing word for word right now. Score is also very good, though I haven't heard it out of context yet.
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