I know John is usually the one to post about the new expanded score releases here, so apologies for stealing the thunder, but this is a special release for me.

It all began with the original teaser trailer, which is still one of the best I've even seen. Nothing but the opening prologue set to Howard's wonderful score. This was before I really got into film scores, so it was my first exposure to Howard, who would become one of my favorite composers.

Around the time of the film release my family also went to the new Animal Kingdom park at Disney World, featuring a ride that loosely tied to the film, originally called Countdown to Extinction, but later renamed to just Dinosaur. Sadly, it was announced earlier this year that ride was closing, to make room for a new South American themed section with attractions for Indiana Jones (cool) and Encanto (lame).

I re-watched the film about a year ago, and I still like it, although the CGI work shows it's aged and there's no denying the plot is a bit too similar to that other famous animated dinosaur film, The Land Before Time. I do appreciate the style of the CGI characters against the live action backgrounds, especially since according to the credits some of those backgrounds are from the same county where I currently live.

This is my second favorite Howard score, and even though I think the original release is still pretty good, I'm quite happy for this expanded release. This score has Howard painting with a larger palette than normal, and it's great to hear every note of it. I especially like the inclusion of the end credits which works as a suite for the many thematic ideas wrote for the score.

One question I have about this release is why it was not part of the Legacy Collection Disney was putting out in past years? I never know if that series is dead or not. Not helping matters is the fact that Dinosaur is sort of a strange hybrid of film where it's technically counted among Disney's feature animation film, but so different from the rest that it's mainly been ignored in recent years.

Intrada was releasing some expanded Disney scores a few years ago, but I feel like it's been a long time since we had one, and Disney seemed to be focused on their own limited release strategies, even for new scores. Maybe this means Intrada will have more releases for Disney scores in the future (expanded Mulan release when?), or perhaps even some other labels. Anyway, yeah, this score is fantastic, and my favorite from Disney/Howard partnership, although I think each score he did for them is great.

> I know John is usually the one to post about the new expanded score
> releases here, so apologies for stealing the thunder, but this is a
> special release for me.

> It all began with the original teaser trailer, which is still one of the
> best I've even seen. Nothing but the opening prologue set to Howard's
> wonderful score. This was before I really got into film scores, so it was
> my first exposure to Howard, who would become one of my favorite
> composers.

> Around the time of the film release my family also went to the new Animal
> Kingdom park at Disney World, featuring a ride that loosely tied to the
> film, originally called Countdown to Extinction, but later renamed to just
> Dinosaur. Sadly, it was announced earlier this year that ride was closing,
> to make room for a new South American themed section with attractions for
> Indiana Jones (cool) and Encanto (lame).

> I re-watched the film about a year ago, and I still like it, although the
> CGI work shows it's aged and there's no denying the plot is a bit too
> similar to that other famous animated dinosaur film, The Land Before Time.
> I do appreciate the style of the CGI characters against the live action
> backgrounds, especially since according to the credits some of those
> backgrounds are from the same county where I currently live.

> This is my second favorite Howard score, and even though I think the
> original release is still pretty good, I'm quite happy for this expanded
> release. This score has Howard painting with a larger palette than normal,
> and it's great to hear every note of it. I especially like the inclusion
> of the end credits which works as a suite for the many thematic ideas
> wrote for the score.

> One question I have about this release is why it was not part of the
> Legacy Collection Disney was putting out in past years? I never know if
> that series is dead or not. Not helping matters is the fact that Dinosaur
> is sort of a strange hybrid of film where it's technically counted among
> Disney's feature animation film, but so different from the rest that it's
> mainly been ignored in recent years.

> Intrada was releasing some expanded Disney scores a few years ago, but I
> feel like it's been a long time since we had one, and Disney seemed to be
> focused on their own limited release strategies, even for new scores.
> Maybe this means Intrada will have more releases for Disney scores in the
> future (expanded Mulan release when?), or perhaps even some other labels.
> Anyway, yeah, this score is fantastic, and my favorite from Disney/Howard
> partnership, although I think each score he did for them is great.

Randy Thornton has indicated the line is still active:

https://dvdizzy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=776597&sid=794ab2f29f605a323609430bf2df1135#p776597

Possibly Sword in the Stone.

> Randy Thornton has indicated the line is still active:

>
> https://dvdizzy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=776597&sid=794ab2f29f605a323609430bf2df1135#p776597

> Possibly Sword in the Stone.

Mercy above, what I wouldn't give for a (presumably score *and* songs) release of The Sword in the Stone.

> Randy Thornton has indicated the line is still active:

>
> https://dvdizzy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=776597&sid=794ab2f29f605a323609430bf2df1135#p776597

> Possibly Sword in the Stone.

As one of the few Disney animated films that I don't think ever had a full official score release, this would indeed be awesome.

According to discussion on the Film Score Monthly forum, there’s an audio issue with this release, specifically the End Credits track. Have you noticed anything amiss? The FSM forum is a cesspool of insufferable negativity, so I’m disinclined to take anything anyone says there seriously.

> The FSM forum is a cesspool of insufferable
> negativity, so I’m disinclined to take anything anyone says there
> seriously.

Just like to say I concur with this.

Way back in early 2010's/late 2000's I used to lurk around both the Scoreboard and the FSM board. Some of the intensive tech talk and minutia nitpicking on FSM was interesting to read, but I quickly gathered that most of the posters were, as the phrasing goes in the American South, "Old Coots" who had a lifelong grudge against anything released post 1985 and would rather complain (VERY loudly and consistently) than anything else.

So I finally decided to join y'all instead.

End of Rabbit Trailing

> According to discussion on the Film Score Monthly forum, there’s an audio
> issue with this release, specifically the End Credits track. Have you
> noticed anything amiss? The FSM forum is a cesspool of insufferable
> negativity, so I’m disinclined to take anything anyone says there
> seriously.

There seems to be a bit of a Haas effect on the percussion (perhaps the ambience mics) in the end credits, it's not great, but it's not the worst.

(Message edited on Saturday, October 19, 2024, at 7:19 p.m.)

I could be misremembering but I seem to recall a complaint in one of the facebook soundtrack groups where Roger explained that they had deliberately chosen an alternate take to include instead of repeating identical music. Or something like that? Or maybe it was a different recent score? A quick search hasn't yielded anything because FB's search engine is even worse than google's.

Intrada claimed to have used a different take for the Raptors reprise portion of the end credits, including in the alternate versions in the bonus section. The percussion may sound a bit different to audiophiles during 20 or so seconds of it. Yes, that's the whole thing.

Remarkable that this kerfuffle is about a small section of a 6 minute end credits track, only a minute or two of which contains net new material with none of that affected by the aforementioned sound issue.

People got over the other issue - the omission of the short Pushing and Shoving, which made the bootleg - once it became clear a) it wasn't contained in the materials Intrada received and b) it was probably demo that never made it to the recording phase. Though quite frankly if the alternate version of The Trek in the Extras isn't a demo I'll eat my hat, as that sounds much more sampled than the finished product does.

> I know John is usually the one to post about the new expanded score releases here, so apologies for stealing the thunder, but this is a special release for me.

No apologies required sir!

And besides, I wouldn't have been able to come anywhere close to your nostalgic overview of the film & score, in part because I have never actually sat down and watched the film start to finish.

> This is my second favorite Howard score, and even though I think the original release is still pretty good, I'm quite happy for this expanded release. This score has Howard painting with a larger palette than normal, and it's great to hear every note of it. I especially like the inclusion of the end credits which works as a suite for the many thematic ideas wrote for the score.

There's about 25-30 minutes of additional score here (nearly all of it covered on the long-ago leaked bootleg program), plus some bonus tracks, and one could argue that Howard got nearly all of his thematic highlights on the original album program. The major exception to that is the complete Raptors / Aladar Meets the Herd, which unleashes the first percussive appearance of the herd theme in an exciting action stretch that really should've made the main release; on the original album Howard instead combined the first 50 seconds with the climactic carnotaur fight music, which admittedly does cover similar terrain.

Aladar Meets the Misfits / The Herd Prepares briefly drops in new takes on the main theme and Neera's tune and also serves as the martial introduction to Kron's plodding theme, which may have actually been left off the main album. The dramatic swells of Kron Moves the Herd are attractive. A Dead End is brief but wondrous. Carnotaur Attack, Playing Monsters, and Enough for Everyone extend the chaotic action sound already established in other tracks. A few other less distinctive passages extend feelings of mystery and warmth.

The 6-minute end credits has received plenty of attention on other boards already. It's a mix of new theme arrangements and cut-and-paste applications from the rest of the score, including an alternate take on the Raptors action that Intrada selected where the drums don't quite match what you hear in the film version. You'll have to decide if those 20 or so affected seconds are make-or-break for you.

On the whole, the expansion isn't quite on the level of LLL's Wyatt Earp set (where the additional variations on secondary themes revealed a fuller work) but maybe more like that label's Waterworld (one major action piece added, the rest not terribly derivative). Tim Greiving's liner notes are informative and entertaining, with plenty of new comments from the composer including his amusing instructions for the choir.

****1/2

> Maybe this means Intrada will have more releases for Disney scores in the future (expanded Mulan release when?), or perhaps even some other labels. Anyway, yeah, this score is fantastic, and my favorite from Disney/Howard partnership, although I think each score he did for them is great.

My hope is that Atlantis, my favorite of the three he did for them, is around the corner.

(Message edited on Monday, October 21, 2024, at 2:38 p.m.)

> No apologies required sir!

> And besides, I wouldn't have been able to come anywhere close to your
> nostalgic overview of the film & score, in part because I have never
> actually sat down and watched the film start to finish.

Thanks. As I mentioned in original post, the film is a bit of an odd anomaly in Disney's animation history, which at the very least makes it interesting.

> There's about 25-30 minutes of additional score here (nearly all of it
> covered on the long-ago leaked bootleg program), plus some bonus tracks,
> and one could argue that Howard got nearly all of his thematic highlights
> on the original album program. The major exception to that is the complete
> Raptors / Aladar Meets the Herd, which unleashes the first
> percussive appearance of the herd theme in an exciting action stretch that
> really should've made the main release; on the original album Howard
> instead combined the first 50 seconds with the climactic carnotaur fight
> music, which admittedly does cover similar terrain.

I never heard the bootleg, but I did copy the Carnotaur attack cue into the sequence of where the herd meeting was when I burned the CD to my computer.

> Aladar Meets the Misfits / The Herd Prepares briefly drops
> in new takes on the main theme and Neera's tune and also serves as the
> martial introduction to Kron's plodding theme, which may have actually
> been left off the main album. The dramatic swells of Kron Moves the
> Herd are attractive. A Dead End is brief but wondrous.
> Carnotaur Attack, Playing Monsters, and Enough for
> Everyone extend the chaotic action sound already established in other
> tracks. A few other less distinctive passages extend feelings of mystery
> and warmth.

> The 6-minute end credits has received plenty of attention on other boards
> already. It's a mix of new theme arrangements and cut-and-paste
> applications from the rest of the score, including an alternate take on
> the Raptors action that Intrada selected where the drums don't
> quite match what you hear in the film version. You'll have to decide if
> those 20 or so affected seconds are make-or-break for you.

I didn't read the other boards, so it was news to me about this issue until I made my post and saw some responses. Much ado about nothing, it seems to me.

> On the whole, the expansion isn't quite on the level of LLL's Wyatt
> Earp set (where the additional variations on secondary themes revealed
> a fuller work) but maybe more like that label's Waterworld (one
> major action piece added, the rest not terribly derivative). Tim
> Greiving's liner notes are informative and entertaining, with plenty of
> new comments from the composer including his amusing instructions for the
> choir.

Yeah, this wasn't a score crying out for an expansion, but I think fans of Howard, and this score in particular, will appreciate it.

> ****1/2

> My hope is that Atlantis, my favorite of the three he did for them,
> is around the corner.

How awesome would it be if Disney made a live action remake of Atlantis and brought Howard back to score it? That's about the only live action remake of a Disney animated film that would interest me. I also think there could be enough material to make a trilogy out of the story.

> I didn't read the other boards, so it was news to me about this issue
> until I made my post and saw some responses. Much ado about nothing, it
> seems to me.

TBF it seems to me to be a sort of reaction to a perceived pattern of past behavior in reaction to "criticism".

> How awesome would it be if Disney made a live action remake of Atlantis and brought Howard back to score it? That's about the only live action remake of a Disney animated film that would interest me. I also think there could be enough material to make a trilogy out of the story.

I agree that Atlantis does feel like it's in a big hurry to get through its story; you read tales of the concept's original ambitions and wonder if the studio would have more of an appetite for something like that now.

But if Disney can't get a freakin' David Fincher 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea out of moorings, then this too is probably a pipe dream.