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Review of A Bug's Life (Randy Newman)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you're an expressed fan of Randy Newman's predictable,
but effectively jazzy scores and songs for animated films.
Avoid it... if Newman's sound for this genre borders on the generic for you, because A Bug's Life follows the composer's technique with precision.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
A Bug's Life: (Randy Newman) In the battle between
1998 animated features involving insects, Disney and Pixar began
production on A Bug's Life before Dreamworks did on Antz,
but the latter film beat Disney to the theatres by almost two months.
The proximity of their release dates begged countless comparisons
between all the elements of their productions, and ten years later, the
animated genre still hadn't seen anything like them. It's commonly
considered that Antz features a better vocal cast with humor
aimed more squarely at adults, while A Bug's Life is more lovable
for the children and is visually more vivid. Both plots involve unique
ants in a colony that want to make a difference or be something more,
and their trailblazing actions both help save their colony by unexpected
means. The music for the two productions can be compared directly as
well, with John Powell and Harry Gregson-Williams writing music for
Antz that, in some ways, is similar to the laid back, jazzy style
of Randy Newman, whose music for A Bug's Life, like the film,
received far more initial recognition. Both scores are typical to the
careers of their respective composers, with the Powell and
Gregson-Williams entry opening the door for several future
collaborations of equal creativity, while Newman was firmly establishing
his own style for animation in the late 1990's. It's somewhat surprising
to think back and recall that A Bug's Life was only Newman's
third score for the genre (after Toy Story and James and the
Giant Peach). His trademark song and score style for the genre was
so familiar by 1998 that this sound was already synonymous with films
like A Bug's Life.
Fans had already decided by that time to either suck up every moment of Newman's style or write it off as lame and try to ignore it. Regardless of where you fit in the equation, Newman's career was clearly at its height in 1998. He became the first person in any Hollywood field to be Oscar-nominated for three different films in three different categories in the same year. Both A Bug's Life and Pleasantville were nominated in their respective, split score categories while Newman's song for Babe 2 beat out "The Time of Your Life" from A Bug's Life for Newman's typical entry in that category. The fact that all three nominees lost was testimony to the competition and, for Newman himself, became an eventual source for jokes. Although A Bug's Life is a very effective score with a solid fan base, film score fans will likely find themselves gravitating to the more stylish sound of Antz. Only expressed fans of Randy Newman can really get into the groove of A Bug's Life, and that statement is aimed more at the somewhat tired and predictable writing style of Newman rather than the qualities of A Bug's Life itself. The main song is quite catchy, though Newman's usual slurred performance and female chorus backing will once again appeal to only his own fans. A far superior instrumental performance of this song (with snazzy percussion) was recorded within a year by Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops, available on one of their Telarc compilations. The score itself makes use of the tune from this main song several times, most notably in "Flik Leaves." One of the score's more compelling secondary themes debuts near the end of that same cue, exhibiting an adventurous Western spirit for the full orchestral ensemble and receiving significant airtime in "A Bug's Life Suite" at the end of the album. A far more infectious secondary theme accompanies Flik's (the main ant) creativity; its high swing style rumbles through "The Flik Machine" and "The City." These two rambunctious cues offer the best and most precise performances by the ensemble. Without significant integration of any of these three themes into the score's second half, the action music contained there becomes somewhat generic. The slightly Arabic tilt to the "Circus Bugs" and some notable trumpet work in the late action pieces are exceptions. As the score loses touch with Newman's main themes and jazzy sensibilities, it wanders into Carl Stalling territory and hits you with tiresome cliches from yesteryear's cartoon scores. Newman handles these well in a technical sense, but again they lack a distinct personality. Another issue that plagues the score in several places is questionable performances by the horns. In both "Flik Leaves" and "A Bug's Life Suite," the brass are a half-tone off, and while some of this technique is intentional in the performances of the song's lazy melody, these other instances sound more like flubs. It remains possible that this consistently awkward use was meant to accent the personality of Flik's character, however. Overall, A Bug's Life could leave non-Randy Newman fans cold. His jazz is predictable and his generic orchestral animation music begs for more personality. The highlights of both Newman's own Pleasantville from the same year and the competing Antz are superior to anything heard here. If you own a healthy collection of Newman's films on DVD, from Toy Story to Cars, then you will likely enjoy A Bug's Life as much as Monsters Inc. and all his related entries. And if you fall into that category, then be aware that Newman's interests released an AMPAS promo of score music from A Bug's Life that adds a handful of additional cues to the commercial release. But for listeners tired of Newman's run-of-the-mill music for animation, then approach the general enthusiasm for this score with caution. ***
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 47:32
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert contains lyrics for the song, as well as the usual Disney
advertisements for their other products, but no extra information about
the film or score.
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The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from A Bug's Life are Copyright © 1998, Walt Disney Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 2/19/99 and last updated 3/26/08. |
