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| Howard |
Peter Pan: (James Newton Howard) As surprising at
it may have been in 2003, there had never been a full, live-action film
adaptation of
Peter Pan since the silent age of Hollywood. The
beloved children's book by James M. Barrie, originally becoming famous
as a stage production, had more recently inspired a 1953 animated Disney
movie, a Broadway play, television spin-offs, and a 1991 Steven
Spielberg sequel (of sorts). Pooling their resources and presenting a
cast without any big name stars, Columbia and Universal were counting on
the special effects magic and a return to the authenticity of original
story to propel their film during a late 2003 season that was largely
devoid of any other spectacular children's films. The story of
Peter
Pan is well known for its broad strokes of fantasy and adventure,
offering any composer a magical opportunity to soar over the speakers of
the big screen. Film score collectors cannot discuss the merits of
musical ideas for the classic story without repeating due praise for
John Williams' 1991 score for
Hook, a masterpiece of orchestral
magnificence that continued to impress long after the utter failure of
the film itself. So total and influential is Williams' score that today,
to offer an opinion about any modern
Peter Pan score
automatically demands a comparison between it and Williams' ever-popular
work. As film music enthusiasts also know, James Newton Howard is no
slouch, and if anyone could capture the same majestic spirit of the
story, he would be a good candidate. Howard was hired for
Peter
Pan just after a series of very successful animated children's film
scores he wrote as part of a three-picture contract with Disney,
including
Dinosaur,
Atlantis: The Lost Empire, and
Treasure Planet, for which he provided orchestral themes and
soaring character that solidified his standing in the genre. Not to
disappoint, Howard expanded the size of the Hollywood Studio Symphony to
nearly its fullest capacity for
Peter Pan, adding a large adult
chorus and decently sized children's choir to the mix. The table was set
for a
Peter Pan score to rival John Williams', and yet, Howard
seems to have gotten caught trying to fly without pixie dust.
This isn't to say that Howard plunged straight to the
street from an upper level window, but his music for
Peter Pan
skips along with a grand vision and makes all the right moves while
somehow failing to build itself a convincing identity or memorable
personality. A somewhat weak collection of themes may be the culprit
here; if any film needed themes of splendor and adventure on an elevated
scale,
Peter Pan would be the one. Howard indeed provides plenty
of thematic ideas for Peter, Tinkerbell, Hook, and others, but none of
them is performed with the gusto and energy necessary to carry your
imagination. If you are looking for brassy statements of elegance like
those heard in the original trailer music for
Hook, then you'll
be disappointed, because Howard has taken a less extroverted approach to
his magic. The score tingles with pleasant rhythms and string themes but
stops short of exploding with the kind of sustained magic necessary.
Even the choirs for children and adults are restrained from the spirit
of the awe-inspiring statements of harmony in
Atlantis, which is
an even greater disappointment given the rarity with which an ensemble
like this is assembled. The middle portion of the album is sustained by
a wandering harmonic spirit that functions as very pleasant background
material. This section is abruptly ended by Howard's one unique touch in
Peter Pan: an electric bass and popish drum rhythm. Heard in
"Flying" and "I Do Believe in Fairies," this contemporary motif is
followed by the full, swinging title theme. There is surprisingly little
swaggering, swashbuckling action in
Peter Pan, with Howard
pulling out familiar, almost cartoonish music from the stock bin to
replace any notion of swash or buckle. The final three cues seem
constructed with the best intentions of majesty in mind, and they are
indeed beautiful thematic outbursts. But their lack of a crisp, spirited
edge perhaps raises questions about a lackluster performance by the Los
Angeles musicians. For such a massive ensemble, they often sound
undersized, which could perhaps point to mixing problems. At any rate,
this relatively lightweight
Peter Pan score, while nearly getting
off the ground in many cues, never really takes flight, and anyone
comparing it to
Hook will be vastly disappointed. One of the
greatest ironies in film music is that the light rock portions of this
score were licensed for use by Disney over several years in television
advertisements for its theme park travel packages.
*** @Amazon.com: CD or
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| Bias Check: |
For James Newton Howard reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.4
(in 65 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.41
(in 78,850 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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The insert includes extensive credits in a colorful booklet, but no extra information
about the score or film.
