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FILMTRACKS.COM
PRINTER-FRIENDLY VIEW 
Review of Peter Pan (James Newton Howard)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you enjoy James Newton Howard's usual standard of
strong orchestral and choral music for children's films.
Avoid it... if you are hoping for a thematically majestic and soaring score that can convincingly compete with John Williams' Hook on a massive scale.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
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 the "Peter Pan" concept since the silent age of Hollywood.
The beloved children's book by James M. Barrie, originally becoming
famous as a musical 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 filmmakers succeeded in relaying their loyal intentions
regarding the source material, offering a more serious version of the
tale complete with peril and gravitas that most adaptations missed, but
audiences never fully warmed to the idea. 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 overachieving 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 thereafter,
to offer an opinion about any modern Peter Pan music
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 well aware of the
immense shadow cast by Williams with Hook, a score he confesses
to revere as much as anyone.
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 that of Williams', and yet, Howard seems to have gotten caught trying to fly without sufficient 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 narrative identity or memorable personality. A somewhat weak collection of themes may be the culprit here; if any film needed melodies 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. Leading the group is the theme for flying and Peter himself, an idea initially heard in "Learning to Fly" but best rendered in "Flying," "I Do Believe in Fairies," and "The Hidden Kiss" with a touch of rock instrumental flair. This idea is a pure and solid representation of Howard at his best in the fantasy genre, and the theme was considered highly enough to be re-used in commercials even many years later. But the slew of secondary themes come and go without enough enunciation and forthright development. A pair of waltzes is apt for the concept, the one for Wendy pretty in its woodwind performances over several cues that culminate at the start of "Please Don't Die" after conveying tenderness at 0:48 into "Is That a Kiss?" The other waltz represents Tinkerbell and barely registers near the ends of "Main Titles" and "Wendy Lives." An under-utilized adventure theme in Peter Pan shows early promise as an anchor of the overall journey of the characters. It debuts with hints of swagger immediately in the first minute of "Main Title" but fails to define the necessary moments of excitement at pivotal points in the score. A handful of motifs explored in "Fairy Dance" are reiterated in the end credit arrangement but are otherwise a diversion. These themes play their due parts, the adventure and flying themes battling in "He's Mine" and Howard wrapping the lot decently at the end. Generally speaking, though, 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 and woodwind 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 was assembled by Howard at the time. Much of the middle portion of the work is sustained by a wandering, tonally easy but nondescript spirit that functions as very pleasant background material. These passages are abruptly upended by Howard's one unique touch in Peter Pan: an electric bass and popish drum rhythms. Heard in the aforementioned cues featuring the flying theme at its most obvious, this contemporary shift is followed by the full, swinging flying theme in more traditional guises, but the rock elements define the moment. The usage is not as invasive as the equivalent flashback moments in Howard's much later Jungle Cruise, but they are potentially distracting from the genre's norms. Because of the pace of many of the film's haphazard action scenes, the composer has difficulty establishing lengthy moods or thematic development in meaningful depth during these moments, short-changing the adventure theme. There is surprisingly little swaggering, swashbuckling action in Peter Pan, with Howard pulling out familiar, almost cartoonish music from the stock bin to address the action pacing as a replacement for any notion of swash or buckle. In fairness, Howard's final cues for Peter Pan seem constructed with the best intentions of majesty in mind, and they are indeed beautiful thematic outbursts. For some listeners, these moments will elevate the listening experience with their formulaic proficiency. But it takes a long time getting to those moments, and a lack of crisp, spirited edge to the performance perhaps raises questions about a lackluster, workmanlike approach to the material by the Los Angeles musicians. The woodwinds are highly emphasized in the orchestrations compared to Howard's normal sound, and while they serve their roles dutifully, few moments of engrossing solo drama emerge from their ranks. The "Fairy Dance" cue presents a sound that would evolve into a far more immersive and poignant choral atmosphere by the time of Maleficent just a few years later, maybe exhibiting that Howard's top fantasy form with these kinds of moments was still a few years away from maturing. For such a massive ensemble, the result in Peter Pan often sounds oddly undersized, which could perhaps point to artistic mixing deficiencies. This shortage of pixie dust was not significantly improved by a hefty, nearly two-hour presentation of the score by Intrada Records in 2023, following the condensed and highly rearranged 2003 product with a faithful conveyance of the full score as intended for the film by Howard. This product does illuminate the finale cues in a way that provides better closure to the narrative, but the wealth of additional cues in the middle of the score don't always offer spectacular additions. That said, the newly released cues don't necessarily detract from the experience, either, and enthusiasts of the score will appreciate their consistency. The "End Title/End Credits" assembly, featuring distinct takes or mixes of several cues from the score, is a treat, and the fuller finale cues for it are a much-needed improvement. Still, this relatively lightweight Peter Pan score, while nearly getting off the ground in many cues, never really takes flight despite its immense potential, and anyone comparing it to Hook will likely be disappointed. One of the greatest ironies in traditional fantasy film music is that the standout light rock portions of this score were licensed for use by Disney over several years in television advertisements for its theme park travel packages. In the absence of a truly memorable narrative, it's the drum kit that wins the day. ***
TRACK LISTINGS:
2003 Varèse Sarabande Album:
Total Time: 44:29
2023 Intrada Album: Total Time: 111:51
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert of the 2003 Varèse Sarabande album includes
extensive credits in a colorful booklet, but no extra information about
the score or film. That of the 2022 Intrada set contains extensive
notation about both.
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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 Peter Pan are Copyright © 2003, 2023, Varèse Sarabande, Intrada Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 12/18/03 and last updated 4/24/23. |
