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Review of The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle (Mark Mothersbaugh)

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... if you listen to John Debney's hyperactive parody scores regularly, because Mark Mothersbaugh's score for this film is very similar in its tone and substance.

Avoid it... if orchestrally and electronically inconsistent parody scores that change direction every thirty seconds are too fragmented for your tolerance.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle: (Mark Mothersbaugh) With a fond following of nostalgic fans of the original television series featuring Rocky and Bullwinkle, it was inevitable that the two would end up in a digitally rendered live-action film. Director Des McAnuff makes ample connections to the television show (including the 80-year old voice of June Foray as Rocky), and Renee Russo, Jason Alexander, Robert DeNiro overact with zeal in the roles of the Fearless Leader and his cohorts, Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale. Like many other cartoons gone live, though, Universal's summer 2000 adaptation of The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle was no less a disaster. The mixture of the animated characters with the live action photography is clumsy and no quantity of cameo appearances by famous actors and cute in-jokes in the script could sustain 90 minutes of a concept that never ran as remotely long on the small screen. Ultimately, the film was an embarrassment to its talented cast, and with consistently wretched reviews, The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle spiraled out of the public light before it could even be adequately marketed. Consequently obscured, therefore, is the film's score by Mark Mothersbaugh, whose credits have included more than his fair share of similar parody projects, including the just previous Rugrats film, which fared a bit better at the box office. With one listen to the score for The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, it is easy to understand what went wrong with the movie. Few film scores are so saturated in the parody genre that their corny style and slapstick attitude make for a nearly intolerable listening experience, with an exaggerated punchline of an unpredictable nature waiting for your ears every thirty seconds.

Technically, there's nothing to really fault with the effort that Mothersbaugh put into this project, but its accuracy in conveying the fractured attention of the script will test anybody's patience when separated from the visuals. As you can expect, the score's recording was divided into a massive jumble of countless dozens of frightfully short cues. There proves to be very little need for the composer to conjure new thematic material for The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, and he instead accentuates the silly and optimistic tone of his orchestral filler material by quoting famous melodies by others. The original "Rocky, The Flying Squirrel" theme by Frank Comstock is rearranged enthusiastically by Mothersbaugh and put to extensive use throughout the score, serving understandably as the title identity. Other themes are used for individual transitions and one-liners, including "Hooray for Hollywood," "America the Beautiful," "Secret Agent Man," and others. These interpolations are presented front and center, meant for the obvious comedic value they could offer to the film. Mothersbaugh's original cues, which are sometimes pieced together to form five or so minutes of material absent of any borrowing, are very reminiscent of the style of John Debney for such similar flops as Inspector Gadget and My Favorite Martian at roughly the same time. A reasonably sized studio orchestra is combined with a wide range of electronic effects to form the petty and often prancing foundation of the score. Synthetic loops are sometimes used to set a shallow rhythm with a slightly cool touch. A light choir is employed to accentuate a few short-lived moments of wonderment.

Occasionally, Mothersbaugh lets the players rip with full ensemble performances of a bar or two of rhythmically propulsive music, making for thirty to fifty seconds of satisfyingly consistent material. These moments, mostly contained in the consecutive "The Green Light" and "Frenetical Action/Green Light Shines" (and, to a lesser extent, "Rocky and Bullwinkle Save the Day"), are greatly outnumbered by the ridiculous slapstick cues that occupy the rest of the work. The pop song at the end, tailored to the theme of the film and performed by Lisa McClowry, is an undemanding highlight. The construction of the album took some work in order to piece so many very short cues into any semblance of a listenable format. For the most part, these splices are not recognizable, and their assembly should be commended; the only sharp cut to conclude a cue exists at the end of the "Secret Agent Man" statement. The album is a promotional release by the now defunct Super Tracks group, never being widely available. The product does certainly suffice as a mighty testament to Mothersbaugh's abilities, however, and it will be of interest to listeners who regularly enjoy Debney's similar parody sensibilities. The majority of film score collectors (and even those nostalgic for the original show's theme) will likely be highly annoyed by the cliche-ridden music that sustains no mood from minute to minute. The album does prove that with his talents, Mothersbaugh could very easily have composed something resembling the complexity of Chicken Run had the opportunity for more mainstream work come his way, but unfortunately the composer's career never headed in that direction.  ***

TRACK LISTINGS:

Total Time: 38:08

• 1. Logo & Opening Titles* (0:50) • 2. Hard Times in Frostbite Falls (0:51) • 3. Rocky: The Flying Squirrel (0:34) • 4. From Pottsylvania to Hollywood* (1:38) • 5. The Green Light (2:26) • 6. Frenetical Action/Green Light Shines* (1:00) • 7. On the Highway/The Test Machine* (1:00) • 8. Zombie Drone/Secret Agent Man* (1:15) • 9. Fearless Leader/Boris Badenov* (1:31) • 10. Boris and Natasha (0:52) • 11. The Bitter End* (1:17)

• 12. Zombified People/Big Action* (2:20) • 13. Implausibly Coincidental (0:50) • 14. Chase on the Runway/Hang On!* (3:17) • 15. Hail, Hail Pottsylvania* (0:44) • 16. Put Your Hands Up!/Vegomatic (5:16) • 17. Rocky and Bullwinkle Save the Day* (4:40) • 18. "America the Beautiful"* (1:10) • 19. A Really Happy Ending* (1:56) • 20. Through the Eyes of a Child* (4:31)

NOTES & QUOTES:

The insert includes no extra information about the score or film.

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