Finding Nemo
Thomas Newman
" 40 tracks to present a fun time, I wished it was 20 tracks for an even better time "Written by Thomas Glorieux - Review of the regular release
Pixar Animations have become a household name with audiences, and a money making machine in Hollywood. Of the 13 movies they have delivered today, 12 of them were critically and financially successful. The only exception was Cars 2. Though financially the 13rd box office hit in a row, it wasn't as highly regarded as all the rest. So, it is easy to put Finding Nemo in the midst of all this, remaining one of the very best the men from Pixar have ever delivered. And now people have the chance to re experience it this fall in 3D. No matter your feelings towards 3D, Finding Nemo is surely a movie to experience in the best possible way. Blu-ray, the cinema or in 3D. You sea for yourself.
Now, Finding Nemo became the first score Thomas Newman did for Pixar. His cousin Randy Newman did the 4 Pixar movies before him, and now it was the chance for Thomas to put him on the list of those famous Pixar collaborators. Time will tell if David Newman ever gets a stab at this highly regarded list. But for Thomas Newman, 2003 was surely a year to remember, because he not only delivered one of the finest scores of him yet (Angels in America), 2003 also gave him his 6th Oscar nomination for Finding Nemo in his career. Naturally for Thomas, he lost. And all things considering, Finding Nemo is not LOTR: The Return of the King.
But Finding Nemo is surely a lovely score, albeit typically Thomas Newman. And for the record, extremely frustrating from a musical point of view. 40 tracks in a 60 minute listen, with the longest track of Thomas Newman being 2.31 seconds long, that makes it virtually impossible to develop some kind of a musical idea for this score. Personality this score has in abundance, as do all the Thomas Newman scores. But a developing idea, that's hardly here, especially considering the enormous diversity of all the characters and especially pace of the movie. The moments that do make an impression are saved because of Thomas' remarkable gift for melody.
Besides, Thomas Newman does more with seconds than other composers with minutes, and Finding Nemo is such a score. Everything is here, emotion, hope, danger, drama, beauty, quirkiness, it's basically what Thomas Newman stands for. But no matter the effect in the film and the fun on disc, it's hard to think back once you finished playing it. For that it fails to deliver a lasting impression.
Fun moments aplenty though. We have of course the lovely main theme that literally cries out for a longer version in "Nemo Egg (Main Title)", "News Travels", "Finding Nemo" and "Fronds like These", we have a brief but powerful heroic fanfare for the heroism of the father in "Darla Filth Offramp" and "Swim Down" (even powerfully dark in "Time to Let Go"), we have diverse musical ideas for different characters (Dorie receives fast strings maneuvers in "Short-Term Dory", rock and roll music supports the sea turtle Crush (aka voiced by director Andrew Stanton in "The Turtle Lope" and weird musical effects color the pelican Nigel in "Pelicans"), we have various moments of atonality that brings out the boldest Thomas Newman in "Barracuda", "The Divers", "Friends Not Food", "Time to Let Go" (which has fantastic trumpet work) and "Fish in my Hair", and in the end we also have Thomas Newman being Thomas Newman (suspenseful use of the piano in "Lost" and "Fishing Grounds", playful scherzos in "Jellyfish Forest" and "...P. Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney...", and even a Mission Impossible sound a like in "Foolproof".
In short, Finding Nemo keeps you satisfied for the duration of the score. In long, Finding Nemo makes you realize this hasn't got a lasting effect. No matter the musical brilliance in 30 second to 2 minute tracks, no sign of development and hardly a moment of everlasting brilliance can be found here. The ideas are present, but they are given no chance to develop. And that utterly lovely main theme is perhaps the best possible example of that non existing development. Finding Nemo is here to please you, but remains one of those Oscar nominations which I think differently off. In fact, Randy Newman received such hard criticism for his Oscar nomination A Bug's Life, but that score at least had the time to deliver a couple of tracks you ought to remember. Finding Nemo has sadly very little of that.
Track Listing
1. Wow (2.31)
2. Barracuda (1.29)
3. Nemo Egg (Main Title) (1.16)
4. First Day (1.15)
5. Field Trip (0.57)
6. Mr. Ray Scientist (1.28)
7. The Divers (1.56)
8. Lost (1.03)
9. Short-Term Dory (0.43)
10. Why Trust A Shark? (1.17)
11. Friends Not Food (1.51)
12. Fish-O-Rama (0.29)
13. Gill (1.40)
14. Mt. Wannahockaloogie (1.20)
15. Foolproof (0.32)
16. Squishy (1.32)
17. Jellyfish Forest (1.32)
18. Stay Awake (1.47)
19. School of Fish (1.03)
20. Filter Attempt (2.05)
21. The Turtle Lope (2.04)
22. Curl Away my Son (1.28)
23. News Travels (1.13)
24. The Little Clownfish from the Reef (1.15)
25. Darla Filth Offramp (2.22)
26. Lost in Fog (1.05)
27. Scum Angel (1.22)
28. Haiku (1.41)
29. Time to Let Go (2.22)
30. Sydney Harbour (0.28)
31. Pelicans (1.12)
32. Drill (0.50)
33. Fish in my Hair (1.29)
34. All Drains Lead to the Ocean (1.36)
35. ...P. Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney... (0.39)
36. Fishing Grounds (1.41)
37. Swim Down (1.46)
38. Finding Nemo (1.19)
39. Fronds like These (1.57)
40. Beyond the Sea: Robbie Williams (4.26)
Total Length: 60.01
Now, Finding Nemo became the first score Thomas Newman did for Pixar. His cousin Randy Newman did the 4 Pixar movies before him, and now it was the chance for Thomas to put him on the list of those famous Pixar collaborators. Time will tell if David Newman ever gets a stab at this highly regarded list. But for Thomas Newman, 2003 was surely a year to remember, because he not only delivered one of the finest scores of him yet (Angels in America), 2003 also gave him his 6th Oscar nomination for Finding Nemo in his career. Naturally for Thomas, he lost. And all things considering, Finding Nemo is not LOTR: The Return of the King.
But Finding Nemo is surely a lovely score, albeit typically Thomas Newman. And for the record, extremely frustrating from a musical point of view. 40 tracks in a 60 minute listen, with the longest track of Thomas Newman being 2.31 seconds long, that makes it virtually impossible to develop some kind of a musical idea for this score. Personality this score has in abundance, as do all the Thomas Newman scores. But a developing idea, that's hardly here, especially considering the enormous diversity of all the characters and especially pace of the movie. The moments that do make an impression are saved because of Thomas' remarkable gift for melody.
Besides, Thomas Newman does more with seconds than other composers with minutes, and Finding Nemo is such a score. Everything is here, emotion, hope, danger, drama, beauty, quirkiness, it's basically what Thomas Newman stands for. But no matter the effect in the film and the fun on disc, it's hard to think back once you finished playing it. For that it fails to deliver a lasting impression.
Fun moments aplenty though. We have of course the lovely main theme that literally cries out for a longer version in "Nemo Egg (Main Title)", "News Travels", "Finding Nemo" and "Fronds like These", we have a brief but powerful heroic fanfare for the heroism of the father in "Darla Filth Offramp" and "Swim Down" (even powerfully dark in "Time to Let Go"), we have diverse musical ideas for different characters (Dorie receives fast strings maneuvers in "Short-Term Dory", rock and roll music supports the sea turtle Crush (aka voiced by director Andrew Stanton in "The Turtle Lope" and weird musical effects color the pelican Nigel in "Pelicans"), we have various moments of atonality that brings out the boldest Thomas Newman in "Barracuda", "The Divers", "Friends Not Food", "Time to Let Go" (which has fantastic trumpet work) and "Fish in my Hair", and in the end we also have Thomas Newman being Thomas Newman (suspenseful use of the piano in "Lost" and "Fishing Grounds", playful scherzos in "Jellyfish Forest" and "...P. Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney...", and even a Mission Impossible sound a like in "Foolproof".
In short, Finding Nemo keeps you satisfied for the duration of the score. In long, Finding Nemo makes you realize this hasn't got a lasting effect. No matter the musical brilliance in 30 second to 2 minute tracks, no sign of development and hardly a moment of everlasting brilliance can be found here. The ideas are present, but they are given no chance to develop. And that utterly lovely main theme is perhaps the best possible example of that non existing development. Finding Nemo is here to please you, but remains one of those Oscar nominations which I think differently off. In fact, Randy Newman received such hard criticism for his Oscar nomination A Bug's Life, but that score at least had the time to deliver a couple of tracks you ought to remember. Finding Nemo has sadly very little of that.
Track Listing
1. Wow (2.31)
2. Barracuda (1.29)
3. Nemo Egg (Main Title) (1.16)
4. First Day (1.15)
5. Field Trip (0.57)
6. Mr. Ray Scientist (1.28)
7. The Divers (1.56)
8. Lost (1.03)
9. Short-Term Dory (0.43)
10. Why Trust A Shark? (1.17)
11. Friends Not Food (1.51)
12. Fish-O-Rama (0.29)
13. Gill (1.40)
14. Mt. Wannahockaloogie (1.20)
15. Foolproof (0.32)
16. Squishy (1.32)
17. Jellyfish Forest (1.32)
18. Stay Awake (1.47)
19. School of Fish (1.03)
20. Filter Attempt (2.05)
21. The Turtle Lope (2.04)
22. Curl Away my Son (1.28)
23. News Travels (1.13)
24. The Little Clownfish from the Reef (1.15)
25. Darla Filth Offramp (2.22)
26. Lost in Fog (1.05)
27. Scum Angel (1.22)
28. Haiku (1.41)
29. Time to Let Go (2.22)
30. Sydney Harbour (0.28)
31. Pelicans (1.12)
32. Drill (0.50)
33. Fish in my Hair (1.29)
34. All Drains Lead to the Ocean (1.36)
35. ...P. Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney... (0.39)
36. Fishing Grounds (1.41)
37. Swim Down (1.46)
38. Finding Nemo (1.19)
39. Fronds like These (1.57)
40. Beyond the Sea: Robbie Williams (4.26)
Total Length: 60.01