The Pagemaster
James Horner
" The Pagemaster is James Horner "Written by Thomas Glorieux - Review of the regular release
It seemed like a good idea. Take child star Macaulay Culkin (of Home Alone fame) and put him in the midst of animation. Sadly that meant that Culkin also became animated, leaving nothing more behind than a children's fantasy in the now long lost world of hand drawn animation. Truthfully, the film is not that bad, but the live action part is not memorable due to the lack of character development and the animated part is too uninspired to make it magically memorable. Resulting in a box office reception that didn't win its 21 million dollar budget back, and the end of Culkin's career for about 6 years after that.
Luckily, the music was up to standards. And how could it not?! With James Horner attached to it, it wasn't hard to receive something magical (it's also one of his last animated scores of his career, the last one being Balto one year later). Meaning, get ready for those magical moments we heard before in An American Tail, The Land Before Time and Once Upon a Forest. The CD opens first with the end credits song "Dream Away" (typical pop ballad piece) and the Horner inspired "Whatever You Imagine" (which gets numerous orchestral statements during the film). Without saying, it's the second one that's worth checking out.
The score itself is in the typical fine tradition of James Horner animation music, with lots of orchestral flourishing fantasy music, and the expected rips from the ones that are fantasy classics. So don't act surprised to hear Willow's choral opening in "Main Title", along with a brief statement of the Whatever you Imagine theme. The rest is Casper inspired creativity in a nutshell. The rollicking delight of "A Stormy Ride to the Library" and the colorful Micky Mouse music (with enough choral Willow statements to wish he never used it here) of "The Library ... The Pagemaster" literally transports you to the animated part of the film.
And this means, new characters and new themes. In "Meeting Adventure and Fantasy" the lovely version of Whatever you Imagine transforms itself to the camaraderie theme, while a new adventure theme crops us gentle in between orchestral rollicking Honey I Shrunk the Kids music (with around 2.47 a brief rip of that score to make it official). Truthfully, Horner's part Mickey Mouse style / part thematic style isn't bad, but is still below par if we heard masterful examples as The Land Before Time and An American Tail. Another theme, a more innocent theme crops up in "Horror" that stands for the book Horror itself, the missing link in this quest for the EXIT. Ingeniously this theme is also used in the more thunderous parts of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", showing they're still in the Horror section when they escape from Dr. Jekyll.
Luckily, through the use of all these new themes, The Pagemaster also transforms to something less Mickey Mouse like. From Mickey Mouse in heart to orchestral pleasing in style. Whatever you Imagine in "A Narrow Escape", the delightful adventure theme in "Towards the Open Sea" (including all the others) and the adventurous Rocketeer like theatrics of "Pirates" give a much smoother meaning to the animation than the Mickey Mouse style ever did. Of course a theme we haven't discussed yet is the other Whatever you Imagine melody you spot in the song (holding a more emotional connection), and this one is featured prominently in "Loneliness" and in the final 2 tracks. And that end doesn't disappoint one bit. With first the utterly magical "Swallowed Alive! / The Wonder in Books" and then the soft but satisfying conclusion of "New Courage / The Magic of Imagination".
The Pagemaster as a score is somehow sick in the same bed as the film. Meaning, while doing everything right in general, there's a magical style lacking that doesn't elevate it to the heights of Balto, An American Tail or god forbid The Land before Time. However, and in this aspect there is no denying the brilliance of this score, James Horner still delivers a bunch of creative and magical themes in the midst of all the action. And in that 50 percent part, The Pagemaster does more than exceed its expectations. Numerous themes and a bunch of magical statements make therefore The Pagemaster more than recommendable for James Horner fans. The mickey mouse style theatrics and the obvious rips of other Horner albums make it a hit and miss affair after that. And through the latter I find it harder to connect to it than I might have wanted.
Favorite Moment - Swallowed Alive! / The Wonder in Books (6.51 - 7.30)
Magical Horner in a nutshell
Track Listing
1. Dream Away: Babyface & Lisa Stansfield * (4.38)
2. Whatever You Imagine: Wendy Moten ** (3.27)
3. Main Title (2.27)
4. A Stormy Ride to the Library (2.52)
5. The Library... The Pagemaster... (4.41)
6. Meeting Adventure and Fantasy (5.12)
7. Horror (3.20)
8. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (5.05) Excellent track
9. A Narrow Escape (2.04)
10. Towards the Open Sea... (7.01)
11. "Pirates"! (4.07)
12. Loneliness (3.11)
13. The Flying Dragon (3.10)
14. Swallowed Alive! / The Wonder in Books (7.56) Excellent track
15. New Courage / The Magic of Imagination (4.03)
* Lyrics & Music by Diane Warren
** Music by Barry Mann & James Horner
Total Length: 63.14
Luckily, the music was up to standards. And how could it not?! With James Horner attached to it, it wasn't hard to receive something magical (it's also one of his last animated scores of his career, the last one being Balto one year later). Meaning, get ready for those magical moments we heard before in An American Tail, The Land Before Time and Once Upon a Forest. The CD opens first with the end credits song "Dream Away" (typical pop ballad piece) and the Horner inspired "Whatever You Imagine" (which gets numerous orchestral statements during the film). Without saying, it's the second one that's worth checking out.
The score itself is in the typical fine tradition of James Horner animation music, with lots of orchestral flourishing fantasy music, and the expected rips from the ones that are fantasy classics. So don't act surprised to hear Willow's choral opening in "Main Title", along with a brief statement of the Whatever you Imagine theme. The rest is Casper inspired creativity in a nutshell. The rollicking delight of "A Stormy Ride to the Library" and the colorful Micky Mouse music (with enough choral Willow statements to wish he never used it here) of "The Library ... The Pagemaster" literally transports you to the animated part of the film.
And this means, new characters and new themes. In "Meeting Adventure and Fantasy" the lovely version of Whatever you Imagine transforms itself to the camaraderie theme, while a new adventure theme crops us gentle in between orchestral rollicking Honey I Shrunk the Kids music (with around 2.47 a brief rip of that score to make it official). Truthfully, Horner's part Mickey Mouse style / part thematic style isn't bad, but is still below par if we heard masterful examples as The Land Before Time and An American Tail. Another theme, a more innocent theme crops up in "Horror" that stands for the book Horror itself, the missing link in this quest for the EXIT. Ingeniously this theme is also used in the more thunderous parts of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", showing they're still in the Horror section when they escape from Dr. Jekyll.
Luckily, through the use of all these new themes, The Pagemaster also transforms to something less Mickey Mouse like. From Mickey Mouse in heart to orchestral pleasing in style. Whatever you Imagine in "A Narrow Escape", the delightful adventure theme in "Towards the Open Sea" (including all the others) and the adventurous Rocketeer like theatrics of "Pirates" give a much smoother meaning to the animation than the Mickey Mouse style ever did. Of course a theme we haven't discussed yet is the other Whatever you Imagine melody you spot in the song (holding a more emotional connection), and this one is featured prominently in "Loneliness" and in the final 2 tracks. And that end doesn't disappoint one bit. With first the utterly magical "Swallowed Alive! / The Wonder in Books" and then the soft but satisfying conclusion of "New Courage / The Magic of Imagination".
The Pagemaster as a score is somehow sick in the same bed as the film. Meaning, while doing everything right in general, there's a magical style lacking that doesn't elevate it to the heights of Balto, An American Tail or god forbid The Land before Time. However, and in this aspect there is no denying the brilliance of this score, James Horner still delivers a bunch of creative and magical themes in the midst of all the action. And in that 50 percent part, The Pagemaster does more than exceed its expectations. Numerous themes and a bunch of magical statements make therefore The Pagemaster more than recommendable for James Horner fans. The mickey mouse style theatrics and the obvious rips of other Horner albums make it a hit and miss affair after that. And through the latter I find it harder to connect to it than I might have wanted.
Favorite Moment - Swallowed Alive! / The Wonder in Books (6.51 - 7.30)
Magical Horner in a nutshell
Track Listing
1. Dream Away: Babyface & Lisa Stansfield * (4.38)
2. Whatever You Imagine: Wendy Moten ** (3.27)
3. Main Title (2.27)
4. A Stormy Ride to the Library (2.52)
5. The Library... The Pagemaster... (4.41)
6. Meeting Adventure and Fantasy (5.12)
7. Horror (3.20)
8. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (5.05) Excellent track
9. A Narrow Escape (2.04)
10. Towards the Open Sea... (7.01)
11. "Pirates"! (4.07)
12. Loneliness (3.11)
13. The Flying Dragon (3.10)
14. Swallowed Alive! / The Wonder in Books (7.56) Excellent track
15. New Courage / The Magic of Imagination (4.03)
* Lyrics & Music by Diane Warren
** Music by Barry Mann & James Horner
Total Length: 63.14