Sound Investments
By Ada Guerin
Tuesday, November 16 2004
Tuesday, November 16 2004
Published on AllBusiness.com
Oscar season is upon us, and the gold rush is already well underway in the original song and score categories. While this year's list of best original score contenders features such familiar Oscar stalwarts as John Williams and Howard Shore, the original song category features rock icons such as Mick Jagger and Steven Tyler vying for attention in what is shaping up to be a very crowded, albeit unconventional, field.
Despite the presence of the usual heavy hitters, a number of perennial favorites are absent from this year's list of hopefuls. Buena Vista has no blockbuster musicals to support, and there is no Newman (neither a Randy nor a Thomas) attached to Pixar's "The Incredibles." In addition, Oscar standard Diane Warren is missing from the studio rosters.
Even more unusual is the fact that the Oscar campaign for John Debney's score for the surprising blockbuster "The Passion of the Christ" will come from director Mel Gibson's Icon Prods. and not Newmarket, the film's distributor.
What does this all mean to the contenders attempting to bend Oscar's musical ear? As in most years, no one can say. But one thing is certain: The studios will be pulling out all the stops to ensure that their song and score hopefuls have a fighting chance for Tinseltown's highest honor.
Here, Hollywood's top music brass sound off on their favorites and single out the films receiving their strongest backing.
Through its partnership with animation powerhouse Pixar, Buena Vista will be pushing Michael Giacchino's jazz-infused score for "The Incredibles."
Walt Disney Music president Chris Montan describes Giacchino's score as an homage to the classic spy movies from the 1960s but with a futuristic twist. "A movie like this reminds you that we're in the entertainment business," he says. "The score itself is symbolic of all those movies you loved from way back when."
In the original song category, Montan notes Alan Menken and Glen Slater's collaboration on "Will the Sun Ever Shine Again" — performed by country legend Bonnie Raitt for the animated feature "Home on the Range" — follows in the tradition of the great Buena Vista tunes over the years. "We approached Bonnie because she is one of just a few performers in the business who can express the precise level of emotion this type of animation required," Montan says. "It's a classic Disney ballad with a beautiful melody and a real emotional pull to it — something that has always been a key ingredient in Disney's more successful songs."
For the distributor's live-action fare, Mitchell Leib, executive vp and general manager of music and soundtracks for the Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group, cites a handful
Despite the presence of the usual heavy hitters, a number of perennial favorites are absent from this year's list of hopefuls. Buena Vista has no blockbuster musicals to support, and there is no Newman (neither a Randy nor a Thomas) attached to Pixar's "The Incredibles." In addition, Oscar standard Diane Warren is missing from the studio rosters.
Even more unusual is the fact that the Oscar campaign for John Debney's score for the surprising blockbuster "The Passion of the Christ" will come from director Mel Gibson's Icon Prods. and not Newmarket, the film's distributor.
What does this all mean to the contenders attempting to bend Oscar's musical ear? As in most years, no one can say. But one thing is certain: The studios will be pulling out all the stops to ensure that their song and score hopefuls have a fighting chance for Tinseltown's highest honor.
Here, Hollywood's top music brass sound off on their favorites and single out the films receiving their strongest backing.
Through its partnership with animation powerhouse Pixar, Buena Vista will be pushing Michael Giacchino's jazz-infused score for "The Incredibles."
Walt Disney Music president Chris Montan describes Giacchino's score as an homage to the classic spy movies from the 1960s but with a futuristic twist. "A movie like this reminds you that we're in the entertainment business," he says. "The score itself is symbolic of all those movies you loved from way back when."
In the original song category, Montan notes Alan Menken and Glen Slater's collaboration on "Will the Sun Ever Shine Again" — performed by country legend Bonnie Raitt for the animated feature "Home on the Range" — follows in the tradition of the great Buena Vista tunes over the years. "We approached Bonnie because she is one of just a few performers in the business who can express the precise level of emotion this type of animation required," Montan says. "It's a classic Disney ballad with a beautiful melody and a real emotional pull to it — something that has always been a key ingredient in Disney's more successful songs."
For the distributor's live-action fare, Mitchell Leib, executive vp and general manager of music and soundtracks for the Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group, cites a handful
