Treasure Planet (An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album to the 2002 animated science fiction action-adventure film Treasure Planet. The album features seventeen tracks – fifteen tracks from the score composed by James Newton Howard, and also featured two pop singles: "I'm Still Here" and "Always Know Where You Are". Walt Disney Records released the film's soundtrack album on November 19, 2002. The film's score received positive critical reception, with praise directed on Howard's composition.
Background The film marked Howard's third collaboration with Walt Disney Animation Studios; he previously scored for Dinosaur (2000) and Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001). The music from the film is largely orchestral in nature. Howard said that the score is "very much in the wonderful tradition of Korngold and Tiomkin and Steiner." The score has been described as a mixture of modern "classical style" music in the spirit of Star Wars and Celtic music. Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser is credited as the co-composer of the track "Silver Leaves", and is also listed as a soloist in the film's credits.
The music includes two moderately successful pop singles — "I'm Still Here" and "Always Know Where You Are". The Goo Goo Dolls frontman John Rzeznik performed both the tracks in the film version, whereas the latter was recorded by the British pop-rock group, BBMak, which was featured in the soundtrack.
Originally, Alan Silvestri was supposed to compose the film's score, but he dropped out of the project and went on to score another film for Walt Disney Animation Studios, Lilo & Stitch (also 2002). Jerry Goldsmith, who previously worked with the studio on Mulan (1998), was also considered to compose the score.
Track list
Reception Writing for BBC, Jack Smith stated "James Newton Howard's score is firmly in the old-fashioned escapade mould, more swash and buckle than Space Odyssey. It is, perhaps, less of a tribute to the music's descriptive powers than a result of the familiarity of Disney's musical conventions that the listener feels they would be able to guess the plot without ever having seen the film [...] This soundtrack is certainly workmanlike and inoffensive, but there's little buried treasure awaiting anyone digging beneath the surface." Jason Ankeny of Allmusic wrote "Treasure Planet is pure Disney formula, balancing rousing action, cornball comedy, and bittersweet romance in bold, broad strokes. What sets it apart from its predecessor is the presence of Gaelic whistles and fiddles, as well as a fiery electric guitar that adds a dash of rock & roll to Howard's otherwise conventional symphonic sensibilities. The problem with Treasure Planet is the problem that plagues all contemporary Disney scores, and that's the mind-numbing predictability of the music's emotional arc." Filmtracks.com wrote "[James Newton] Howard's score is about as predictable as it could be, but it is enjoyable even so, launching Erich [Wolfgang] Korngold's bold style from The Sea Hawk to a place where no sailing score had gone before." A. O. Scott of The New York Times called the score as "treacle-dipped sea-chanty-on-steroids".
Personnel Credits adapted from Allmusic Songs David Campbell – string arrangement (track 1) Chris Chaney – bass (track 1) Paul Bushnell – bass (track 2) Gary Novak – drums (track 1) Abe Laboriel Jr. – drums (track 2) Jamie Muhoberac – keyboards (tracks 1–2) Luis Conte – percussion (track 1) John Rzeznik – singer-songwriter, guitar (tracks 1–2) Greg Suran – guitar (track 2) Tim Pierce – guitar (track 2) Andrew Scheps – programmer Carmen Rizzo – programmer Jon Lind – associate producer Cheryl Jenets – production coordinator Ken Allardyce – recording Allen Sides – recording Tom Lord-Alge – mixing Ted Jensen – mastering Brett Allen – guitar technician Doug McKean – Pro Tools Eric Ferguson – Pro Tools Score James Newton Howard – composer, producer, orchestrator Alasdair Fraser – additional music (track 7), solo fiddles Jim Weidman – score producer Rob Cavallo – music producer James T. Hill – electronic score producer Shawn Murphy – recording, mixing Dave Collins – mastering Phil Ayling – solo whistles Eric Rigler – solo whistles, bagpipes Nick Ingman – choir conductor Pete Anthony – orchestra conductor, orchestrator Brad Dechter – orchestrator Jeff Atmajian – orchestrator Jon Kull – orchestrator Jenny O'Grady – concertmaster Kira Lewis – additional engineering David Marquette – assistant recordist, scoring crew Chris Barrett – scoring crew Jake Jackson – scoring crew Jay Selvester – scoring crew Koji Egawa – scoring crew Marc Gebauer – scoring crew Chris Montan – executive producer Richard Grant – Auricle Control Systems technician Luis M. Fernandez – art direction Federico F. Tio – creative art direction John Blas – artwork Eric Tan – album design Marcella Wong – album design
International versions
Release history +RegionDateFormat(s)LabelCatalog CodeUnited States19 November 2002CDWalt Disney Records60799-7CanadaD15607997United Kingdom25 November 20025050466-1797-2-2France27 November 20025050466-1381-2-5ItalySpainNetherlands30 November 2002Brazil2002050086079975050466363121Scandinavia3 December 20025050466-1379-2-0Australia28 November 2002336102New ZealandJapan9 July 2003AVCW-123423 October 2018UWCD-8046Indonesia2002Cassette60799-0MalaysiaSony Music60799-4
Charts +Chart (2002)Peak positionUK Albums (OCC)39US Soundtrack Albums (Billboard)11
References