Archive
MUPPET TREASURE ISLAND – Hans Zimmer, Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil
THROWBACK THIRTY
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Several years before he and Klaus Badelt effectively redefined the musical sound of the Hollywood swashbuckler with Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Hans Zimmer dipped his toes into the genre with a very different kind of pirate movie: Muppet Treasure Island, directed by Brian Henson. It is very loosely based on the famous 1883 novel Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, and follows the adventures of young Jim Hawkins, who discovers a mysterious map that leads to a legendary pirate treasure. He joins a sea voyage to search for it, traveling with a crew that includes the charming but mutinous Long John Silver and the more forthright Captain Smollett. As the journey unfolds, Jim realizes not everyone can be trusted, and danger grows as secrets and rival loyalties emerge on the island. The twist, of course, is that the majority of the cast is comprised of members of the Muppets, notably Kermit the Frog as Captain Smollett and Miss Piggy as a gender-swapped Benjamina Gunn, the queen of a native tribe of pigs. The human cast stars young Kevin Bishop as Jim and Tim Curry as Silver, plus Billy Connolly and Jennifer Saunders in supporting roles. Read more…
AN AMERICAN TAIL – James Horner, Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil
THROWBACK THIRTY
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
In the wake of the success of The Secret of NIMH in 1982, master animator Don Bluth began a collaboration with Steven Spielberg and Universal Pictures, who wanted to capitalize on NIMH’s popularity and produce their own animated film, the studio’s first since 1965. The result was An American Tail, the story of a family of Russian-Jewish mice who emigrate to the United States in the late 1800s, having been lured there on the promise of there being ‘no cats in America’. During their ocean crossing the family’s youngest son, Fievel Mousekewitz, is swept overboard and feared drowned; upon their arrival in New York, the remaining Mousekewitzes resign themselves to having lost their son, and sadly begin their new lives. However, Fievel has miraculously survived and makes his way to New York on his own, and the plucky young rodent embarks on a quest to reunite with his family, engaging in numerous adventures on the way. The film features the voices of Nehemiah Persoff, Erica Yohn, Dom DeLuise, Christopher Plummer, and the then-8-year-old Phillip Glasser as Fievel; it was a huge success at the box office, especially with children, who loved the film despite its dark tone. Read more…
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