Published on May 18, 1999
Ah, mid-may in the nation’s breadbasket. The signs of summer’s
yearly approach are quickly coming upon us, including the buzz over
certain upcoming movies. (No, not
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace; we covered that yesterday.)
Yes, we’re talking about the annual release from the minds of the
animation department at Walt Disney; this year, our treat for the
senses is
Tarzan.
But unlike other years, this film breaks from the traditional
mold of an animated musical. Instead of having the characters break
into song to emphasize certain aspects of the movie,
Tarzan works with what I can only call “mood” pieces – that
is, songs written to enhance the action but not to overshadow it.
It’s a bold step, but is it one that works? We’ll talk about that
momentarily.
For the film (which I haven’t seen yet – heck, it isn’t even out
yet), Phil Collins was recruited to write the music and assist with
the film score. This isn’t too big of a stretch for Collins; over
the course of his last few albums (both solo and with Genesis),
he’s added more of a tribal beat to his music, so selecting him to
write music for
Tarzan is a natural.
But what struck me quickly about the music for
Tarzan is that this hardly sounds like your typical Disney
outing. For that matter, there really doesn’t sound like there’s a
lot of music in this film at all. There are four different flavors
of the track “Two Worlds” – the hit single, the original, the
reprise, and the finale – as well as two each of “Trashin’ The
Camp” and “You’ll Be In My Heart”. That accounts for over half of
the 14 selections on this soundtrack.
While we’re on the subject, the duet between Collins and pop
singing group of the month ‘N Sync – one of the versions of
“Trashin’ The Camp” – really is a wasted pairing. I would have much
rather heard Collins and ‘N Sync tackle “Two Worlds” or “You’ll Be
In My Heart” instead of a track that, lyrically, doesn’t have a
whole lot to offer.
The four selections featuring music from the film’s score, as
with many recent releases from the Disney camp, are incredible
instrumentations. Collins does add drums to these, but at least he
is able to blend in with the Mark Mancina-composed works well. On
these tracks like “The Gorillas” and “A Wondrous Place,” the
highlight is on the orchestra, and rightfully so.
And, if taken on their own, the tracks performed by Collins are
decent enough efforts staying on track with what Collins has been
putting out recently. “Two Worlds” is a great single, though
“You’ll Be In My Heart” – a nice track – just isn’t the greatest
ballad that Collins has ever written.
So, the grand question remains: Does a soundtrack without the
traditional Disney musical theme work? And the answer is… well, I
don’t know. Unlike other soundtracks, I’m not able to ascertain
what is happening in the film just by following the tome of the
music; this, in and of itself, isn’t a bad thing. But
Tarzan feels less and less like a Disney soundtrack and more
like another Collins solo effort, only without much variety to
choose from.
This isn’t to say the music is bad; it’s just something that I
haven’t gotten used to. I hope to see the film in due time; maybe
things will come into focus more after that. Until then, I’d have
to call
Tarzan a good effort, but mildly disappointing.