Filmtracks Traffic Rank: #1,817
Written 1/20/18
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Buy it... if you find pleasure in all of John Powell's predictably
friendly and functionally intelligent animation scores, this one passing
effortlessly along its ethnically spirited, flowery path.
Avoid it... if you expect to hear Powell at his most memorable, the
themes here surprisingly anonymous and the overall musical narrative not
satisfyingly transparent.
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| Powell |
Ferdinand: (John Powell/Various) The Oscar-winning,
seven-minute 1938 animated adaptation of Munro Leaf's children's book,
"The Story of Ferdinand," long remained an affable favorite in the
tradition of the "Silly Symphonies" cartoons. Greatly expanding the
story for the same genre is 2017's feature-length alternative,
Ferdinand, a 20th Century Fox production that performed
reasonably well but failed to generate lasting interest outside of some
protests that the movie's anti-bullying messaging was causing disrespect
for bullfighting traditions. In this elongated tale, the titular bull is
still a pacifist and would rather sit under a tree on the hills of Spain
and smell the flowers rather than compete with other bulls to star in
the arenas. But his adventure adds several other protagonists this time,
including a sympathetic team of human, goat, and other bulls;
ultimately, the basic tenants of the original story stay in place, as
Ferdinand does end up in a humorous fight in a ring and earns his place
back amongst the flowers. The details are a stretch, however, and the
haphazard narrative didn't help composer John Powell to a great degree.
Having collaborated with Blue Sky Studios for the Rio and Ice
Age franchises for quite some time, it's no surprise that Powell
returned to offer his services for Ferdinand. His output declined
in the 2010's because of a family tragedy, and he preferred to stay in
the animated genre almost exclusively during his more limited work
during that decade. Few could argue, though, that the composer does not
excel in children's films, his zany symphonic tendencies well suited for
their breakneck pace. For Ferdinand, he once again found himself
contending with prominent song placements in the picture. The Nick Jonas
song, "Home," was the prime attraction in the soundtrack, earning awards
recognition and anchoring a short song compilation album that contains
no score material. While Powell didn't write this song, he did at least
produce it. As for the score, Powell, having graduated long before to
the level of industry prominence to merit the work of ghostwriters
without front-cover credit, teams up with trio of assistant composers
for this project. Though Powell does receive co-writing credit on every
cue, a majority of them contain contributions by Batu Sener and Anthony
Willis. And while there are reports that Powell adapted Albert Hay
Malotte's 1938 score into this work, no explicit credit is afforded to
it. There are indeed similarities in style between the two scores,
however, most notably at the saccharine conclusion of Powell's
entry.
By all measures, the score for
Ferdinand is
exactly what you'd expect to hear from Powell and his team for the
topic: frenetic, punchy rhythms and Latin-laced instrumentation blasting
from one tonally friendly burst of energy to another, slowing
periodically for acoustic guitar sentimentality. Any veteran of Powell's
work will have heard most of this material before, the composer sailing
on autopilot through this easily accessible but ultimately anonymous
entry. It's a pleasant score from start to finish, few portions of
outright parody testing your tolerance for the genre. It's melodically
rich but surprisingly incoherent in the application of its themes. There
are three or four recurring ideas throughout the work, but after
establishing the character identities in early cues, only two of the
themes really have an impact. The more engaging is heard on guitar or
woodwind in "Father and Son," "There's Been a Mistake," and "Ferdinand
and Nina" before evolving into a slick, castanet-aided performance in
the last minutes of "From Train Station to Arena." This idea receives
only minimal closure in "Madrid Finale," a final track seemingly edited
together from a number of shorter recordings. The other prominent theme
is readily identifiable because of its resemblance to portions of
Maurice Jarre's
Lawrence of Arabia in "Selection Process" and
"Bull Olympics" (representing the pomp element) before shifting to
action in "Highway Chase" and satire in "Madrid Finale." Powell also
seems to passively reference James Horner's music (and not just his
Zorro-related scores) in several places, including "Escape From 'The
Spa'" and "Madrid Finale" once again. A touch of Thomas Newman rhythmic
string pulses in "A New Day" is easy on the ears. Other thematic
connections seem to represent Ferdinand's relations with other
characters, but Powell somehow manages to glide through these
performances without enunciating such themes with adequate, singular
purpose. A cue like "Finding Home" is a perfect example of a heartfelt
character moment that doesn't actually extend any sort of lasting
musical narrative. The action sequences present some highlights,
including a few moments of absolute ruckus that will raise memories of
similar animal endeavors in
Chicken Run. In the end, though, the
competent ethnic applications and outstanding recording quality cannot
really compensate for a rather underwhelming musical narrative sans
strong themes. A charming score-only album passes without worry and
doesn't have the obnoxious interludes of the
Rio scores. Casual
listeners should explore the track "From Train Station to Arena" before
all others. The whole will undoubtedly entertain, but this is not Powell
at his most memorable in the genre.
*** @Amazon.com: CD or
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Bias Check:
For John Powell reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.31
(in 51 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.16
(in 52,894 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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