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| Williams |
Hook: (John Williams) Despite the magic inherent in
its story,
Hook became the epitome of a major studio production
disaster. So much passion was poured into the concept by so many
imaginative minds and yet, in the watered-down movie that resulted, all
of that enthusiasm had drained from the spirit of the film and critics
appropriately commented that
Hook seemed mechanical in its style.
Before anything resembling the final picture was undertaken, composer
John Williams and his friend and lyricist Leslie Bricusse (with whom
Williams had collaborated on songs as far back as
Goodbye, Mr.
Chips in 1969) had worked in 1985 on a stage musical of
Hook's story, but the project was cancelled after the two had
completed ten songs. Three years later, director Nick Castle rearranged
the story into a script for the big screen, but TriStar removed Castle
from directing duties after the final re-write of
Hook and
replaced him with Steven Spielberg. The ever-popular Spielberg, whose
artistic prowess was slightly diminished after falling from the pinnacle
of success he experienced in the previous decade, was a logical choice
for TriStar. The director had always harbored a fascination with the
Peter Pan story and had intended at some point to direct a sequel
to the tale that very much resembled the premise of
Hook.
Additionally, he obviously had a strong working relationship with
Williams, who naturally adapted much of his work from the failed 1985
concept into the screen translation. Spielberg had also been interested
in the idea of creating musicals, for the
Peter Pan story or
otherwise, but by the time he really dug into the screenplay of
Hook, the musical formula had been dumped in favor of a regular
live-action feature with a traditional score. The $80 million budget of
Hook eventually bought a strong cast and, mostly, spectacular
sets. The busy art direction, however, betrayed the film and became one
of its weaknesses, as did many of the big-name supporting actors. The
film lacked the spark of life that everyone expected from an imaginative
Spielberg offering, and his seeming loss of enthusiasm somewhere along
the line also carried over to several of the other production
elements.
Luckily, one of the few aspects of
Hook not to
suffer from this malaise was Williams' massively symphonic music,
despite the fact that the composer had been forced to abandon the
original musical format of much of his material. Long after the muddled
film became an asterisk in Spielberg's career (as well as one of note
for Gwyneth Paltrow, for whom
Hook was her first major studio
film), Williams' massive score endures as one of his fans' favorites. Of
the original songs he conjured with Bricusse, two appeared relatively
unscathed in
Hook and another became a source piece. Many of the
remainder were adapted by the maestro into themes for various elements
of the story, which explains why so many of his ideas in the score are
so lyrical in nature. As Williams stated in 1992, "I used music which
could be also named 'theatrical' or 'ballet music.' When Peter Pan
manages to fly, the orchestra plays music that reminds us of a very fast
dance of a ballet. The same in the Ultimate War sequence. The music
follows the rhythm of the picture, underlines the action. Somebody makes
an intense move and the orchestra follows him with an emphasis, like the
strings. Somebody else is dreaming and the orchestra describes the sense
of this dream. In other words, my music for
Hook doesn't abstain
from that of a cartoon, where the music has to be attached in the
picture." In light of these comments, listeners shouldn't be surprised
by frequent comparisons between parts of this score and Pyotr Ilyich
Tchaikovsky's tunes for "The Nutcracker." Still, Williams was no
stranger to films that used a dozen combined themes and motifs, and
Hook went so far as to push twenty distinct representations. This
luxury of specific identity for so many parts of the story causes the
score to be among the most interesting and sustaining of the composer's
career, foreshadowing
The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the
Unicorn in complexity. As an adventure score, it romps with some of
the most exhilarating swashbuckling tones to come from Hollywood in the
Digital Age. As a children's score, it moves with the grace and
sincerity of
Home Alone. As a dramatic score, it offers extended
sequences of weighty beauty in its latter half. The realm of fantasy
obviously inspires Williams, and Spielberg's involvement only amplifies
that belief. "This area, the area of fantasy," Williams continues, "is
the best one that can exist for music."
The disjointed film, jumping from location to location,
modern to mythical, forced upon Williams the burden of not only using so
many of his previous ideas for the concept, but it also required a
plethora of differing styles rolled into those themes. To successfully
keep pace with the frenetic movement and countless characters of the
film, Williams composed an enormous mass of music for the production,
and much of it stylistically foreshadowed several scores still to come
from his pen. Pieces were interpreted from
Home Alone and
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and much of the
underdeveloped material would later blossom in
Far and Away,
Jurassic Park, and even
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. In
retrospect,
Hook seems as though it was fertile testing ground
for countless new ideas from Williams, some of which reaching a
spectacular maturity in the score while others simply serving as
rambling teasers. The two 1985 songs directly adapted into
Hook
include "We Don't Wanna Grow Up" and "When You're Alone." The first is
translated into an obnoxious source piece for a grade school performance
near the start of the film. The latter earned Williams a surprising
Oscar nomination, doubling as the orchestral theme for Peter's grown
kids. Many of the remainder of the score's themes have roots in the
abandoned 1985 songs, which were never fully illuminated until their
release on album in 2023. Nobody can claim that the primary title theme
for
Hook isn't among the composer's most impressive creations.
Williams translated this theme into a 90-second fanfare for the film's
beautiful and unique, map-traveling theatrical trailer, a rare occasion
when a preview does the honor of introducing the film's eventual themes
in glorious, overture fashion. Williams doesn't often do this; in fact,
the next time he would attempt such a feat would come ten years later
for
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. The trailer cue is
entitled "Prologue" on the albums for
Hook, and it has been
argued as being the best minute and a half of music Williams has
ever composed, even when considering all of his more famous
efforts. So flighty and energetic is the swashbuckling attitude of this
theme and its rowdy arrangement that it sets an elevated standard that
the rest of the score has difficulty maintaining. Fortunately, the
subsequent music comes close, which is all that's necessary to earn the
work its label of modern classic.
Outside of its use in the trailer, the memorable title
theme for
Hook exists most prominently at 8:50 into "Remembering
Childhood" (the most powerful ensemble performance on the remainder of
the album) and about a minute into "The Ultimate War." Often associated
with the title theme is Williams' representation of flight. This "flying
theme" is a jovial and often rousing piece that receives its first swell
of excitement from the full ensemble at 5:05 into "The Arrival of Tink
and Flight to Neverland." It had existed previously as an appropriately
slight hint at 1:25 into "Granny Wendy" before unseating the title theme
as the most prevalent idea at 5:10 and 9:10 into the pivotal
"Remembering Childhood" and at 7:55 and 8:55 into "Farewell Neverland."
In the former, a somber solo piano supplants the "childhood memory
theme" as an equally effective reminder of innocence lost. The nature of
this piano performance suggests heavily that this theme could easily
have originated in song form. The "childhood memory theme" is one of
lament for the older Peter Pan, and it contributes much of the
melancholy melodrama in the score's second half. A flourish of this
theme explodes at the two-minute mark in "From Mermaids to Lost Boys"
and anchors "Remembering Childhood" with solo performances passed around
the woodwind section starting at 3:00. A lush string rendition of the
theme exists early in "Farewell Neverland," continuing for two minutes,
and Williams adapted the idea into a rousing but unused suite-like form
in "Exit Music." A particularly attractive secondary phrase to this
theme also suggests possible song origins. The theme for Peter's kids,
as mentioned already, is the basis for the "When You're Alone" song. The
reminiscing parts of "Remembering Childhood" touch upon this identity
immediately at the start of the cue before fragments compliment
"Farewell Neverland" at about 1:00 and again at 7:25. Although the
entire score for
Hook can easily be described as a raucous and
spirited ride, these three softer themes dominate the film's lengthy
reflective sequences. The serious family side of
Home Alone is
prevalent in these portions, but Williams also uses a lofty choir to
punctuate these moments of innermost feelings, a technique relatively
rare in the composer's career. Both "You Are the Pan" and "Farewell
Neverland" provide mesmerizing choral performances that are spectacular
counterpoint to the dynamic action otherwise heard during the
swashbuckling scenes.
Several less important but sometimes equally compelling
secondary themes exist throughout
Hook. The cute woodwind-driven
theme for Captain Hook and his sidekick Smee is a page taken directly
from the
Home Alone formula for bumbling villains. The slight
waltz rhythm to this theme is very attractively fleshed out in the
entirety of "Smee's Plan" with the kind of emphasis on instrumental
creativity later heard in
The Terminal. A faster and more robust
announcement of this theme bursts with truly cartoonish exuberance at
1:55 in "Presenting the Hook," building to a frenzied ensemble
crescendo, and the full version of "The Ultimate War" concludes with a
glorious end to this idea. After a dedicated kidnapping theme is
introduced in full late in "Hook-Napped," two subthemes for Hook and
Smee's pirate gang exist in "Presenting the Hook." The first, heard at
0:20, is a jolly Irish jig that foreshadows
Far and Away, while
the second, starting at 1:20, is a sly bass woodwind rhythm accompanied
by great viola or fiddle counterpoint and a touch of owl-like sound
effects. Together, the pirate-related tracks on the
Hook albums
are something of a guilty pleasure because of their affable character
and break of pace, guiding much of the middle third. A pretty theme for
the film's other major character, Tinkerbell, is teased at the start of
"We Don't Wanna Grow Up" before its usual xylophone likeness is
presented at 1:55 into "The Arrival of Tink and Flight to Neverland" and
at 5:20 into "Farewell Neverland." This theme truly does shamelessly rip
a page from
Home Alone. A less utilized theme for Wendy, her
home, and the concept of redemption is introduced early and quietly on
flute and bells in "Granny Wendy" and doesn't return in a major role
until "Farewell Neverland." Likely a "redemption theme" more than one
specifically for Wendy, this idea is heard in ensemble performances at
6:00, 8:25, and 9:15 in the finale cue, the last of which serving as the
monumentally dramatic closing of the entire score. The snowy London
setting seen during this cue is yet another reminder of
Home
Alone. Among the many lesser themes, the "lost boys theme" exists,
understandably, throughout "The Lost Boy Chase" (starting immediately)
and the "banquet/food theme" is a playful tune heard for full ensemble
in "The Banquet" and at 1:15 in "The Never-Feast." The role of the brass
in this theme is remarkable, including a delightful tuba solo at 1:50
into "The Banquet." Other motifs come and go, including Peter's action
theme in "The Ultimate War," though none is particularly vital.
The action cues in
Hook often extend these themes
to forceful ranks, led by the 20-minute powerhouse "The Ultimate War"
sequence, which had to be cut down to eight minutes to fit onto the
original album. This rumbling, timpani-pounding action material moves
with the same layered complexity and frantic pace that would prevail in
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, though the perpetually
unpredictable turns of events in
Hook don't allow the themes in
these cues many luxuries of extended performances. Other notable
individual moments in the score include the sound effect of birds at
2:25 in "From Mermaids to Lost Boys" and other creative dubs of similar
things in other places, aided by extensive flute fluttering in the
almost humorous "Pan is Challenged." The French horn counterpoint in the
early choral part of "You Are the Pan," featuring a subtheme for the
concept of leadership, is extremely memorable. Less impressive is how
the score begins. In the film, you don't hear any orchestral underscore
for ten minutes, and it's not until the first flight cue that the music
has an appreciable impact. The same can be said about the album
releases, excepting the trailer music, of course. The Dave Grusin-like
urban jazz in "Banning Back Home" is somewhat obnoxious and needs to be
ignored despite the fact that it adds another theme to the list. Only
when the
Harry Potter-like mystery of "Hook-Napped" explores
hints of the title and kidnapping themes does the score really start to
cook. The conversational suspense cues involving Hook ("Hook Challenged
Peter" and "Hook's Lesson") and the simmering development of his themes
are rather tepid as well. Overall, however, the score for
Hook is
a hidden gem due to the sinking of the film after a short initial burst
at the box office. Williams did not expect to win an Oscar for his
nominations for
JFK or
Hook, understanding that
Beauty
and the Beast was an unstoppable force that year. ("Choosing
Beauty and the Beast was closer to Hollywood tradition and less
risky for all. I'm used to choices like that," he said at the time.) The
original Epic Soundtrax album's first pressing was one of the most
flawed endeavors ever to haunt a Williams score, failing to include
technical or engineering information, credits, notes, or even track
titles on the packaging because of its last-minute assembly. Fans
unhappy with the 75-minute editing of the score, which really isn't that
offensive in its musical offerings, treated themselves to bootlegs in
the late 1990's that extended the music over several CDs, ranging in
sound quality and completeness.
In 2012, La-La Land Records released a long-awaited and
legitimate 2-CD set containing over 140 minutes of music from
Hook, though the product did not come easily and without some
controversy. The contents of this album, as well as its generally fine
sound quality, will satisfy almost all collectors. It sold 3,500 of its
5,000 copies from the label in a single day, an impressive feat for a
$30 offering. Three years of development went into the album, including
painstaking efforts to resurrect and arrange all of Williams' many takes
in the best possible quality of sound. The composer himself became
involved and guided the production through its final arrangements as
well, and with significant support from Sony, fans could rejoice over
this long-awaited replacement for the various legacy bootlegs.
Controversy and negative fanboy hysteria involving La-La Land's
Hook arose almost immediately, however. The choice of what music
to include and what to omit became a problem at the time of Williams'
involvement; the composer insisted that music he deemed redundant or
uncomplimentary of the whole (like "Take Me Out to the Ballgame") be
dropped from the presentation. The entire slate of song demos that had
been recorded for the earlier, musical version of the film remained
undiscovered at the time as well. Additionally, to reflect the
composer's preferred arrangements featured on the original 1990 album,
several of the score's seemingly unnecessary merging of cues into
non-chronological suites of like material were retained. Williams
recorded a number of inserts for
Hook, some of which quite
memorable, and these were not included or mixed in to their surrounding
cues like some fans had hoped. On top of that, the arrangements and some
difficulty with the source used for this product (which was less than
desirable, from several accounts) cause many cues to suffer abnormally
abrupt beginnings or conclusions, most notably the dissatisfying start
of "Farewell Neverland." The "Ultimate War" trio of cues, the last of
which had not been available in really decent sound previously,
experiences several obnoxious fluctuations in volume and unnecessary
loops. For frustrated listeners, the only solution to some of these
issues at the time was to revisit the 1990 product. Some of the default
tracks on the 2012 album are worthy alternates, however, including the
impressive addition of more choral accompaniment to "You Are the Pan."
Some listeners claim that the "Prologue" track on both albums is still
different from the trailer's version, featuring a different tempo and
pitch applied in the editing process.
The 2012 La-La Land album for
Hook served as a
good intermediary improvement on the strength of its impressive
additional cues, especially new "Exit Music" track, but the set was
never comprehensive and annoyed purists with audio problems.
Nevertheless, it sold out quickly and became a pricey collectible. In
2023, the label sought to rectify lingering dissatisfaction with the
prior album by assembling what it deemed the "Ultimate Edition" of the
score on a 3-CD set of another 5,000 copies. Several notable aspects of
this outstanding expanded product were new, including better source
tapes, the rearrangement of the score into a straight chronological
ordering due to Williams' lesser involvement, and, most intriguingly, a
bevy of demo recordings representing the songs that were once to
comprise the musical version of the soundtrack. With the newly faithful
presentation of the score proper, associated audio issues were cleaned
up along the way, with extended film versions of cues preferred. The
overall length of the score's primary ordering doesn't provide the kind
of bevy of newly released material that the 2012 product had revealed,
but it does provide greater satisfaction. Some of the Williams
arrangements are retained along with the faster, re-pitched version of
"Prologue" as bonus tracks. The third CD in the 2023 set is where
enthusiasts of the score will find its true purpose, however; the
album's producers took available demo recordings of the musical's songs
and mingled them with additional alternate score cues to create a
roughly 70-minute presentation of what the musical might have sounded if
completed. The song recordings range from the 1980's trial runs to
Bricusse's fruitless attempts years after
Hook to revive
Williams' songs for a stage play of
Peter Pan, for which he
recorded a handful of the more major songs. The legendary Julie Andrews
was reportedly involved in one of these songs at some point, though no
performance of hers appears on this album. Instead, stage veteran Bobbi
Page performs the two most hearty character themes. A pair of variations
on "When You're Alone," including a short vocal reprise of a sort, is
redeeming. The "Low Below" pirate song is more fascinating than
enjoyable. Clearly evident from all of these recordings is the extent to
which these songs did indeed guide the various themes in the final
score, yielding a surprisingly effective narrative on the third CD
alone. That final CD also includes a few of its own bonus tracks aimed
at the Hook and Smee material. It's a superb product for a score that
remains one of the most thematically diverse, robust, and beautiful
works of the 1990's and the final great children's score for Williams in
the century.
***** @Amazon.com: CD or
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| Bias Check: |
For John Williams reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.68
(in 91 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.54
(in 363,716 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
The 1991 Epic album's packaging is a disgrace. The insert was designed at the
last minute (before the musical contents of the album were even known), causing a lack
of track listings, credits, notes, or engineering information in its sparse pages. The
thick insert of the 2012 La-La Land set contains extensive information about the film
and the score, including a track-by-track analysis. Some track times on its packaging
are incorrect, however. The information in the 2023 La-La Land set is just as extensive.
