In the case of The Journey of Natty Gann, Bernstein was able once again to focus his energy on the grand scope of the great outdoors, responding with a score that is as robust on page and in performance as any of the composer's heralded Western genre works. Some of the material is so grand in stature that it could well have accompanied a blockbuster war epic. Unfortunately, Bernstein, in the final two decades of his career, also became acquainted with the more frequent phenomenon of rejected film scores. While a film like The Scarlet Letter ten years later was the kind of unquestionably substandard muck from which Bernstein did not entirely mind his music being removed, The Journey of Natty Gann was a project for which he had labored significantly to re-write his score to meet the desires of the filmmakers. He ended up scoring much of the film twice, attempting a third time in a few individual cues. Ultimately, only two short snippets of his long score were heard in the finished picture. For Bernstein's fans, this remains a travesty, because the score, despite its weaknesses, was strong enough to carry its weight in context. The composer conjured a bold title theme performed over muscular brass rhythms and including a bridge section that frolics with spirits as high as his best Western themes. Soft string and piano interludes remind of the touching aspects of the story. Scenes involving the trains and their associated vistas are handled with energetic explosions of layered brass. The ondes martenot (a French keyboard variation of the theremin and very early synthesizer) is as prevalent in the sensitive cues here as it is in the generally concurrent Ghostbusters and The Black Cauldron scores, though an acoustic guitar and solo trumpet are warmer representations of heart for this story. Bernstein revisits his primary adventure theme and its tender counterpart almost perpetually during the score, with the exception of the significant amount of period jazz that he also recorded for the film, a disparate sound that isn't integrated into the rest of the work.

For Bernstein collectors, The Journey of Natty Gann is the kind of familiar score that will earn somewhere between three and four stars, an easily listenable and affable work of a mostly optimistic nature. There are a few reasons why Bernstein's recording may have ultimately been replaced, foremost being the larger than life character of the full ensemble sequences. He does counter with plenty of soft material, but this music becomes lost in the whole. Secondly, the ondes martenot sounds completely out of place here, especially in the cue "Balls." The instrument's eerie tone doesn't suit this film's Earthly narrative well. Together, these two problems create a score that may not have been as intimately warm as the filmmakers wanted. The level of bravado, while impressive on album, does seem a bit overblown for this story of gritty perseverance. Solving these problems was the young upstart, James Horner, whose career in film music composition eventually proved him to be especially adept at writing satisfying children's music. At the time, it was easy to root for Bernstein in the dual assignment of The Journey of Natty Gann, but, in retrospect, Horner's far more lyrical approach to the film is a better match for the heart of the story. If summarized in short, it could be said that Bernstein scored the land and Horner scored the people. Collectors of Horner's work will find his music for The Journey of Natty Gann to be even more familiar than fans of Bernstein found his, for Horner's finished work would serve as a template for several forthcoming scores, sometimes in almost identical fashion. In the most basic sense, one could say that The Journey of Natty Gann was a rehearsal for The Land Before Time, the second and third phrases of the earlier score's primary theme almost identical to ideas conveyed in the 1988 animation. The full ensemble performances of this theme in the opening and closing cues of the film (aided by harmonica) are a hidden gem for devotees of Horner's fluidly gorgeous constructs in The Land Before Time specifically. But in Horner's secondary family theme and Western-related idea of comedic action, you hear ideas that would occur more frequently in other later efforts.

The lovely family theme in Horner's score is first explored on solo recorder in "Leaving" and the Western theme, heard in "Into Town" and "Rustling," serve as a bridge between Aaron Copland's "Rodeo" and Horner's second An American Tail score. Other ideas, including another tender theme for the budding young romance and a piano rhythm representation of adversity (both heard in succession in "Farewell") round out the strong score. All of Horner's music was used in the picture except for "Hotel Escape" and another short snippet involving the wolf; these scenes utilized Bernstein's original music instead. Overall, both scores will appease the respective fanbase of the composers, but Horner better captured the personal relationships with his far more lyrical approach. Neither score received an official album release until 2008-2009. The Bernstein score was part of a 2008 4-CD set from Varèse Sarabande's CD Club, limited to 2,500 copies and retailing for a hefty $60. The Horner score was released by Intrada Records the following year, also limited to 2,500 copies but far more affordable. Due to the use of a first-generation tape of the Horner score in the composer's possession, the Intrada album's sound is outstanding, indistinguishable (except for the four bonus tracks) from the composer's later albums in terms of sound quality. By comparison, the Bernstein score sounds significantly archival. On the whole, the Horner score is the easy recommendation, despite being sold out; Bernstein collectors should seek the Varèse set for his more impressive rejected score for The Scarlet Letter instead (if at all). The Horner score's presentation not only sounds infinitely better, but its arrangement makes for a solid half hour whereas the Bernstein score (at well over an hour with bonus material) is simply too long and redundant. Detractors of Horner's career self-references will roll their eyes at his score for The Journey of Natty Gann, especially with the employment of the standard crescendo progressions that follow the neat, accelerating effect in "Freight Train." Ultimately, this means that these rare albums' target audiences will instinctively know if they should fork over the higher cost for either CD. It's safe to say that each will meet or exceed the expectations of both groups.   @Amazon.com: CD or Download