| CLOSE WINDOW |
|
FILMTRACKS.COM
PRINTER-FRIENDLY VIEW 
Review of The Little Polar Bear 2: The Mysterious Island (Nick
Glennie-Smith/Hans Zimmer)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... for an engaging and often lovely extension of Nick
Glennie-Smith and Hans Zimmer's Lauras Stern, this time featuring
the attractive woodwind performances of Richard Harvey.
Avoid it... for its songs, which are a major detriment despite their brevity, because the remainder of the soundtrack is an easy, friendly, and at times inspiring experience.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Der Kleine Eisbär 2: Die Geheimnisvolle Insel (The
Little Polar Bear 2: The Mysterious Island): (Nick
Glennie-Smith/Hans Zimmer) The children's animation concept "The Little
Polar Bear" proved itself popular in both Britain and Germany through
the 1990's, the stories of a polar bear cub and his friends dubbed in
both English and German. In the 2000's, the franchise added a pair of
feature films and a handful of straight-to-video sequels in between. The
second and final film, The Little Polar Bear 2: The Mysterious
Island in 2005, sends the bear, Lars, on an accidental journey with
buddies Robby the seal and Caruso the penguin to the Galapagos
archipelago, where comedy ensues with all the new creatures of the
tropical environment. Lars and an iguana catch the attention of evil
humans who, in turn, engage in typical evil human behavior to capture
these cute talking animals. The animation is somewhat crude, but it's
the spirit that counts. The music for the show had been orchestral from
the start, earning recognition for composers Nigel Clarke and Michael
Csanyi-Wills, and the first film of the franchise also utilized their
services. By the time The Little Polar Bear 2: The Mysterious
Island rolled around, though, filmmakers Piet De Rycker and Thilo
Graf Rothkirch had collaborated with mainstream composer Hans Zimmer and
early graduate of his Media Ventures production house, Nick
Glennie-Smith, on Lauras Stern in 2004 with exemplary results.
That pairing continued for the second "The Little Polar Bear" movie,
with Glennie-Smith taking the lead and Zimmer contributing to about a
third of the cues in some capacity. While listeners will find
similarities between the resulting score here and Lauras Stern,
the 2005 entry is more rooted in middle-1990's Media Ventures traditions
in its orchestral mixing and adds tastefully layered synthetics,
acoustic guitar, and, most prominently, the gorgeous Richard Harvey
woodwind solos that enthusiasts of Zimmer's music always love hearing.
These woodwind solos are really dominant throughout the score, and
Glennie-Smith spices up the ensemble with marimba and mandolin to
provide some humor along the way. The percussion becomes more cartoonish
in the middle of the work, and some humorous pitch slurring effects
exist for a sinking feeling moment, but it's otherwise a palatable score
that maintains its tonal accessibility.
While adhering to all the necessary shifts of direction and occasional silliness, the music for The Little Polar Bear 2: The Mysterious Island is a striking throwback to Zimmer's 1990's techniques and sound, the emphasis on the bass region in the mix giving it that distinct Zimmer tone. The composers even resurrect Zimmer's method of anticipatory chord shifts in the bass for melodramatic effect. This tone doesn't entirely translate to the pair of songs performed by the characters on screen; these abominations were not the result of any toil by Glennie-Smith or Zimmer. The vocals in these two entries are hideous, and that's not because they're in German on the main album release. The first "Wi-Wa-Wackel Song" is thematically incomprehensible and annoying while "Wi-Wa-Wackel Song Mit Maria & Caruso" is a little more palatable but still obnoxious. No melody carries over between those songs and the score, for which the themes are pretty well developed throughout, with some unique character-based additions in the latter half for the wackier personalities the main group meets on the island. The score rotates between its three themes liberally, the primary one exhibiting adventure for the entire story. Interestingly, this main theme starts the score as a true Zimmer power anthem but never revisits that form, instead becoming somewhat swashbuckling in nature at its more spirited height. The anthem form is easily distinguishable by its opening pairs of rising notes with no significant second phrase, and that format is repetitively conveyed on heroic brass at 0:32 and 1:16 into "Am Nordpol." The theme's native form debuts at 0:08 and 1:17 into "Das Fischskelett" in full swing and closes the cue in soft choral fantasy mode over acoustic guitar. The theme opens "Wi-Wa-Wackel Song" prior to the terrible animal vocals, softly guides most of "Caruso Wird Entführt," and clarinet carries the idea near the start of "Die Reise Beginnt," informing much of the cue later. It closes the cheery "Auf in den Süden!" on flute and tentatively begins "Wie Geht es Weiter?" in light comedy shades on windwoods. The anthem format is teased for a moment in that cue at 1:57, but the idea takes a sensitive approach at 2:50 and returns to its comedy stance at the cue's end. Tickling the ambient friendliness of "Willkommen Auf der Insel," the theme is slight throughout "Lars und Darwina" over plucky rhythms with marimba and mandolin, and it's a bit suspenseful to begin "Lars Findet den Riesenfisch," evening out to typical form. The prevalence of the main adventure theme in The Little Polar Bear 2: The Mysterious Island is admirable, and it takes numerous other shapes in the score's second half despite never revisiting its opening anthemic expression. Very lightly ponderous in fantasy tones late in "Die Schildkrötenbabys Schlüpfen Aus," this identity offers pieces early and late in "Befreit den Riesenfisch!," stomping in a more substantial and dark alternate in the latter half, and is altered at 0:57 into "Blinde Passagiere" for determined inspiration and closes that cue. It quietly opens "Lars Und Greta Füttern den Riesenfisch" on flute and is intertwined with other themes early in "Der Riesenfisch Schwimmt in die Freiheit" before gaining power as it slows and adds lower layers in the ensemble. In that long cue, the theme is applied in a rather serious performance on strings at 4:51 and brass at 7:03 before moving back to prancing animated comedy mode at 9:36 with a few lovely flute solos mixed in. The main theme then resolves back to silly atmospheres at 0:19 into "Partytime" and prances with dexterity throughout "Iguana Hop am Nordpol." Also prominent in the score for The Little Polar Bear 2: The Mysterious Island is the theme for friendship and family (likely by Zimmer, based on cue attributions) that becomes its heart by the end. Lauras Stern showed a tendency to emulate the melodic techniques of James Horner, and that sensibility is once again on full display in this theme here. Sharing progressions with Horner's Glory, this theme takes a while to establish itself but absolutely dominates the second half of the work. Opening "Am Nordpol" in tingling anticipation under choir and shifting to Harvey's flute at 1:52, the friendship theme continues on that instrument at 2:54 into "Das Fischskelett" over tingling metallic percussion and then over chimes at 1:39 into "Lars Findet den Riesenfisch." It finally gains ensemble strength at 1:04 into "Befreit den Riesenfisch!" with the flute, experiencing substantial airtime in the cue with more dramatic heft, including a major rendition for the whole group at 4:09 with the muscular Zimmer bass shifts. The idea returns to its tender flute form at 2:18 into "Blinde Passagiere" and carries that instrument over subtle percussive reinforcement at 0:42 into "Lars Und Greta Füttern den Riesenfisch." The friendship theme rediscovers its determined form at 1:15 into "Der Riesenfisch Schwimmt in die Freiheit," and the solo flute provides redemption for the idea at 1:39 into "Partytime" for a softly resolute finale. Introduced in the latter half of The Little Polar Bear 2: The Mysterious Island is the score's third theme, one of more zesty personality for the island and its characters, notably the iguana. This playful theme is bubbly in "Auf in den Süden!," joined by Harvey's flute at the cue's end. Whimsical on that instrument at 1:32 into "Wie Geht es Weiter?," the island theme is elongated for melodramatic ensemble force at 3:45 over thumping percussion, the wailing flute eventually guiding the idea in a very Beyond Rangoon kind of atmosphere. The idea opens "Robby Trifft Iguanita" with a brief moment of drama, proceeds on flute over mandolin 1:27 into "Lars und Darwina," and opens "Die Schildkrötenbabys Schlüpfen Aus" on flute as well. This material often uses rattling percussion and the mandolin and/or marimba to provide more hip personality for the tropical environment. A brief burst of such fun follows in the middle of "Blinde Passagiere," though the island theme is redemptively pretty for a moment in "Greta Kommt An," carrying over into the following song. Secondary phrases for the theme occupy a brief diversion in "Die Freunde Sind Wieder Zusammen" while the primary portions start the lengthy "Der Riesenfisch Schwimmt in die Freiheit." The theme unleashes some fun at the start of "Partytime" before a nicely serious interlude on woodwinds at 0:36. Interestingly, the score is rather limited in its development of any villain or adversity material despite that angle existing in the story. The main adventure theme is sometimes adapted for this purpose, but there are times when Glennie-Smith does noodle around with figures that stew near key and express darker shades of sleaze. Such music briefly factors on lightly sinister marimba and low strings in "Warnung vor den Menschen," and a variation of this tact gains further development in "Lars Findet den Riesenfisch." Generally, however, The Little Polar Bear 2: The Mysterious Island is a pleasant listening experience from start to finish. That is, with the exception of the absolutely incongruent song performances that cause significant heartache in the 64-minute album presentation for the soundtrack. Released only in Germany on CD, the score has more than enough really solid material to arrange into a lovely and engaging 30-minute suite. The "Befreit den Riesenfisch!" cue in particular is a powerhouse for the Horner-like friendship theme. Zimmer unfortunately steered away from these heartfelt animation scores in his career at this point, which is a significant disappointment, because his work with Glennie-Smith for this and Lauras Stern remain highly rewarding listening experiences. ****
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 64:02
* co-composed by Hans Zimmer ** song performed by Dirk Bach and/or Joy Gruttmann
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert includes extensive credits but no extra information about the score or film.
Copyright ©
2025, Filmtracks Publications. All rights reserved.
The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from The Little Polar Bear 2: The Mysterious Island are Copyright © 2005, Warner Bros. Family Entertainment (Germany) and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 2/16/25 (and not updated significantly since). |
