A BUG'S LIFE

RANDY NEWMAN

Rating:

Original Review: In 1998's battle of the animated bugs, A Bug's Life beat Antz hands down, both in terms of reviews and box office receipts. Although it did not boast quite the same impressive line up of vocal talent as Antz did, A Bug's Life still had Kevin Spacey and the cast members from Frazier and Seinfeld, and ultimately captured a much wider audience with it's broad comedy, feelgood heroics and appealing characters that included a wide-eyed antlet named Dot, a chubby German caterpillar named Heimlich and a stick insect with an inferiority complex.

As they did with their previous feature, Toy Story, the Pixar studio heads turned to veteran composer and songwriter Randy Newman to provide the film's musical voice. Although his score has a more straightforward and traditional approach than Harry Gregson-Williams and John Powell's efforts on Antz, it is no less enjoyable, and in fact boasts several moments of grandeur and excellence. The score is a three-way combination of cool jazz, bouncy big-band number and orchestral heroics, all performed with the familiar light-hearted and accessible style that all Disney music adopts. Once again, Newman gives the film music world a taste of his unmistakable style with the song "The Time of Your Life", a suitably heroic and upbeat ditty in the same vein as "You Got A Friend In Me" from Toy Story and numerous others.

The score has its fair share of highlights, the centrepiece of which is a marvellously patriotic, flag-waving recurring melody firmly set in the bold western style of Elmer Bernstein and Randy's Uncle Alfred. In fact, this may be an intentional pastiche on Newman's part, as many film buffs have pointed out the structural similarities between A Bug's Life and The Magnificent Seven. The theme gets its first rendition at the end of 'Flik Leaves', and is heard again during 'Return to the Colony', 'Flik's Return' and the grand 'Victory', when the evil grasshoppers are finally driven from the anthill. In addition, 'Flik Machine' and 'The City' are wonderfully vibrant swing pieces which, through their inventiveness and sense of fun, perfectly represent both Flik's mentality and the hustle and bustle of the bug metropolis. The jazzy theme from the song reappears at the beginning of 'Flik Leaves', 'Loser' seems to echo the throbbing cellos from Jaws, and there are two leitmotifs for Hopper and Princess Atta - a low, menacing clarinet, and an angelic flute.

One thing which may come as surprise to those not so familiar with Newman's work are the excellent action sequences. 'Red Alert', 'Robin Hood', 'Dot's Rescue', 'Grasshoppers' Return', 'The Bird Flies' and 'The Ants Fight Back' are fast, exciting and relentlessly powerful, with a noticeably strong brass section dominating the orchestra. Lest we forget, Newman was originally slated to score the 1997 thriller Air Force One (ultimately scored by Jerry Goldsmith), and it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if some of the unused thematic material from that score had made its way into this one. Remember, Hans Zimmer - a composer renowned for his action cues - said, upon hearing the rejected score, that he had never written an action sequence as good as Newman's.

In a year where scores for animated movies haven been well above par, A Bug's Life is not the best of the year (my favourite remains Mulan), but nevertheless makes for a hugely enjoyable hour's listening. In any other year, this score would have been the red hot favourite for the Oscar but, considering its strong opposition, I doubt whether Newman will take home the prize. One thing that will remain with me for a long time, though, are the fabulous action sequences, and I sincerely hope that a director with more vision than Wolfgang Petersen sees fit to hire Randy Newman for an action thriller some time in the future.

Track Listing: Running Time: 47 minutes 40 seconds

Disney/Edel 0106342DNY (1998)

Music composed and conducted by Randy Newman. Orchestrations by Jonathan Sacks, Don Davis and Ira Hearshen. Recorded and mixed by Frank Wolf. Edited by Lori Eschler Frystak and Bruno Coon. Mastered by Doug Sax. Album produced by Randy Newman and Frank Wolf.


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