THE LAND BEFORE TIME

JAMES HORNER

Rating:

Original Review: Hailed by many as one of the finest animated scores written in recent years, and one of James Horner's most original and excellent efforts, The Land Before Time really is a masterpiece. Beginning with a stately, noble horn theme in 'The Great Migration', which then turns into a playful clarinet melody, Horner makes the most of his animated canvas without ever resorting to the traditional 'cartoon scoring' traits of short, comical bursts of noise to complement the visuals. No, Horner's magical first cue almost a mini-symphony on it's own, by turns moving, dramatic, funny and inspiring, weaving three different themes from the rest of the score together to make a perfect whole. Another noteworthy element of The Great Migration is the floating flute theme which appears about 5:30 in, which is actually the main theme from Horner's unreleased score for The Journey of Natty Gann - a real bonus for Hornerphiles. The film's song, "If We Hold On Together", which was written by Horner and Will Jennings and is performed by Diana Ross in track 4, is a magical ballad full of emotion, and the underscore, which acts as the film's fourth theme, is beautiful, especially when accentuated by an angelic children's choir (as at the beginning of 'Sharptooth and the Earthquake'), and when played in all its full-orchestral glory at the end of 'Discovery of the Great Valley' and during 'End Credits'. The only negative about the score are the action sequences, of which there are a few, but to me they seem a little too frenzied and rely too heavily on other scores, especially Willow and Project X, and it is these action themes which keep The Land Before Time from getting that fifth star.

Track Listing: Running Time: 58 minutes 12 seconds

MCA Records MCAD-6266 (1988)

Music composed and conducted by James Horner. Performed by The London Symphony Orchestra and The King's College Choir, Wimbledon. Orchestrations by Grieg McRitchie. Recorded and mixed by Shawen Murphy. Edited by Jim Henrikson. "If We Hold On Together" produced by Peter Asher. Album produced by James Horner.


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These web pages were designed and maintained by Jonathan Broxton copyright 1997. All opinions and views expressed on these pages are my own and are in no way intended to reflect those of my employer, the Trent Institute for Health Services Research, or those of the University of Sheffield.