Before the movie begins, the audience is introduced to a new version of the Disney 'Castle Logo Music' which was arranged by Debney. Followed promptly after, the music seamlessly transitions into an arrangement of the main titles by George Bruns. This recall on the original theme is a great way to start a film which Walt considered his favorite.
This atmosphere is supported with ethnic colors and delicate percussion. The excellent use of underscoring and tasteful melodic gestures really help set the mood and feeling of the jungle and the relationships it houses. However, it is unfortunate how dull Sheer Kahn's music is. Upon his entrance, Sheer Khan is surrounded by ominous sounds and later filled with frantic action music. Albeit, the action music is very well written, but the lack of a strong theme is a shame.
Played by Idris Elba, the tiger Sheer Khan rules the jungle with a vengeance towards humans. Sheer Khan instead is represented by rhythmic drumming, aggressive brass hits, and fast moving string runs which takes away from the quality of what could have been a great character development. Around the middle of the film, after kidnapped by monkeys, Mowgli soon arrives at King Louie's Temple. I found this section of the film more unique than any other for its use of melodic storytelling as well as use of thematic material and variation.
The temple itself has a three not motif which is played in the high horns as the camera pans up on the temple. As the temple scene progresses King Louie becomes angry at Mowgli and goes on a crazy chase through the temple to catch him in the track "Cold Lair Chase".
What Debney does with "I Wan'na be like You" in this section it absolutely great! By creating this cross reference scene, the whole atmosphere of the monkey temple scene provides a better musical continuity and story than any other scene in the film. As the temple comes crashing down at the end of the chase the audience can once again hear the three note horn motif from the beginning, only this time, it is in a lower register. Similar to the temple scene, Debney also uses a comparable technique with the slithery theme for Kaa.
Even though her song, "Trust in Me" is only in the end credits, the hypnotic melody is featured in many spots throughout the film. First in the track "Kaa - Baloo to the Rescue" where the theme is presented in a style similar to the Bruns and Sherman version. Later on, Debney takes his own spin on the theme in the track "The Red Flower. The theme is a large, slow-moving, yet very simple melody which can get stuck in your head for hours.
The theme is most clear in the track "Elephant Waterfall. The melody is constantly modulating, or changing the key of the piece. This constant modulation helps propel the melody making it seem as if it is growing with each phrase in orchestral size as well as thematic importance.
Unfortunately, this theme may not be as special as it sounds. The melody embodies many similarities of both composers Jerry Goldsmith and John Barry. For example, from the film Medicine Man , the track "The Trees" has a very similar motion in its melodic shaping as well as the importance of its modulation.
It could also be compared to the "I Had a Farm Main Title " of Out of Africa , by John Barry which presents a wonderful landscape of sound to the beauty and strength of Africa, again, very similar to the majesty of the elephant and grandeur of the jungle. Regardless if the theme was influenced from other composers, it is still a beautiful melody which fits the pacing of the film.
Although Debney did seem to lack a bit of his own stylistic voice throughout this film, I find it hard to see another way this score could have been written. The beautiful balance between old and new demonstrates his versatility and craftsmanship as a composer. In the future, I hope to see Debney assigned to more of these A-list films; undoubtedly, he deserves it! Missing Information?
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