Wonder Movie Music Revealed.....

Smash · August 15, 2001, 21:51

I went on an e-mail fishing trip and this is what I caught

from Tim Train

.....Most of the wonder movie music was inspired by certain pieces--we actually mocked them up using the pieces as placeholder, and then the music guys composed music that is "in the style of" that piece.

Pyramids: inspired by Peter Gabriel's "The Feeling Begins" from the Passion soundtrack.
Hanging Gardens: I can't quite remember the inspiration, but I think it was from one of those Bamboo Flute compilations. Mike?
Colossus: Inspired by the "Main Title" from Last of the Mohicans soundtrack
The Lighthouse: Inspired by "Elk Hunt" from Last of the Mohicans soundtrack
Great Library: Inspired by "Sheeta's Decision" from the Laputa: Castle in the Sky soundtrack. Personal plug: Laputa: Castle in the Sky is one of my favorite movies, ever, and has a phenomenal soundtrack. It was directed by Hayao Miyazaki, who also did the more famous "Princess Mononoke". It's not currently available in the US, but the rights are owned by Disney and I hope they eventually release it.
Oracle: I'm surprised no one got the inspiration for this one: "Theme From Harry's Game" by Clannad. :-).
Great Wall of China: Inspired by Peter Gabriel's "Gethsemane", from the Passion soundtrack.
Sun Tzu's War Academy--I'm pretty sure this is also inspired by Gethsemane, but I'm not going to click through all 21 tracks on that album to be sure :-)
King Richard's Crusade: "Dance of the Furies" by Gluck, from Orfeo. One of my fave classical pieces. Christopher Hogwood and the Academy of Ancient Music do a killer version of this.
Marco Polo: Inspired by "The Kiss", from the Last of the Mohicans soundtrack.
Michaelangelo: Some damn baroque thing. Don't remember what or who.
Copernicus: I'm pretty sure this is inspired by the Laptua soundtrack again--Track 12. It may also be inspired by "The Glade, Part II" from the Mohicans soundtrack again. We were pretty into the Mohican soundtrack on this project.
Magellan's Expedition: Inspired by "Promentory" on Mohicans.
Darwin: Aaargh. You're going to keep me up all night long trying to remember this one.
Eifel: I'm pretty sure this was just some random accordion music.
Women's Suffrage: Inspired by "Swing At The Daisy Chain" by Count Basie & His Orchestra
Hoover Dam: This was actually inspired by a track on the Mechwarrior 2 soundtrack. Those guys did an awesome job on their music. And it's still one of the best opening animations I've ever seen.
Manhattan Project: This was inspired by a Morphine track, either "Bo's Veranda" or "I Had My Chance" from the Get Shorty soundtrack.
United Nations: I'm pretty sure this was inspired by the main title to Laputa. But I'm not 100% sure on that one.
Apollo Program: Inspired by the beginning of "Telegraph Road", by Dire Straits. Random memory: we briefly thought about licensing the 80s song "Major Tom" by Peter Schilling for this clip. When put with that music, the clip is much more celebratory and fun. This somber version is probably more appropriate, but very different.
SETI: I think this was another "inspired by Mechwarrior 2" track.
Cure for Cancer: I think this was inspired by another Clannad track, but I wouldn't swear to it.

Tim

He also confirmed Leonardo's is inspried by cantaloop.

and this from Michael Ely:

Howdy Smash and Tim

Good catch on the cantaloop!

The Morphine track for Manhattan Project was "I Had My
Chance." I'm also pretty sure that the Cure for Cancer
was Clannad. As Tim points out, the music can really
change the flavor of a movie. From what I remember the
Apollo Project wasn't even re-edited from the original
version (which did in fact use the "Earth below us"
chorus from Major Tom). Yet, the feel is very
different.

At one point some QA guys wanted us to switch the
music for Manhattan Project and Hoover Dam because
they thought that MP needed "more dramatic music
befitting the most destructive weapon ever produced by
mankind," or something like that. But, the MP movie
was meant to be on the dark side. Incidentally, the
Morphine track has a lot of intense wailing sax that
couldn't be replicated with digital sounds, so a
guitar sound was used instead.

I don't remember what track was used for Hanging
Gardens either; I'll have to give it a listen.

Glad you like the wonder movies. This brought back
some memories, especially of the mechwarrior
soundtrack and Tim's much-used copy of Last of the
Mohicans!

multimedia mike

Thanks guys.A great mystery solved

Smash · August 18, 2001, 03:09

Still need:
Hanging Gardens
Mich's
Darwin's

almost there.....

mindseye · August 18, 2001, 12:12

Thank you for posting this, Smash! Maybe a year ago I posted that I thought at least a couple of the Wonders used music from the Last of the Mohicans soundtrack. Finally, I'm vindicated!

Another missing from the Tim Train's list is Isaac's, which I stumbled over one day. It's the opening Allegro from Vivaldi's Concerto #10 in B Minor (RV 580).

Thanks, Smash!

- mindseye

Smash · August 18, 2001, 13:43

Hey Tim..how do?I remember when you discovered that one

I left out the ones we had figured out when I asked them.They are Bach's,Sir Isaac,Leo's,Statue and Adam Smith's.
for the record
Bach's(wonder15.mov)-Bach's Fugue from Tocatta and Fugue in D minor
Isaac's College(wonder16.mov) Vivaldi's Concerto #10 in B minor
Adam's Smith's(wonder17.mov) Handel's Arrival of Sheba from Solomon
Statue of Liberty(wonder19.mov) John Philip Sousa's El Capitan
Leonardo's Workshop(wonder14.mov) Cantaloop

hahaha.....Last of The Mohicans soundtrack....they said they almost wore it out doing the movies

Winston · August 19, 2001, 06:35

Thanks for the investigative work Smash.

A copy of this has been saved to my hard drive for reference when I get around to hunting down some of these albums!

Great work!