Up's ST is up (no pun intended) for preview on Amazon ( http://tiny.cc/EWGoj ). The full album doesn't get released until May 26, but it was worth it to get a taste of what Michael Giacchino has thought up this time around, especially after hearing his phenomenal work on Star Trek. (http://tiny.cc/AR109)
From the 30 second or so clips of each track, the music at this point sounds like a great blend of traditional light hearted Pixar themes with the dominant genre on this ST being reminiscent of something you'd hear in a Cary Grant movie. Tracks 1 and 2, which are probably covering something to do with Carl (the main character's) past, are light, lounge style nods to smoky jazz clubs in the forties, while Track 7 feels like signature Pixar. I was glad they included actual tracks of sound effects on this release. The last three tracks are clips of just the sound effects from three different scenarios, done by the reputable Skywalker Sound, home of award-winning sound artist Ben Burtt. Burtt was a revolutionary in his work with Star Wars and most recently, WALL-E, last summer. "Memories Weigh You Down" is one of the best songs on here; I recommend it.
And of course, it wouldn't be a Michael Giacchino soundtrack without the characeristic puns and pop culture references for track names. I can't say this worked too well with Star Trek ("Enterprising Young Men" and "Nero Death Experience" are among them, not to mention "Nice to Meld You") but it's definitely appropos here. "Paradise Found", "Kevin Beak'n", "Escape From Muntz Mountain", and "Giving Muntz the Bird" are the most notable. There's also a track titled "52 Chachki Pickup", which I didn't see the humor in at first, and neither did a lot of others, but it turns out "chachki" is another word for a knick-knack or piece of junk, so I smell a veiled car insult in the works.
There are no obvious spoilers in the titles, so don't worry.(at least I thought so. if you feel that phrases will reveal the entire course of the movie to you and care enough not to listen,then so be it.) I wanted to get a feel for what the apparent villain (played by Christopher Plummer) in this movie would be like, so I Googled the name "Muntz". I'm counting on the fact that they're even making a reference here, but the most results I got were for a man named Earl Muntz, a notorious tinkerer and electronics fiend in the 40s and 50s. Check it out here, if you want - http://tiny.cc/Bswg3. He's also described as being rather off the wall. The timeline fits with Carl's, so I'm going to venture a guess that Muntz is somebody he knew in his youth that they find rather awkwardly roaming the jungle, or that he will embody most of the characteristics of this man Earl.
Whether these speculations are correct or not is beyond me, but it's always fun to figure out the easter eggs hidden in Pixar's work.
Make sure you get out to see Pixar's Up in theaters May 29th!
No comments:
Post a Comment