Frozen: Part IV

[Sotiris]

Turns out that Christopher Beck may not be the composer after all.

He is. The Film Music Reporter is a very reliable source. It just has not been officially announced by Disney yet so that's why Disney artists can't confirm it.

I have a feeling that if this is eligible for the Oscars, it will win.

Musicals are no longer eligible for the Best Score category.

[qindarka]

Roby Brown ‏@RobyMB 12h
@alittlejelee Who's the composer?

Jennifer Lee ‏@alittlejelee 12h
@RobyMB can you guess?

Roby Brown ‏@RobyMB 12h
@alittlejelee Hmmm. I have five - Jackman. Elfman. Giacchino. Debney. Beck.

Jennifer Lee ‏@alittlejelee 7h
@RobyMB you're onto something with one of those. We've also got the original songs, too.

It is probably Beck. They just seem to take an age to officially confirm stuff, as was the case with the casting of Jonathan Groff and Josh Gad.

Musicals are no longer eligible for the Best Score category.

That's strange. What was the reasoning behind it?

[Atlantica]

I think Alan Menken said it was something to do with him, constantly being nominated in the Best Score category?

[Sotiris]

That's strange. What was the reasoning behind it?

To prevent Alan Menken from gaining more double song/score Oscars.

Supposedly, it's because members are influenced by the songs which are more memorable than the underscore and tend to give the Oscar for Best Score to a musical.

Scores diluted by the use of tracked themes or other preexisting music, diminished in impact by the predominant use of songs, or assembled from the music of more than one composer shall not be eligible.

[Sotiris]

I think Alan Menken said it was something to do with him, constantly being nominated in the Best Score category?

Not exactly. Menken didn't say that; it's other people who have claimed it's because of Alan Menken. They even dubbed it "The Alan Menken Rule".

Also, it was after the three song nominations he gained for Enchanted that the Academy changed the song rules too and now only up to two songs from a film can be nominated.

[qindarka]

Supposedly, it's because members are influenced by the songs which are more memorable than the underscore and tend to give the Oscar for Best Score to a musical.

Scores diluted by the use of tracked themes or other preexisting music, diminished in impact by the predominant use of songs, or assembled from the music of more than one composer shall not be eligible.

Oh, that makes sense then. Not that I'm familiar with the other films from 1989 and 1992 respectively but I'm not too sure that The Little Mermaid and Aladdin deserved those awards for Best Original Score. Menken's songs do indeed tend to overshadow his score.

[Sotiris]

Not that I'm familiar with the other films from 1989 and 1992 respectively but I'm not too sure that The Little Mermaid and Aladdin deserved those awards for Best Original Score. Menken's songs do indeed tend to overshadow his score.

I disagree. Having listened to the scores in isolation, I found them quite memorable and deserving of the Oscar.

[Lady Cluck]

The Lion King is the biggest disparity between the quality of the score and the quality of the songs imo. I find songs to be a bit overrated and among the weakest of the Renaissance musicals, but the score is dramatic, beautiful, and amazing.

[Sotiris]

I find songs to be a bit overrated and among the weakest of the Renaissance musicals, but the score is dramatic, beautiful, and amazing.

I can't believe I've found another person who feels the same way about the music in The Lion King. I love the Zimmer score but I'm not so fond of the songs. I only like "The Circle of Life" and "Be Prepared".

[qindarka]

I would also agree with the score of The Lion King being far superior to the songs. Might well be the case for Mulan as well.

Can you Feel the Love Tonight especially feels a little out of place.

[Sotiris]

Might well be the case for Mulan as well.

Definitely. I find "Reflection" and perhaps "I'll Make a Man Out of You" the only good songs in the film.

"Can you Feel the Love Tonight" especially feels a little out of place.

I would go as far to call it the worst love song in the entire Disney canon, second only to "Ma Belle Evangeline".

[Lady Cluck]

At least it's not as bad as Hakuna Matata. I never understood why that was so beloved by the masses at the time.

My favorite moment from TLK on Broadway is this song, which has the beautiful score to thank

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fLiFbk2_S4[/youtube]

[Disney's Divinity]

That's strange. What was the reasoning behind it?

To prevent Alan Menken from gaining more double song/score Oscars.

That reminds me of how the New York Best-sellers made a separate list just for children's books when the Harry Potter series was dominating the list. It's unfair, tbh. Although I wouldn't mind if they did something like that to Taylor Swift.

Also, I agree that TLM & Aladdin have very good scores, and that I prefer the score to TLK over the songs (although "Circle of Life" is the only one I care for).

So, I'm kind of confused--Lopez isn't doing the score? And where does Menken come in--why would they give Lopez the songs and relegate Menken to the score...? That would almost be more insulting than if Menken had nothing to do with the movie...

[qindarka]

No, Menken is not doing anything on Frozen, was just a bit of speculation. It was reported a while ago that Christophe Beck was doing the score for the film with Robert and Kristin-Anderson Lopez doing the songs. There was a little bit of doubt as to whether the former was true because there was no official confirmation but it is still very likely the case.

[disneyprincess11]

I have a feeling that if this is eligible for the Oscars, it will win.

Musicals are no longer eligible for the Best Score category.

Waaaaaaaaah. I hope they make a exception out of this if the music is that great. I hope if it's as great as the tweeters say, it gets at least an award from someone.

[qindarka]

Musicals are no longer eligible for the Best Score category.

Waaaaaaaaah. I hope they make a exception out of this if the music is that great. I hope if it's as great as the tweeters say, it gets at least an award from someone.

The tweeters were actually referring to the songs being orchestrated, not the score. The songs certainly are eligible for Best Original Song.

Also, I personally think the music will be great but don't take those tweets too seriously. They are working on the film, they would of course be very enthusiastic about it.

[Lady Cluck]

They should bring back the Musical/Comedy score subcategory. Mulan and Hunchback were nominated for that and Pocahontas won.

But WDAS hasn't won an Oscar for a full length feature since 1999 for Tarzan's "You'll Be in My Heart."

Here are their nominations since then:

The Emperor's New Groove (2000)
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG) -- "My Funny Friend and Me," Music by Sting and David Hartley; Lyrics by Sting - Nominated

Lilo & Stitch (2002)
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM—Chris Sanders - Nominated

Treasure Planet (2002)
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM—Ron Clements - Nominated

Brother Bear (2003)
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM—Aaron Blaise and Robert Walker - Nominated

Bolt (2008)
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM—Chris Williams and Byron Howard - Nominated

The Princess and the Frog (2009)
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM—John Musker and Ron Clements - Nominated
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG) -- "Almost There," Music and Lyrics by Randy Newman - Nominated
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG) -- "Down in New Orleans," Music and Lyrics by Randy Newman - Nominated

Tangled (2010)
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG) -- "I See the Light," Music by Alan Menken; Lyrics by Glenn Slater - Nominated

Wreck-It Ralph (2012)
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM—Rich Moore - Nominated

I wouldn't expect much, though the animated competition is particularly weak this year. Monsters University will probably win Best Animated Feature Film anyway. Hopefully not The Croods or Despicable Me 2

I think we can rule out Turbo now

[qindarka]

If Frozen gets above 90% on RT (or maybe just 85%), it should win. Expect at least a nomination for Best Original Song as well. Think there is a very decent chance of two awards this year. Monsters U may suffer from being a prequel and the other nominees haven't been received well enough to win. Outside chance of Cloudy 2 receiving spectacular critical reception or a foreign animated film winning.

And WDAS did win for Paperman last year.

Oscars are meaningless though.

[estefan]

I'm personally rooting for "Epic" to win the Best Animated Feature Oscar, at the moment, as I loved that flick. But its mixed reception probably dilutes its chances of getting nominated.

I actually didn't mind Brave winning last year, but I hope Pixar doesn't coast to a win this year as I was very underwhelmed by Monsters University.

[Lady Cluck]

And WDAS did win for Paperman last year.

I said full length.

And Oscars may be meaningless, but they certainly aren't to movie studios. Disney was desperate for Oscars in the 90s to add credibility and prestige to the animated genre. Sometimes it paid off (Beauty and the Beast). Other times they tried a little too hard (Pocahontas).

PIXAR's consistent greatness ended up contributing a lot more to the Academy's decision to add a separate category for animation than Disney did (and arguably Shrek since it was the first to actually win the award ). The Pixar bias with the Academy does exist, but they have been defeated several times before, just not by Disney.

It's actually kind of embarrassing that Disney, the premier animation studio throughout history, hasn't managed to win now that there's an entirely separate category. Looking at the previous years' nominees, the only time they probably came remotely close was last year with Wreck It Ralph vs Brave.

Of course, the early 2000s obviously weren't a great time for Disney animation to say the least Things appear to be on the upswing now so hopefully they can add some prestige to the company again. Hopefully this can be the year