Opinions on Randy Newman (songwriter for Toy Story, etc.)

[littlefuzzy]

Here are the Disney/Pixar projects for which he has written songs.
Toy Story
James and the Giant Peach
A Bug's Life
Toy Story 2
Monsters, Inc.
Cars
The Princess & the Frog
Toy Story 3

What do you think of his songwriting ability, and do you like his singing, or is it best left to another singer?

After listening to the Monk theme song on two seasons worth of episodes, and remembering the Family Guy spoof of Randy Newman, I am really disliking his singing. The songs themselves are fine, I guess, but I just don't like his voice.

[akhenaten]

i personally dont fancy his vocals.. and his music tend to sound alike...hence im skeptical for princess n the frog

[Balto123]

His music for "Cats Don't Dance" was fantastic, but his Pixar contributions have been rather less impressive, as they tend to all sound alike with very little originality. We'll just have to wait and see for "Frog" to see what he comes up with.

[Sotiris]

His music for "Cats Don't Dance" was fantastic, but his Pixar contributions have been rather less impressive, as they tend to all sound alike with very little originality.

Couldn't agree more.

[BrandonH]

I would disagree that all of his music for Disney/Pixar sounds similar. His voice is the same on all that he sings, of course, so if you don't like his singing, then it will all sound bad to you.

His songs and scores all complement the story and emotion of the movie he is writing for, so I'd classify him as a successful movie composer.

[Prudence]

His music for "Cats Don't Dance" was fantastic, but his Pixar contributions have been rather less impressive, as they tend to all sound alike with very little originality.

Couldn't agree more.

Thirded. Then again, "Frog" is traditionally animated and more like "Cats Don't Dance" than were the Pixar films, in a lot respects.

[UncleEd]

Yeah his music all sounds the same but because of that it's fun to imagine Political Science is a Pixar song. I play it telling people it's from their next upcoming film and they believe me too.

Political Science is a satire song about nuking the earth.

[MrIncredible]

He's okay. Of the three composer that Pixar has used for their features, he's easily my least favourite. Has he been confirmed for Toy Story 3, cause I was hoping that the composer job on that film will go to Michael Giacchino (who, unlike Newman, has been able to do two completely different feature scores, and four- counting DVD- short films).

[blackcauldron85]

I really like the songs in both "Toy Story" movies & "James and the Giant Peach". I don't dislike his other songs ("If I Didn't Have You" is a really nice song- which, by the way, Mitchel Musso & Emily Osment will be covering on "Disneymania 6" I found out today on Mitchel Musso's website, FYI).

I'm not a huge fan of his voice, but he can carry a tune. I'm extremely disappointed that he's doing the music for "The Princess and the Frog". Will it be a "Tarzan"/"Brother Bear" type scenario, but instead of Phil Collins singing it'll be Randy Newman singing? I'd love for the characters in "The Princess and the Frog" to sing, and, if that's the case, then I don't have as much of a problem with him doing the music. But I'd much prefer Alan Menken.

[Escapay]

Randy Newman is one of those singers/composers where you listen to his music and you're not especially impressed vocally, but some of the instrumental cues can strike a chord. I remember the Family Guy mocking that was mentioned above, and it really fit him to a T. He'll make a song out of anything, and it's not necessarily bad, but not too good either.

I didn't mind his music in early Pixar films, but I wasn't too keen on his music for Monsters, Inc. or Cars (maybe because Cars is my least-favorite Pixar film). The James and the Giant Peach music was rather forgettable for me, so I really didn't have a major problem with it, nor did I really like it.

Thinking about his music, there's very little that I can recall and hum to myself. It's all very incidental, in that you only slightly notice it while watching the movie, but it's really gone once you stop. His is one of the few that this happens to me, I usually remember music cues very well. But his music seems to just go in one ear and out the other.

Scaps

[Poody]

Personally, I don't care for him. Especially if he's singing the songs himself! There's a few I don't mind so much.

I didn't know he did "James and the Giant Peach" though! Those weren't so bad.... I guess.

I don't like the idea of him doing Froggy, but we'll just wait and see on that one. I'd prefer Menken, but I hope he'll at least be doing Rapunzel.

[Vermin Friends]

His songs for Pixar movies are okay. It's a new style. New messages, new themes, etc.

What I don't like is him doing Princess and the Frog. This movie is about bringing back traditionally animated feature films, not continuing the CGI era. I feel that if they really believed in bringing back the (approx.) 1989-1999 renaissance, they would have used Alan. Alan's music is much more fairytale-esque, compared to Randy Newman's country genre.

I remember hearing something about Disney not wanting to be "repetitive" since Alan did Enchanted, and Princess and the Frog is next in line. How much more bullshit could you get?! I guess it didn't occur to them that the first few Disney animated films were all composed and song-written by the same three men, or that Alan composed for almost a decade with Disney, and now- after 20 years, you're suddenly self-conscious about being "repetitive"?!

I don't think so.

[BelleGirl]

I like his song "when she loved me" from Toy Story 2. That is touching. But Alan Menken is a much more versatile composer. With his compositions he always seems tho struck the right chord for Disney movies as diverse in subject as Aladdin, Pocahontas and Hunchback of Notre Dame.

But maybe Lassetter thinks that Newman is more 'jazzy' and therefore better suited for a fairy tale taking place in the jazz-age?

[+Luki+]

I like the songs but I prefer Menken, his disney soundtracks are masterpieces in the film history. Newman is doing a good job, but not more

Luki

[ChrisLyne]

Newman is good but his work is nowhere near as memorable as Menken's. I could probably only name 2 or 3 of his songs of the top of my head and none of them even close to being in the same league as Menken's work.

Like Vermin Friends said I really can't understand Lassetter's reason for replacing Menken with Newman. "Too repetitive"?! Compare The Little Mermaid, Aladdin and Hercules (his previous three films with Clements and Musker who are doing Princess and the Frog) and none of them sound the same. Lassetter has done a lot of good at Disney (not least bringing back classic animation) but I think he's majorly dropped the ball here.

I really want Frog Princess to be good, and I think it will be, but I honestly believe that if Lasseter had left Menken and Slater on the film rather than Newman then it would have been fantastic.

[musicradio77]

Randy's voice sounded almost a lot like Bullwinkle from the Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoons.

[UncleEd]

I think Lasseter's choice is cronie-ism on display. Menken has also become a scapegoat for animated feature failures (one of many unfounded scapegoats) I think the 3 fairy tales he did do have a similarity to them. They're slightly different but compliment each other. Pocahontas and Hunchback share a similarity too. But these are probably all due to the lyrics. The Pixar guys want to do things their own way so they're bringing in their guys. Besides, at the time Menken was to do Enchanted, Rapunzel, and Frog Princess. All were stripped away from him but Enchanted. I also figure this is a way for Randy to finally get an earned oscar rather than a pity one. He always lost to Menken. So in theory he could win in this spot and not because he lost 19 times before.

I don't mind his work on James & the Giant Peach. I think the characters should sing. I'm not a fan of the voice over singer.

[blackcauldron85]

Newman gets star on Walk of Fame
http://animatedviews.com/2010/newman-ge ... k-of-fame/

[BK]

Newman is forgettable.

And, there comes a point where forgettable turns to dislike because every thing sounds the same.

I don't like him, he's done the same thing for years and you compare him to stand-outs like Menken and Giacchino and he's even worse.

It's just that Lasseter is being a politician giving him work when others are suited better, pity, a real ****ing pity.

[DisneyJedi]

Newman is forgettable.

And, there comes a point where forgettable turns to dislike because every thing sounds the same.

I don't like him, he's done the same thing for years and you compare him to stand-outs like Menken and Giacchino and he's even worse.

It's just that Lasseter is being a politician giving him work when others are suited better, pity, a real ****ing pity.

Well, that's not really fair.

Am I the only one who doesn't think that all his songs sound the same? The only thing I find similar is the underscore in each film he's worked on. I mean, the underscore in TPatF did sound sort of similar to that of Toy Story.

BTW, yes. I like Randy Newman's music. Don't like it? Tough titty!