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TLK1.5 soundtrack coming...and they're pulling a Rescuers!

Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2004 6:45 pm
by Jake Lipson
The Lion King soundtrack remains one of the most popular soundtracks of all time, both in sales and in music quality and popularity. It sold over 10 million copies in its classic original release version. plus sales of last year's DVD tie in Special Edition version. The songs are ever popular and constantly rank among people's favorite Disney music. The movie had THREE Best Song nominations in 1994 (Circle of Life, Hakuna Matata and the winner, Can You Feel the Love Tonight) as well as a win for Hans Zimmer's exceptional score.

It was so popular that Disney unleashed a spinoff album, Rythm of the Pride Lands, which paved the way for the Broadway musical and is clearly the basis for several of the new songs. The "Rythm" CD proved successful enough to warrent the release of "Return to Pride Rock," featuring songs from Simba's Pride, plus various other African-influenced songs.

So my point is, while I was listening to "Rythm" last weekend I was wondering if 1 1/2 would by any chance be getting a soundtrack.

I suppose it was pretty much inevitable. The movie features at least one new song from Elton John and Tim Rice (Meerkat Rabsody, adapted from the Lion King deleted song Warthog Rabsody) and a Hans Zimmer score.

Amazon turned up <a href=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de ... mz>this</a>, listing a February 3 street date, which will put it just a week ahead of the movie. But instead of taking preorders, they're citing it as unavailable and leaving the customer a chance to buy it used if it shows up from the Marketplace sellers.
<b>Availability:</b> THIS TITLE IS CURRENTLY NOT AVAILABLE. If you would like to purchase this title, we recommend that you occasionally check this page to see if it has become available.
They don't have a track listing, either.

Figuring something fishy was up, I called my local Barnes & Noble store to see if they could tell me anything more about it and/or preorder it for me. They confirmed the 2/3 street date and told me it comes with a low $6.98 price tag (!), but when they tried to preorder it they couldn't. Something or other about if they were going to preorder it it would have to be shipped to my house resulting in a service charge. Disappointed, I said, "Okay, then can you tell me if you're going to be carry it?" They couldn't tell me that, either. Looking at the Barnes & Noble <a href=http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/ ... 0086104673 target=blank>website listing</a> for it confirms the $6.98 price and it IS available for preorder there. My guess is that the store people would have to place the order through the website in my name resulting in having it ship to me resulting in a shipping charge, rather than being able to order it into the store, but that seems very strange since I've had no problems preordering other things with them in the past and having it come in through the store for pickup.

But in general they seem to be pulling a Rescuers on this release, if you know what I mean. Poor to nill information being passed to retailers who will sell it; difficulty placing orders; no track listing; and absolutely nothing about the disc on either The Lion King 1 1/2 website or the Walt Disney Records website. This is a shame since it could have been a really big seller for them, considering the big names involved, the strength of the Lion King brand, and the super-low SRP. But the question on my mind now is: How do I get one? Dad isn't a fan of ordering online, and I'd rather get it in store as well so as to get it on 2/3 and not wait for it to ship. Any suggestions?

Also, what do you guys all think of the music we've heard so far? The music on the official site as background music (and in clips) are great, I think, and while it may lack the epic scope of the original movie's score, it's exellent for the kind of lighthearted laughfest that The Lion King 1 1/2 is. And another question, mainly directed towards Prine Phillip since he's seen the movie: If you read this, can you talk about the songs and whole musical element of the movie a bit? Do you think the CD is worth purchasing? How do the songs compare to the other songs in the TLK legacy? Thanks.

Your thoughts, everyone?

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2004 1:36 pm
by Tangela
Can you right a small line about whatever this has to do with the Rescuers, I saw this thread and it caught my attention but I got lost, explain please, ;) .

Thanks!

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2004 2:00 pm
by Jake Lipson
Tangela, if you've ever had any education beyond elementary school, this entry in Miriam-Webster Online (www.m-w.com) will tell you all you need to know, and if not, just re-read the post until it explains itself. Analogies are a staple of middle-school English/reading/grammar/literature classes. :)
Main Entry: anal·o·gy
Pronunciation: &-'na-l&-jE
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -gies
Date: 15th century
1 : inference that if two or more things agree with one another in some respects they will prob. agree in others
2 a : resemblance in some particulars between things otherwise unlike : SIMILARITY b : comparison based on such resemblance
3 : correspondence between the members of pairs or sets of linguistic forms that serves as a basis for the creation of another form
4 : correspondence in function between anatomical parts of different structure and origin -- compare HOMOLOGY
synonym see LIKENESS

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2004 2:03 pm
by Chernabog
:twisted:
Maybe in the sense what they did with the original release of The Rescuers Down Under in the early 90´s.
No info, suddenly there, suddenly gone.
Or maybe he meant something else... :lol:

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2004 2:13 pm
by Maerj
Well I hope that they try to make this soundtrack easily available for those who want it! Maybe some store will make it a freebie if you buy it there? Post more info on this if anyone finds out!

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2004 9:25 pm
by Starion
Thanks for the info Jake. I wonder why the CD is $6.98 instead of $12 - $16? My only guess is that the CD will have around 6 tracks. I know that other CDs usually have 12 or more tracks.

BestBuy.com is taking pre-orders for the CD. The CD cover art looks like the DVD/VHS cover art.

Re: TLK1.5 soundtrack coming...and they're pulling a Rescuer

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2004 9:43 pm
by Prince Phillip
Jake Lipson wrote:Also, what do you guys all think of the music we've heard so far? The music on the official site as background music (and in clips) are great, I think, and while it may lack the epic scope of the original movie's score, it's exellent for the kind of lighthearted laughfest that The Lion King 1 1/2 is. And another question, mainly directed towards Prine Phillip since he's seen the movie: If you read this, can you talk about the songs and whole musical element of the movie a bit? Do you think the CD is worth purchasing? How do the songs compare to the other songs in the TLK legacy? Thanks.
Well there is one song that stands out in my mind, and I think it is the song that Disney thinks will be the real "hit" of the movie, since it plays through the credits, and that's "Digga Tunna" or Dig a Tunnel.... It is a song sung by the Meerkats near the beggining of the movie, and like all of the songs in this movie, it has a very African feel to it... actually the whole time this sequence was playing out, I just kept thinking it sounded like a slave song, but one of the happy ones, and you see all the meerkats marching in lines, diggin their "tunnas" and singing about beware the hyeena, which could be symbolic of the "masa"... anyway it's a very catchy song and all, but when I saw this playing out on the screen, I was just thinking "Oh my God", but I guess it's all a matter of interpretation...

Most of the songs are song by Timone or the meerkats, and some of the songs are ofcoarse reprised... three guesses on one of the songs :wink: Incase your not as quick as most, or this was just not as obvious as I thought, the song I was referring to is Hakkuna Matatta :wink:

I def think the soundtrack is worth $6.98 if your willing to pay that, will I be purchasing the soundtrack? No, but for those of you who are big fans of the franchise and it's music, you should definately pick it up, and I hope that you are not dissappionted, which I don't forsee, but then again I'm not you :wink: :) And with that said, I'm done.

-Peace 8)

Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2004 2:52 pm
by Mermaid Kelly
Prince Phillip, do they show any actual footage from the original movie, like when they rescue little Simba, or when Simba eats bugs for the first time and they sing Hakuna Matata? :)

Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2004 1:28 pm
by Jake Lipson
Well, Amazon is now taking preorders for $6.98 retail. No track listing though.

Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2004 4:09 pm
by Jake Lipson
Last week Animated News scored a list of all the songs that appear in the movie. 20 of them!
Diggah Tunnah (appears three times in the movie: normal version, dance version [possibly in the credits], and reprise version)
Grazin' in the Grass (performed by Raven)
That's All I Need (this is the reworked "Warthog Rhapsody" which was originally intended for use in the first movie and showed up on "Rhythm of the Pridelands," the "sequel" to the first movie's soundtrack)
Nants' Ingonyama
Circle of Life
Father's Footsteps (lyrics by Lebo M.; music by Hans Zimmer)
I Just Can't Wait To Be King
Be Prepared
It's A Small World
Hakuna Matata
The Lion Sleeps Tonight
Jungle Boogie
The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
Sunrise Sunset (sung by Timon and Pumbaa)
Can You Feel The Love Tonight (performed by Kristle Murden)
Peter Gunn Theme
Homeward Bound (lyrics by Lebo M.; music by Hans Zimmer)
Sabre Dance
Hawaiian War Chant
Simba and Nala Move In/End
Seeing as the CD retails for $7, I had my suspicions that not all of this would show up on the soundtrack, and was correct. Disney issued the following track listing as part of a <a href=http://home.businesswire.com/portal/sit ... =news_view target=blank>press release</a> on Wednesday.
1. Grazing in the Grass - Raven
2. Digga Tunnah Dance
3. That's All I Need
4. Hakuna Matata
5. The Lion Sleeps Tonight
6. Jungle Boogie
7. Timon's Traveling Theme
8. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Also, they're calling the soundtrack "The Lion King 1 1/2: Songs From Timon & Pumbaa's Hilarious Adventure." The press release states a $9.98 retail, instead of $6.99, so we'll see which one is true.

I'm glad we're getting a CD at all, but in general this seems to be a waste. Digga Tunah is the dance version (likely over the credits) and not the one actulally in the movie, and Hakuna Matata is probably the same as from the original TLK soundtrack. The Lion Sleeps Tonight is almost certianly the same version of the song that previously appeared on both Rythm of the Pride Lands and Return to Pride Rock (the Simba's Pride soundtrack.) Not even all the new songs written specifically for the movie are on it, sheesh.

The ideal track list would probably be:
1 Hakuna Matata (yes, it's a duplicate, but can you really have an album centered around Timon & Pumbaa without it?)
2 Digga Tunah
3 That's All I Need
4 It's A Small World (sung by Timon; even if this is a borrowed song, it's different than any version we've heard before.)
5 Jungle Boogie
6 Father's Footsteps
7 Homeward Bound
8 Sunrise Sunset (sung by Timon & Pumbaa; even if this is a borrowed song, it's different than any version we've heard before.)
9 Grazing in the Grass (even if it's a monstrosity, it is a new recording created just for the movie, so)

But alas, the soundtrack we are getting is a waste. I'll still pick it up for Digga Tunah and That's All I Need, but oh well.