Current:Home > BackDid you know 'Hook' was once a musical? Now you can hear the movie's long-lost songs-Angel Dreamer Wealth Society D1 Reviews & Insights
Did you know 'Hook' was once a musical? Now you can hear the movie's long-lost songs
View Date:2024-12-23 20:17:54
From the moment it was released in 1991, the Peter Pan adaption Hook slashed movie audiences into two camps.
Critics carved it up. It was reviled by many adults. But the film was an instant classic for a generation of kids. And the appeal has endured.
Starring Robin Williams as a grownup Peter Pan who has forgotten his past, the film, for its fans, is hilarious and heartwarming, a technicolored flight of fancy about imagination and reconnecting with an inner child.
But even hardcore fans might not realize it started out as a full-blown movie musical. Director Steven Spielberg (who has often been likened to Peter Pan) had always wanted to make a musical, and thought Hook presented the perfect opportunity. He didn't want to remake any of the previous Pan musicals — not the 1953 Disney animated movie, nor the 1954 Broadway version originally starring Mary Martin. He wanted something brand new.
For that, he turned to his faithful composer, John Williams. Over two decades and nearly a dozen films, Williams already helped Spielberg make some of the most unforgettable soundtracks in Hollywood, from the Indiana Jones movies to E.T. But Williams needed a lyricist, and who better than the guy who wrote the songs for 1971's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory? Leslie Bricusse, a British lyricist and composer in his own right, was an old friend and collaborator with Williams. Starting in the 1960s, they wrote several title songs for now-forgotten films. Prior to Hook, Bricusse had set words to Williams' classic love theme from Superman and two original Christmas carols in Home Alone.
Shortly before he died in 2021, Bricusse told NPR he was thrilled about writing lyrics for a brand new Peter Pan musical movie.
"We thought we'd got the Oscar with a song called 'Childhood,'" Bricusse said. "I remember Steven, when he heard it, saying: 'That's a home run.' It was a beautiful song — beautiful song. Beautiful melody. Vintage Williams."
"Childhood" was written for Granny Wendy, played by Maggie Smith in the film. Since Smith isn't a singer, Bricusse phoned a favor from an old friend — Julie Andrews — who went into the studio and recorded it in the manner of an older woman. Williams and Bricusse also wrote a seductive villain's song, "Stick with Me," for Dustin Hoffman's wily Captain Hook.
The most lavish number was a big choreographed sequence when Peter first arrives in Neverland — and the pirates burst into a song called "Low Below." With choreography by Vince Paterson, who worked with Madonna and Michael Jackson, Spielberg spent an entire week shooting that elaborate routine. But when he and John Williams reviewed the campy footage, they looked at each other and realized ... their musical was a very bad idea.
Spielberg cut the scene and ditched the idea of Hook as a musical. Only a few remnants remained — including a lullaby, "When You're Alone," which earned an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song.
To most critics, the lack of musical numbers made no difference; the film was bad. Newsweek's David Ansen summed up the consensus among critics when he called it "a huge party cake of a movie with too much frosting."
But Hook has always enjoyed a legion of diehard fans. That's partly why Mike Matessino, a record producer who resurrects and remasters old John Williams scores, decided to revisit the soundtrack. He dug up the old demos, most of them recorded in 1991 for the actors to learn — including a song Williams and Bricusse wrote for the Lost Boys and another for Tinkerbell.
Thus, 32 years after the musical Hook died, Matessino was finally able to convince all the parties at play to release a new, 3-CD album on La-La Land Records with all of the abandoned song demos (alas, minus the Julie Andrews recording of "Childhood") — as well as John Williams' complete instrumental score, where the songs have always been hiding in plain sight. The score took the song melodies for most of its major character themes.
"Even without the songs being sung," Matessino explains, "the score has a 'lyrical' quality. You don't really get themes in a film score that have what we call bridges in a song, sort of a center section. And that's a clue right there that a lot of these themes began life with the intention of having lyrics set to them."
So even though most of the songs in Hook walked the plank, their tunes took flight as one of Williams' best, and most songlike, scores. And now the final collaboration between John Williams and Leslie Bricusse can finally fly. And even crow.
veryGood! (335)
Related
- Brianna LaPaglia Addresses Zach Bryan's Deafening Silence After Emotional Abuse Allegations
- Lawsuit says Georgia’s lieutenant governor should be disqualified for acting as Trump elector
- CIA director William Burns meets Israel's Mossad chief in Europe in renewed push to free Gaza hostages
- Google to pay $700 million in case over whether its app store is an illegal monopoly
- 'Joker 2' actor pans DC sequel as the 'worst film' ever: 'It has no plot'
- Apple is halting sales of its Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 devices. Here's why.
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar shares his thoughts after undergoing hip replacement surgery
- First cardinal prosecuted in Vatican's criminal court convicted of embezzlement
- Tua Tagovailoa playing with confidence as Miami Dolphins hope MNF win can spark run
- Step by step, Francis has made the Catholic Church a more welcoming place for LGBTQ people
Ranking
- Republican Scott Baugh concedes to Democrat Dave Min in critical California House race
- About 3 million Americans are already climate migrants, analysis finds. Here's where they left.
- How many students are still missing from American schools? Here’s what the data says
- FDA database that tracks heart device harms may miss red flags, safety experts warn
- One person is dead after a shooting at Tuskegee University
- UK offers a big financial package if Northern Ireland politicians revive their suspended government
- Louisiana State Police reinstate trooper accused of withholding video in Black man’s deadly arrest
- Nearly 200 false bomb threats at institutions, synagogues. Jewish community is on alert.
Recommendation
-
What Happened to Kevin Costner’s Yellowstone Character? John Dutton’s Fate Revealed
-
Sudan’s conflict reaches a key city that had been a haven for many. Aid groups suspend work or flee
-
An airstrike likely carried out by Jordan’s air force targets drug dealers in Syria, reports say
-
Three great songs to help you study
-
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign chancellor to step down at end of academic year
-
How can Catholic priests bless same-sex unions?
-
Kentucky lieutenant governor undergoes ‘successful’ double mastectomy, expects to make full recovery
-
Mexico’s president calls for state prosecutor’s ouster after 12 were killed leaving holiday party