The Pagemaster (Soundtrack) by James Horner


Tracksounds Rating = 7 / 10			Composed by James Horner Performed by Released by Varese Sarabande on May 4, 1999

Track	Title	Time	Rating	Swashbuckling by Christopher Coleman Another Horner animated feature film score? Well, partly. In the manner of Mr. Limpett, this was about ¼ feature film and ¾ animated film starring Mr. Home Alone himself, Christopher Lloyd, and a host of celebrity voices. The disc starts off with TWO…count ‘em TWO pop tunes in a row. They aren’t necessarily bad songs, though. It would have been better for them to have been put at the end or left off entirely, but we all know if there is a pop song in the film, it’s gonna be on the CD. I won’t comment much on these two tracks, because, well, they are pop tracks! Let’s get to the real stuff… The Pagemaster is one of those compilation deals for Horner. One you can hear a lot of his other works neatly tucked away in this score. The choral portion from Willow makes an immediate entrance. Shades of Glory abound as well. A particular interesting piece contains segments that are dead ringers for the Sorcerer’s Apprentice. It is not note for note plagiarism, but the similarities are quite plain. I don’t know if Horner has ever admitted to this one or not, but who cares. Hopefully, he’ll come to realize that fans of his music will remain his fans, even if he admits to utilizing the style of other composers. Of course, there could be some legal implications that might keep him from ever ‘fessing up.
1	Dream Away*	4:38	**
2	Whatever You Imagine*	3:27	***
3	Main Title	2:27	***
4	A Stormy Ride to the Library	2:52	***
5	The Library...The Pagemaster	4:11	***
6	Meeting Adventure and Fantasy	3:12	**
7	Horror	3:20	**
8	Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde	5:05	*
9	A Narrow Escape	2:04	***
10	Towards the Open Sea...	7:01	****
11	"Pirates"!	4:07	**
12	Loneliness	3:11	**
13	The Flying Dragon	3:10	***
14	Swallowed Alive!/ The Wonder in Books	7:56	****
15	New Courage / The Magic of Imagination	4:03	****
	Total PlayingTime
* - pop tracks

Category		Score
Film Continuity		8
Originality		4
CD Length		8
Track Order		5
Performance		8
Final Score		7


Other reviews:
Although a lot of the score is a mix-and-match from Horner's earlier work, especially Willow, Glory and Honey I Shrunk The Kids, the music is still very beautiful and there are a number of highlight cues...The only complaint I would have is that, like other people, I find I have to keep adjusting the volume control throughout playback - the quiet sections are too quiet, but the loud sections will bust your speakers if you don't turn them down. I'm going to be looking out for his other animated scores after this. **** Jonathan Broxton - Movie Music U.K.				Composer James Horner
A clear rip-off of other Horner scores, this effort combines Willow, Glory, and The Land Before Time into one massive children's movie score. The first 30 seconds of this score and that of Willow are exactly identical, and the main theme could easily be mistakened for the charge on Fort Wagner in Glory. But I like both of these themes, so overall, The Pagemaster works. It is a good score --if you've never heard any other Horner score before-- but skip it in favor of the others I mentioned above. *** Christian Clemmensen - Filmtracks				CD available through
All artwork from the Pagemaster is exclusive property of Varese Sarabande (c) 1996. Its appearance is for imformational purposes only.