Looney Tunes Back In Action Soundtrack CD

Music composed and conducted by Jerry Goldsmith.
Recorded at The Eastwood Stage, Warner Bros., Burbank, California.
Composers: Cliff Friend; Dave Franklin; Jerry Goldsmith; Carl Stalling.
Personnel: Sally Stevens (vocals); Weldon Dean Parks (guitar); Katie Kirkpatrick (harp); Eun Mee Ahn, Al Hershberger, Songa Lee, Katia Popov, Tamara L. Hatwan, Robin Olson, Mark Sazer, Aimee Kreston, Ana Landauer, Alan Grunfeld, Ken Yerke, Irina Volashina, Lisa M. Sutton, Rene Mandel, Sungil Lee, Eric J. Hosler, Franklyn d'Antonio, Mark Robertson , Richard Altenbach, Roberto Cani, Bruce Dukov, Phillipe Levy, Sara Parkins, Sarah Thornblade, Roger Wilkie, Liane Mautner, Dimitrie Leivici, Miwako Watanabe, Rafael Rishik, Samuel Formicola, Endre Granat (violin); Shawn Mann, Cassandra Richburg, Brian Dembaw, Rick Gerding, Pamela Goldsmith, Keith Greene, Roland Kato, Simon Oswell, David F. Walther, Victoria Miskolszy, Thomas Dienner, Darrin McCann, Shanti Randall (viola); Peter Sheridan, Louise Di Tullio, Sheridon Stokes (flute); Carl Fortina (accordion); Joshua Ranz, Emily Bernstein, Gary Bovyer, James Kanter (clarinet); Lelie Ann Resnick, Earl Dumler, Phil Ayling (oboe); Michael O'Donovan, Kenneth E. Munday, David Riddles (bassoon); Malcolm McNabb, Rick Baptist, Warren Luening (trumpet); Andrew Thomas Malloy, Phil Teele, William Booth (trombone); J. Tommy Johnson, Thomas "Snake" Johnson (tuba); Phillip Edward Yao, David Duke, Brian D. O'Connor, Richard Todd, Jim Thatcher (horns); Michael Lang (keyboards); Alan Estes, Gregory Goodall, Thomas Raney, Steve Schaeffer, Peter Limonick, Donald Williams (percussion); Nick Vidar (programming).
Audio Mixer: Bruce Botnick.
Liner Note Author: Joe Dante.
Recording information: The Eastwood Stage, Warner Bros., Burbank, CA; Todd-AO Studios, Studio City, CA.
Jerry Goldsmith's score for Looney Tunes Back in Action reflects the film's animation meets live-action format with its playful but never quite over the top feel. Indeed, many of the score's cues are relatively restrained, such as "What's Up?" and "Another Take." The tracks that do build into full-fledged wackiness, like "Out of the Bag" and "Dead Duck Walking," manage to do so with a surprising amount of art and tension. A slinky, film noir-ish feel slinks through several of the tracks and electric guitars also wind through the music; both elements give the score some depth beyond the Carl Stalling-inspired whimsy that makes up most of the music. "The Bad Guys," with its playful nastiness and Western soundtrack influences, is one of the score's standout tracks, as are "Thin Air" -- a rock version of Stalling's famous "Powerhouse" -- and "Tasmanian Devil." A fun and often creative score, Looney Tunes Back in Action may actually be better than the film for which it was composed. ~ Heather Phares