The Simpsons Ride

 

So, can you tell me about your work on the Simpsons Movie? What was your role? What cues did you work on? What are your best memories of that experience?

 

My work on the Simpsons Movie was doing additional composing work under Hans Zimmer for Gracie Films. Hans is an old friend of Jim Brooks, creator of Gracie Films.  I was a huge fan of the show for all 20 seasons. I actually attended the premier of the Halloween special “Treehouse of Horror, Part 19”.  Um, the most fun part of the scoring process was probably working on the opening doing all the Itchy and Scratey stuff in addition to listening to a live orchestra playing Danny Elfman’s Theme.

 

What is the concept of the Simpsons Ride, the attraction itself? And what do you like in this project?

 

The ride focuses on the Simpson’s and their visit to Krusty’s theme park. The ride is kind of like a parody of other rides that really exist and Krusty has taken them over.  It’s kind of like a joke.   In the beginning of the ride you see that Krusty takes over what used to be the “Back to the Future Ride”.  As you go through the ride you notice parts of other rides that Krusty has included in his theme park.

 

What is the concept of your score for the Simpsons Ride? What will you keep from this experience in matter of attraction music? Would you like to do that again?

 

Scoring for an attraction is more like scoring for a video game.  There is an experience that you have to simulate emotionally that’s not necessarily nonlinear.  In a movie you work on a timeline but in a game you have to score on a case-by-case basis depending on where the player leads the character in the game.  So, its the same thing with a ride…the music needs to be longer if the line is longer or it takes extra time to load the cars.  There is music built into the ride just in case they need to slow things down.  There is also specific narrative music that supports the story as you go throughout the ride.  Going on the ride itself…now that’s a perfectly timed experience.  The animation is perfectly timed to the music. 

 :

Urmel / Impy:

 

Scoring session in Bratislava for Urmel aus dem Eis (the first Urmel film)

How did you come on the first Urmel project and why did you accept?

 

I was contacted by the producers of the a Germany company after “Wallace and Gromit” who had heard my work and they asked my to compose the film.  I agreed. I composed the first one and then did the second as well.

 

Was it tricky to deal with a movie produced on the other side of the ocean?

 

Yes, actually. It was funny. The movie was in German. They sent me an original copy in English but every other additional cut was in German so I kept having to look at the script notes to see what he was actually saying.  In the first movie, all the characters on the island have speech impediments. Right, so you end up with the penguin having a lisp. Speech impediments in a foreign language was very challenging. There was a lot of giggling writing this one.

 

How did you approach musically the universe of Urmel? From the thematic point of view? From the point of view of the musical colors (orchestrations, specific instruments)? In what way were you inspired by the design? And by the story?

 

The movie is essentially about overcoming adversity through friendship. The characters are on an island.  So I laid groundwork for this friendship toon very early on as the characters approached the island…fun in the the sun island bits.  But then they start to go through bad times so the tune starts to play more heroically and the friends come together to succeed at the end of the day.  But essentially because they are on an island there are a lot of island instruments.  The villain in the movie who is trying to capture Urmel is a king so I played him as a pompis marching royal.

 

How do you compose for small children?

 

With children you can actually write epically and compose more sophisticated music. If you listen to the music that has been available for children such as Fantasia.  Fantasia presents classical music in a very complicated way but its an image that they can digest.  In this fashion you can really write music at a very high level for children.  Another example would be Carl Stallings scores for the Warer Brother’s cartoons “Bugs Bunny”.  These are all very advanced. So is the music for “Opera Dog”.  Now these cartoons were not intended solely for children, they were intended for adults as well.  Its a bunny getting hit on the head but its also the music of Wagner.  There is something for everyone. There is a place for simple toons.  But when you write for children you are projecting what you think a child is capable listening to.  Children are essentially little sponges and really understand music and are at a high level.     

 

Little Mermaid:

 

How did you deal with the fact that it's a prequel? How do you make a music that's set "before" another one –a little like the musical origins of the original movie!-?

 

We were able to use some of Alan Menken’s original music from the first “Little Mermaid”. “The Little Mermaid” is the second movie in time.  So, I used the main title which we used in the beginning of our main title for “Ariel’s Beginning”.  Its funny, his music is written in C and our’s is in D.  I had already written and recorded the ending  in a different key which didn’t work with the opening title in C so I had to pitch it up.   

It was really great to work with Alan’s Music because I actually ended up having lunch with Alan at NYU just as he was creating a scholarship for composition. I was ineligible for the scholarship because I was graduating but I was one of the top students so I was able to have lunch with Alan.  He asked me what I was planning on doing and I told him that I wanted to write music for film too.  And now here it is 10 short years later and I am using some of his material for my movie.  And I got to use some of “Part of Your World” for a couple of comic versions…for the first reveal of Ariel and in another jass version.  So the music does continue. 

 

 

How did you approach the "aquatic" nature of the movie?

 

We didn’t.

 

Generally speaking:

 

How did you come to collaborate with Hans Zimmer? What was your favorite project with him? Why?

 

I started as Hans’ technical assistant after I graduated from USC’s film scoring program in 1999. I was there for 2 years with him, and after that duration, pretty much from “Gladiator” to “Riding in Cars With Boys”, I decided to quit the tech biz, and Hans asked me to stay on and do some writing for “The Time Machine” by Klaus Badelt. After that, “Black Hawk Down” came up, he needed a little bit of help, and I’ve been there ever since. 

 

 What would you advice to apprentice film composer for them to succeed in the business?

 

Last week I went to USC and talked with students who were graduating.  I told them to find someone that is doing this professionally. I told them, “I know that you all think that you are capable and that you have enough knowledge and then you get out there and you realize you don’t.  But, experience gives you confidence and the ability to deal with very stressful situations.  In the beginning, it is very hard to make great decisions musically and creatively with all the other pressures that go on.  So, attach yourself to someone who is doing it and learn all that you can from them.  Eventually, if you hang in there, composers have a tendency to over book themselves because schedules are tense. We are the last person to work on a project before the project releases. So we are the ones who get screwed on schedules more than anyone else.  You may be passed the job as a result.”