This is another entry in my Complete Score Breakdown Series, focusing on the complete scores to films that have had abbreviated previous releases or have gone unreleased.
Today we are looking at The Rocketeer (1991) by James Horner.
I’ve always enjoyed this rousing, energetic, lighthearted Disney score by James Horner for 1991’s The Rocketeer. I know it is much-beloved by many a film score fan, so I hope they will enjoy this CSB. There really isn’t a lot of introduction that needs to be made; this is a popular score, most everyone knows about it. The interesting thing about the existing CD release is that it’s one of Horner’s relatively shorter albums in length, running 50 minutes (not including the two songs, incidentally sung by The Office’s Jan, Melora Hardin).
All these years I was under the impression that the complete score contained a significant amount of unreleased material, but unless there are alternate/unused cues I’m not aware of, there really isn’t that much missing. In viewing the film recently, I discovered that there are nearly 16 minutes of unreleased music. Now it is indeed very good music, and it’s a great score, so an expansion would be terrific because I feel this unreleased material is valuable. Including those 16 minutes of score, the complete film score comes to 65min40sec. However, when you factor in the fact that the CD track “Jenny” is unused in the film (presumably a character theme suite?), the total known complete score comes to 70min55sec, which would make for a terrific expanded and remastered album!
Highlights from the unreleased material include some great period jazzy pieces similar to Horner’s Field of Dreams or Cocoon tunes, the music for the first time Cliff and Peevy test the rocket in the field, and the exciting music when everyone converges at Peevy’s before the feds shoot up his house. There are some great shorter moments as well, such as when The Rocketeer’s fame spreads with some lighthearted, buoyant music, and the first time Cliff and Peevy turn on the rocket. I can’t describe the music in much detail, it’s much the same as the CD music, only different variations obviously and if you dig the CD content you’ll dig the unreleased content.
CURRENT CD RELEASE RUNTIME: 50min 00sec UNRELEASED SCORE RUNTIME: 15min 40sec COMPLETE FILM VERSION SCORE RUNTIME: 65min 40sec
COMPLETE FILM VERSION SCORE RUNTIME + UNUSED CD TRACK “JENNY”: 70min 55sec
Complete Score Cue Titles and Cue Times (unreleased cues named by me for the sake of identification):
+ – previously unreleased (or includes previously unreleased material)
1. Main Title / Takeoff (4:39) 2. Failed Recovery (3:14) + 3. Power Up (1:48) + 4. Sinclair and Valentine (1:05) + 5. Test Flight (2:38) + 6. Where Is It? (1:50) + 7. The Helmet (0:45) + 8. Sinclair Eavesdrops (1:22) + 9. The Flying Circus (6:33) 10. Rocketeer Fame (0:38) + 11. Party at Peevy’s (2:08) + 12. Diner Search (3:33) + 13. Jenny and Sinclair (0:42) + 14. Laundry Disguise (0:25) 15. Jenny’s Rescue (3:50) 16. Neville Sinclair’s House (7:50) 17. Valentine’s Leverage (1:00) + 18. Rendezvous at Griffith Park Observatory (7:50) 19. The Zeppelin (7:55) 20. Rocketeer to the Rescue / End Title (6:14)
Current CD Release Track Titles and Track Times:
1. Main Title / Takeoff (4:45) 2. The Flying Circus (6:26) 3. Jenny (5:14) 4. Neville Sinclair’s House (7:24) 5. Jenny’s Rescue (3:24) 6. Rendezvous at Griffith Park Observatory (8:14) 7. The Zeppelin (7:59) 8. Rocketeer to the Rescue / End Title (6:36)
Hmm - interesting. I too thought there would be a large swath of unreleased music, but would welcome any expansion as this is one of my favorite Horner scores. The original album does a beautiful job of presenting the score, I must say!
Here's an interview/featurette from the year of the film where Horner talks about the difficulties of scoring it. He says there was almost 100 minutes of score:
I'd also like to have thrown in the trailer music by Christopher Page. Yes, I know it was tracked for the traierl, yes I know it wasn't by Horner, but its a popular cue and recognizable by fans of the film and gosh darnit deserves a commercial release.
You toss in the film score, anything that was cut, the album tracks (I'm sure some were specially edited presentations by the composer), and the trailer music, and you have a 2CD set right there.
Awesome thanks! I knew there wasnt a lot of missing music but there are some nice little tid-bits I would love to have.
Question: what exactly is the difference between "Test Flight" & "Where Is It?" By your description it sounds like the same scene to me- test launch on the statue, then lose sight of it in the night sky.
Awesome thanks! I knew there wasnt a lot of missing music but there are some nice little tid-bits I would love to have.
Question: what exactly is the difference between "Test Flight" & "Where Is It?" By your description it sounds like the same scene to me- test launch on the statue, then lose sight of it in the night sky.
"Where is it?" is a question Tiny Ron's character Lothar asks Wilmer (Max Grodénchik) about where "the rocket" is, but he refuses to tell because he only answers to Eddie Valentine. It is not the same scene.
Incidentally, both Ron and Grodénchik were both long-time recurring actors on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" together. Grodénchik played Quark's brother Rom, while Tiny Ron never really spoke a word as Grand Nagus Zek's servant.
Awesome thanks! I knew there wasnt a lot of missing music but there are some nice little tid-bits I would love to have.
Question: what exactly is the difference between "Test Flight" & "Where Is It?" By your description it sounds like the same scene to me- test launch on the statue, then lose sight of it in the night sky.
"Where is it?" is a question Tiny Ron's character Lothar asks Wilmer (Max Grodénchik) about where "the rocket" is, but he refuses to tell because he only answers to Eddie Valentine. It is not the same scene.
Incidentally, both Ron and Grodénchik were both long-time recurring actors on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" together. Grodénchik played Quark's brother Rom, while Tiny Ron never really spoke a word as Grand Nagus Zek's servant.
One of my all-time favourite films, and scores. I adore the current CD, but would certainly jump for an expansion.
Is the wonderful music for the secret Nazi animation by Horner as well?
That's a great question, I'd be curious to know myself. Maybe the answer is provided in one of the links Justin Boggan gave above? I haven't checked them out yet. If Horner wrote 100 minutes for the movie, some could've been for the Nazi animation...
Great score! Jenny's theme, I think this is one of the later, long and full symphonic movement of a secondary (character) theme not appearing in the film but only on the album in a non-Williams-score, isn't it?
Horner was very much still in that tradition, in The Pelican Brief there is also that theme for the Julia Roberts character.
In your breakdown, Dep, is there that "source"-music fod the propaganda nazi-movie?
That's brillantly done, much in the Steiner vocabular Williams also used for the nazis in the Indiana Jones films, those strong brassy minor mode chords.
Since, this is a Disney film, it would probably be re-issued on the Intrada label at some time. While the whole score including any alternates and source cues can easily be contained n a single dis. Or if the producers wish to retain the original classic edition it can always be paired as a 2cd set. But is it confirmed that it is "in the works' ?
I don't see the cue for Neville Sinclair's stage performance of The Laughing Bandit. That cue diffinetly sounds like Horner.
He had to do SOMETHING with his score for Willow II.
One of my all-time favorite scores. I would pick up an expanded score in a heartbeat. Having said that the only music that I really remember missing was Horner’s jazzy bit for the g-men right after Cliff crashes his Gee Bee.
Thank you DeputyRiley for doing a breakdown of The Rocketeer. Back in the day I did one for Willow but it wasn't accurate due to the folk music band, and other stuff lol. I think there was about 15-20 minutes of unreleased score.
I hope you will consider doing a breakdown to Willow in the near future.
Thank you DeputyRiley for doing a breakdown of The Rocketeer. Back in the day I did one for Willow but it wasn't accurate due to the folk music band, and other stuff lol. I think there was about 15-20 minutes of unreleased score.
I hope you will consider doing a breakdown to Willow in the near future.
You're welcome!
Willow is another one that I would/could do much quicker if it were readily available on Netflix. If anyone mails/loans me their copy, I'll do a CSB for it stat!
