Yeah, OK, that is true. And however things end up, I'm much more concerned over whether the score from the classic series will ever be released, than how the score in the 2017 series will be handled.
So, guess what we found out the other day: Apparently not even the surviving original voice cast is going to be in the 2017 series. Disney is going to be giving the cast a complete overhaul.
Have you seen what they are producing today? Both on Disney and Disney XD? It's bug eyed ugly retarded junk. I don't expect the characters to look or sound appealing much less there be an actual orchestral score. I also don't think they want to put out original Duck Tales merchandise (DVD's or music) since they want to promote this new version.
I don't think they're worried much about promotion in spring 2015. I'd guess the odds of a 1987 soundtrack are as good or bad as they were before the new series was announced. I can't imagine a tie-in doing much for our base, other than maybe suggesting an appropriate release date (assuming the old series were lined up in time). It might take until 2017. Perhaps a 30th anniversary edition?
I remember reading recently somewhere here someone from Intrada said they could do Ducktales, but other projects would interest them more than this at this point.
edit: Oh, it was an earlier post from this thread! There won't be a release anytime soon. Roger commented on it at Intrada I think last year (I can't seem to locate the post at the moment), saying while it's possible to do, it's just not something they are perusing, and are working on other Disney titles.
I’ve been watching the series again recently, and am totally in love with the music all over again (major thanks to Kenisu’s fantastic work). I honestly feel more emotion, warmth, suspense and excitement in a 22-minute episode’s music here than most present blockbuster movie scores. I sincerely hope that an official release of this classic score is not too long in the future. It’s way overdue and truly deserving.
I think a release to conincide with the new series would be timely. Younger viewers no doubt might catch the old series because a parent watched it or found out it existed and it'll generate interest again. Now, that won't exactly translate into a bunch of CD's being sold, but the time to strike is when the iron is hot.
I’ve been watching the series again recently, and am totally in love with the music all over again (major thanks to Kenisu’s fantastic work). I honestly feel more emotion, warmth, suspense and excitement in a 22-minute episode’s music here than most present blockbuster movie scores. I sincerely hope that an official release of this classic score is not too long in the future. It’s way overdue and truly deserving.
Well said! And I'm really glad people are getting use out of my documentation.
I'd even take a one CD volume of Ron Jones Ducktales, like Family Guy's Movement I - and if it sells like hotcakes, volume 2 would be a no brainer.
I remain convinced that if they simply released the score for Treasure of the Golden Suns (the pilot) on the first volume, that would be enough to generate buyers of future discs. I consider that score DuckTales vintage.
I think a release to coincide with the new series would be timely. Younger viewers no doubt might catch the old series because a parent watched it or found out it existed and it'll generate interest again. Now, that won't exactly translate into a bunch of CD's being sold, but the time to strike is when the iron is hot.
Man, I *wish* Disney recognized what they have in their vaults. I was saying the same thing when DuckTales: Remastered came out a few years ago ("this game will generate interest in the cartoon, the time to strike is when the iron is hot", etc.), but no TV soundtrack came of it. Not even Volume 4 of the DVDs.
I also still wish that WayForward had thought to ask for the rights to reproduce some of the incidental music from the TV series for the game's cutscenes, rather than the original stuff Jake Kaufman composed using Ron Jones's style as a springboard. It's not that the cutscene music we got is bad, it's that using the show's actual score (or a reproduction of it) would have been a serious, nostalgic treasure to loads of fans who once watched the show, whether they'd realize it or not. Yes, we got the surviving actors to reprise their roles, yes, the game gave a whole bunch of other nods to the TV series. So it's almost perfect as it is. But bringing in music from the show, where possible, would have given it that one last push into true perfection.
I totally agree. I'd go for a multi-disc set in a heart beat, but I would also settle for a one disc release of the highlights if that's all anybody was willing to release.
... And then I notice that there hasn't much very much in this thread in the way of presenting the actual music as an example of how amazing the DuckTales score is. In case you need convincing, here's everything that's shown up on the web:
First, the 9-minute suite Ron Jones used to have on his old site. I suggest starting this video at 7:53 (I would have anchored it in the link, but apparently this forum doesn't show the video when I do that), which is probably my favorite cue from this suite, a wonderfully lively tune typically used for races or other kinds of competitions; but of course I suggest going back after you're done with that and listening to the entire video. Even though this isn't quite the lineup *I'd* pick to truly show off Jones's DuckTales work (I could speak volumes about how incredible the material that, so far, can only be heard in the show is), there's still a lot of really great stuff in here.
Here's the timecodes for the cues, for convenience:
0:00 - 1:43: Mystery Lamp, a, well, mysterious theme composed for "Master of the Djinni" and tracked in just about every other episode of the series.
1:43 - 2:47: Chase music, used quite often, my unofficial title is The Mad Dash
2:47 - 3:56: Cheerful tune that uses Jones's main Duck theme (and by that I DON'T mean the theme song!), my unofficial name is Sunshine Ahead
3:56 - 5:12: An alternate of Launch Pad McDuck (sic)
5:12 - 6:18: Very first cue heard in the very first episode, my unofficial title is Welcome To Duckburg
6:18 - 7:53: A somber cue used in sad scenes, my unofficial name for it is Sweet Peace
7:53 - 9:05: Composed for "Armstrong" (Jones's first DuckTales gig), in which the titular robot has a helicopter race against Launchpad, unofficially known by me as Race Day
9:06 - 9:35: From the end of the Valentine's Day special (and presumably the last cue Jones ever composed for DT), my name for it is A Lovely Finish
Despite the uploader's claims that it's a Gizmoduck theme, this was actually composed for "Time is Money", the story arc that introduces Bubba the Caveduck. It comes from the scene at the end where Bubba's cave explodes and all the diamonds it contained land on Scrooge's island, but it was also used as recap music when the special was broken up into a five-parter. I refer to it as It's Raining Riches.
Start this one at 19:00 because the earlier stuff in the video is all previously posted material, albeit edited and looped in funny ways. But from that point to the end of the video are two cues you won't find anywhere else, starting with one from the aforementioned Valentine's Day special, when Aphroducky first shows up at the Money Bin to get her golden arrows back from Scrooge (there's a lot of Mickey Mousing for the first minute or so, but the exciting stuff begins at 20:10). Then, at 21:27, the Millennium Shortcut takeoff theme from "Time is Money" kicks in.
Finally, the link to hear the cues available on Ron Jones's current site has been posted here and there in this thread, but it bears repeating:
Light Action Chase is a woodwind-centric library cue often underscoring... well, a light action chase.
Mystery Lamp can also be heard at the beginning of the 9-minute suite posted above.
Old Enemies is another one from "Master of the Djinni", underscoring Scrooge and Glomgold's climb up a pillar to get Aladdin's lamp (a scene reused in the opening animation), and tracked often throughout the rest of the series.
Toy Wars is a suspenseful danger cue from "Armstrong", in which Huey, Dewey and Louie ride their bikes to Gyro's shack, but are pursued by toy tanks and airplanes, controlled by Armstrong via remote. Tracked in several other scenes throughout the series.
Air Battle is, I think, a library cue. Lots of fast-paced action in this one.
Launch Pad McDuck (again, sic) is the main theme for Launchpad McQuack, with a happy-go-lucky leitmotif that gets repeated in other cues throughout the show. Some sort of alternate can be heard in the 9-minute suite.
Speaking of DT, I wonder who they'll get to do the music for the 2017 series. I did a quick look at IMDb to see if anything had changed, but no composer has been added yet. I also did aquick search to see if I could find any mention of a composer.
I do see they got a guy who's been voicing Donald Duck since 1986, to voice Donald Duck, so that's nice.
The Trivia page claims: "Terence McGovern, the voice of Launchpad McQuack in DuckTales (1987), campaigned desperately to reprise his role on the show."
You know, there's very little music I keep on my computer that has been offered on composers' websites....but DuckTales is one of the few. I think that says something.
My absolute favourite cue is the one mentioned in kenisu’s documentation as “The Woolly Walrus’ Rampage”. It starts with these Jaws-like, ominous low brass bursts and builds its way up to a thunderous action cue with a catchy motif on woodwinds (?) and supported by blaring trumpets and low trombones. One of the main DuckTales themes then makes a triumphant appearance and alternates back and forth between the danger themes before the cue closes out on an optimistic note. I remember this track best from the “Home Sweet Homer” episode during the climactic time whirlwind scene, though now I notice it’s edited short in that scene.
Another top favourite is the one mentioned as “Out From Under Our Feet” in the documentation, from the third Golden Suns episode where Scrooge, Launchpad and Donald engage in a fierce air battle against the condor-riding natives in the Andes. The entire cue is brimming with astounding writing for every section of the orchestra and filled with incredibly coherent and catchy action motifs, all while staying perfectly in sync with the onscreen action. It’s also one of the most frequently used action themes in the series and every note has been stuck in my head since childhood ever since I heard it during the Hall of Echoes scene in “The Golden Fleecing” which is one of my favourite episodes.
Unfortunately neither of these two cues seem to be available without sound effects and dialogues in any form yet.
"Out From Under Our Feet" happens to be my absolute favorite cue from the series (as an adult that is... as a kid, my favorite was "The Perilous Skies". I've always been a sucker for the kind of music you hear when the crap hits the fan!).
In fact, I call it by that name because, when I was first starting my documentation, I was under the impression it had been composed for the epic scene in Golden Suns pt. 5 where the temple floor caves in, it fit that scene so well.
Entertainment Weekly reports “DuckTales” will make its debut in the summer of 2017 and “features a new look at the reimagined Launchpad McQuack (Scrooge [McDuck]’s personal pilot and plus-one).”
NEW SERIES next summer - maybe this will throw some kindling on the Ron Jones and David Newman score release fire.
Entertainment Weekly reports “DuckTales” will make its debut in the summer of 2017 and “features a new look at the reimagined Launchpad McQuack (Scrooge [McDuck]’s personal pilot and plus-one).”
I really miss the classic Disney style. Modern cartoon characters all look and behave like psychopaths.
@ kenisu3000 - Thxs for the YouTube links. AWESOME!
Ron Jones has redone his site again, so now (sniffle) there's only one cue from DuckTales, and it's one that was on the original suite from many years ago (it's the cue I used to call "Sunshine Ahead"). But on the bright side, it's no longer bookended by crossfades, AND we now have the real name and slate number for it (Soaring - Rm2). Apparently, the guy who uploaded that Time is Money cue to YouTube was onto something, just that it was the wrong cue he called "Soaring".
