Riders in the Sky Make Monsters, Inc. Musical With Scream Factory Favorites

I love the funny, heartwarming and wildly imaginative Pixar movie Monsters, Inc., but it’s not a movie I associate with Disney’s tradition of excellent music. Sure, it’s got a fun theme song that plays over the credits, but it’s not a musical. However, I now have more melodious associations with this movie thanks to Scream Factory Favorites, a tie-in album featuring songs set in its unique world.

Riders in the Sky, the group who performed Woody’s Round-Up in Toy Story 2, received a Best Children’s Album Grammy for this album, which, despite the band’s distinctly Western slant, incorporates a variety of styles, including doo-wop, big band and reggae. Its key members include “Ranger Doug” Green on guitar, “Too Slim” Fred LaBour on bunkhouse bass, “Woody Paul” Chrisman on fiddle and “Joey the Cowpolka King” Miskulin on accordion, piano, banjo, FX and synthesizer. The four share vocal responsibilities and get some help from a variety of other musicians, including Josh Archibald on piano, John Gardener on percussion, Chris Leuzinger on guitar and ukulele, Jonathan Yudkin on violin, George Tidwell on trumpet, David Hoffner on synthesizer, Bob Mater on drums, Jimmy Capps on guitar, Stu Basore on steel guitar and Harry Stinson on vocals.

If I Didn’t Have You - This Randy Newman song, performed by John Goodman and Billy Crystal for the movie, gets the Western treatment, with fiddle and accordion coming together to remind me of some of the songs on the Disney cowboy songs collection Pardners. This is an ode to friendship and its power in our lives that here specifically applies to the bond between steady blue furball Sulley and one-eyed wisecracker Mike as they sing to each other. “You and me together – that’s how it always should be. One without the other don’t mean nothin’ to me…”

Doo-Wah Diddy Diddy (Mike’s Song) - This upbeat oldie gets a monster makeover as Mike sings of falling for Celia. The sound is pretty similar to the original version, but the lyrical alterations begin to become more frequent as the song progresses. While the first two verses scarcely change at all, this is definitely Mike’s song by the end. “I said Celia, shmoopsie-poo, I’m on my bended knee, singing Doo Wah Diddy Diddy Dum Diddy Doo. Celia, sweetie pie, please marry me, singing Doo Wah Diddy Diddy Dum Diddy Doo.”

I Only Have Eye for You - Coming right after that last one, I thought when I saw this title that it might be a direct parody of I Only Have Eyes for You, but aside from the basic thematic connection, this is an entirely distinct song from Mike’s perspective written by Green. There’s the rather incongruous pairing of brass instruments with yodeling, though the latter is not as pronounced as it is on the first track, but what mostly distinguishes this track is the unconventional list of things that Mike loves about Celia. Most gals would not consider these traits too flattering, but something tells me Celia is eating it up. “I only have eye for you. Your kisses taste like glue. Your snaky hair keeps waving in the moments when we’re kissing; are you whispering ‘I love you,’ or is it just your hairdo hissing?”

Monsters, Inc. March - LaBour has writing credit on this spooky-sounding song that reminds me a bit of Dumbo’s Pink Elephants on Parade and the Winnie-the-Pooh classic Heffalumps and Woozles. The factory workers band together on this one to enthusiastically promote their cause, and it’s easy to imagine them parading through town to share their message with all of Monstropolis. “We scare, scare, scare because we care, care, care. We’re Monsters, Incorporated.”

Monsters ABC’s - LaBour also wrote this one, which has a doo-woppy 1950s flavor to it. The ooh-ing chorus and snapping fingers add to the ambiance in what amounts to a musical version of a Monsters, Inc.-themed alphabet book. The rhyme is strong during the alphabet portion of the song, the rhythm not so much, but that adds to the humor in this longest track. Some of the letters stand for specific characters, some for scary noises, some for just generically unsettling things. Well, I don’t find geeks unsettling, but maybe that’s just me… A very cute take on the ABCs, and since they sing the alphabet through a couple of times with only the letters, if you listen to this one enough, it could just end up replacing the traditional Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star melody in your mind. “R is for Roz and Randall, too. S is for Sulley, he’s always true blue. T is for Trouble U Under your bed. V is Very scary. W Wazowski he’s mostly all head…”

Lullaby for Boo - This song by LaBour and Chrisman is unusual in that it is sung by Sonya Isaacs rather than a member of Riders in the Sky. This is a lovely, whispery song with guitar accompaniment that has a soothing quality to it. I like the comforting tone, though I’m not crazy about the chorus, since it seems to imply that she just dreamed up Sulley and the gang, and in the Monsters, Inc. world, they are more real to me than she is. Is this an indication that when she gets older, she is supposed to simply believe that “Kitty” was her imaginary friend who she outgrew? That thought makes me sad… “The monsters that we played with have all gone home again. They know the show must end; they’re only just pretend.”

If I Didn’t Have You - The Western flavor of the opening track is intensified by turning it into a pure instrumental, highlighting the fiddle and accordion. Even without the lyrics, this song has a very friendly feel to it.

It’s Our Job - This Miskulin song brings back the fiddle but also has a bit of a 1920s sound to it, especially at the beginning when the piano is most prominent. Like Monsters, Inc. March, this song is from the perspective of the factory workers ,who take pride in their strong work ethic when it comes to scaring tykes in order to generate energy. Lots of shrieks and goofy sound effects add to the fun of this one. “It’s our job to be frightful and scary. Some of us are all hairy; some of us have got horns and tails. We hide and wait ‘til you are finally sleepin’. That’s our cue to come creepin’ ‘cause it’s our job.”

Paperwork (Roz’s Song) - Green is the songwriter behind this Caribbean-styled tribute to paperwork that intersperses an upbeat chorus of guys with the droning dialogue of Roz, a tedious crank who would feel right at home in Office Space. Her voice is only slightly less obnoxious here than in the movie; you really don’t want this slug on your back. While the lyrics address children, warning them of the annoyances of adult bureaucracy, adults who have experienced the joy of drowning in extraneous forms will probably appreciate this one most. “When you grow up you’re gonna find just when things are going fine, someone will sneak up from behind and want to see your paperwork.”

Monsters’ Jubilee - Chrisman and Green collaborated on this square dance in which the dance caller announces himself as a member of Riders in the Sky. It’s the shortest track at well under two minutes, but the lively tone of this heavy-fiddle song, coupled with the specific motion instructions, make it highly interactive. “Put your right paw in the air. Hold it up and wave it there. Hop three times now one, two, three at the monsters’ jubilee.”

Under the Bed - This one by Green has a similar sound to Monsters, Inc. March, with brass instruments giving a sense of mingled suspense and revelry. The spooky laugh and the musical quote of an iconic series of creepy notes whose title escapes me demonstrates how much fun the monsters are having and the narrator isn’t. His straightforward delivery amuses me; he’s supposed to be in nursery school, but he’s most definitely a grown man, making his worried proclamations funnier a la Allan Sherman’s comedy classic Letter From Camp. “Under the bed I hear them slithering and slinking. Under the bed their chains are softly clinking. They’ve got arms that wave like tentacles; at the end are great big claws. And they’re drooling and they’re slobbering with great big jaws.”

The Perfect Roar (Sulley’s Song) - While this leisurely ballad by Chrisman and Archibald is not the longest song on the album, it is the most lyrically dense with its nine four-line verses detailing Sulley’s epic quest to find his own roar. A crackin’ good narrative song with a message of affirmation at the end, it’s made more fun by the steady stream of trumpet blasts and the growly voice of the singer. I’m surprised that there’s no acknowledgment of the tune, which, despite the plodding pace, is unmistakable for the lively kiddie folk song Do Your Ears Hang Low?, but in any case, they appropriate it well. “Yes, I found my perfect roar, just as every monster owns in different shapes and sizes, for each a different tone. And none of them could find it hidden high on any shelf. A monster has to find his perfect roar inside himself.”

Big High Wire Hop - This lively instrumental is heavy on the fiddle again also includes some fun bass and guitar. It serves as the background music for the whimsical Pixar short For the Birds, which ran before Monsters, Inc. in the theater. A fun way to wind down the album.

This is obviously an album geared toward kids, and the overall tone is pretty silly, but it’s really high-quality stuff that puts a smile on my face. The lyrics do a good job of capturing the personalities of the characters and the fun of this world, and from the impersonations to the varied instrumentation, it’s obvious that the tracks were put together with great affection. If you’re looking for some fun Disney novelty albums, Scream Factory Favorites is a great place to start.

A Kind and Steady Heart Conquers Doubt and Fear in Babe: Pig in the City

Earlier this month, Dick King-Smith died. I read dozens of books by this prolific author, but it all started with The Sheep Pig, the book that inspired George Miller’s acclaimed 1995 movie Babe. I adored that movie but never saw the sequel until this year. While it’s not quite the classic that the original is, Miller’s Babe: Pig in the City is a sweet follow-up.

Babe (E. G. Daily) is a champion sheep pig, but his glory is short-lived, as he accidentally does something that leaves his beloved boss, Arthur Hoggett (James Cromwell), incapacitated. The farmer doesn’t blame the pig, but Babe feels terrible, especially since, with Hoggett unable to work the farm, it is in danger of going into foreclosure. His boisterous wife Esme (Magda Szubanski) decides to accept an offer to make an appearance with Babe at a county fair, but a transportation kerfuffle leaves her stranded in the city with the pig. And then the trouble really begins…

The original Babe is such a quiet, simple story, beautifully executed, and much of its charm lies in Cromwell’s understated performance as the farmer of few words but deep thoughts. Though Hoggett’s injury drives the plot, Cromwell’s role in this movie is scarcely more than a cameo. Moreover, instead of the bucolic beauty of Hoggett Farm, we’ve got a chaotic city to contend with, and there are several scenes that go on much longer than necessary just for the sake of slapstick. But Babe is still the same lovable pig he was in the first film, and this movie is all about weathering mistakes and disappointments for the sake of a noble goal.

The love and respect that Babe has for Farmer Hoggett are never in question. At the same time, as he gets to know a ragtag crew of dogs, cats and simians hiding out in the hotel run by a kind-hearted animal lover (Mary Stein), the considerate nature that made him so popular with the sheep serves him yet again. Despite his determination to help his boss, he puts himself at risk for the sake of others, even those that are unkind to him. Meanwhile, Esme fights her own battle to reclaim her honor and her husband’s pig. While her role is once again largely comical – and a couple of her scenes are quite absurd – her determination to retrieve Babe at any cost to her dignity is admirable, especially considering the reluctance to look foolish that she displayed in the first movie.

While I prefer the farm setting, the look of the film is still lovely, and the Celtic-flavored score is stirring. The movie also boasts a magnificent Oscar-nominated theme song. Written by Randy Newman and performed by Peter Gabriel, it extols the virtues of courage and kindness and incorporates Babe’s iconic concluding line: “That’ll do, Pig. That’ll do.” If you’re looking for a pleasant family film, this movie will do.

Woody, Buzz and the Gang Come to Terms With Big Changes in Toy Story 3

Pixar has not let me down before. Nonetheless, I felt some sense of trepidation when I first began seeing previews for Toy Story 3. The first two were so iconic, how could this one possibly measure up? I needn’t have worried.

The movie reunites us with several old friends from Andy’s playroom: cantankerous Mr. Potato Head (Don Rickles), shrill Mrs. Potato Head (Estelle Harris), loyal Slinky Dog (Blake Clark) and Bullseye, feisty cowgirl Jessie (Joan Cusack), the awestruck aliens (Jeff Pidgeon), insecure dinosaur Rex (Wallace Shawn), gruff pig Hamm (John Ratzenberger) and, of course, heroic space ranger Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) and stalwart cowboy Woody (Tom Hanks), the leader of the ragtag group of toys, which has grown considerably smaller.

After an exhilarating opening sequence that shows just how imaginative young Andy was, we find ourselves skipping ahead about a decade. The dreaded time of being outgrown seems to have finally arrived; the toys spend their days crammed in the toy box, cooking up fruitless schemes to attract Andy’s attention. He is off to college now, and as Andy’s mom tells him to figure out what to do with his stuff before he leaves, anxiety is running high.

In Toy Story 2, Buzz led a heroic effort to recover Woody from the clutches of an immoral toy collector while Woody struggled with the question of whether it would be worth going back to Andy if he was almost certain to cast him off one day. Woody’s devotion to Andy pays off here, as he is the one toy deemed indispensable enough to accompany him to college. But when a bag mix-up leaves his friends stranded on the side of the road, about to be picked up by the garbage, it’s the first of many times when Woody is compelled to come to their rescue. For his life may revolve around Andy, but Woody will not leave his friends in the lurch.

Toy Story 3 is a movie that can be appreciated on its own, but it’s both funnier and more poignant if you’ve followed these characters from the beginning of the trilogy. The screenplay, written by Michael Arndt, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich, is packed with clever references to the previous films, along with allusions to such classics as Cool-Hand Luke and Lord of the Rings and beloved toys like troll dolls and Fisher-Price's Chatter Telephone.  It’s an ensemble effort, with each toy having something to contribute as they face a series of harrowing challenges.

The bulk of the action involves Sunnyside Day Care, a deceptively pleasant-looking center where Andy’s toys, along with his sister Molly’s Barbie (Jodi Benson), wind up. Feeling betrayed by Andy and looking forward to some real playtime again, they reject Woody’s pleas to return home with him. So the cowboy sets off on his own, while Buzz and his buddies remain to discover that all is not sunny at Sunnyside, despite what the seemingly benevolent Lotso Huggin’ Bear (Ned Beatty), day care kingpin, tells them upon their arrival.

There are moments in the original Toy Story that are quite frightening, but Sunnyside offers the most terrifying scenes of the trilogy as the toys are viciously assaulted by toddlers who haven’t learned how to treat their playthings with respect. When the new arrivals dare to protest their placement, Lotso and his henchmen lay down the law, using every dirty trick in the book to keep them imprisoned. Their only hope is Woody, who, after falling into the hands of a sweet, somewhat hyperactive youngster named Bonnie (Emily Hahn), must decide whether to make a break for home immediately or attempt to bust his friends out of their dangerous detention.

The sight and sound gags in the movie are plentiful, with Buzz and Mr. Potato Head particularly rich sources for hearty laughter. The introduction of Ken (Michael Keaton) as a conflicted romantic interest for Barbie creates both tension and comedy, and the complex plan the prisoners hatch together, with each toy playing a vital part, is ingeniously plotted out and executed. The toys’ “Live together, die alone” philosophy, long nurtured by the pull-string cowboy who is to them what Jack is to the castaways on LOST, remains in force throughout the movie, even in its darkest moments, which reminded me of The Brave Little Toaster, an eerie animated movie exploring similar territory.

Meanwhile, the animated short Day & Night nicely reinforces the idea of embracing the Other that was so central to the original Toy Story.  This sweet, creative short features a pair of two-dimensional characters drawn in a retro style, but each sheds light on a landscape rendered in vivid 3-D.  Aside from a radio broadcast expounding upon the theme of getting to know those who are different, the story unfolds without words.  While visual spectacle is most apparent, each of the characters goes through a range of emotions while trying to decide what to make of this curious stranger.  A strange but beautiful short, it grew on me gradually, and by the end I was thoroughly touched.

I can’t say for certain whether this will be the last of the Toy Story movies, but if that’s the case, they’ve ended the saga well, with an action-packed, zinger-filled, emotionally satisfying hour and 40 minutes. I applaud the fact that John Morris, one of the few voice actors without a famous name, voiced Andy once again. It makes the movie feel just a little more real to know that this is the same kid from the first two movies, and now he’s all grown up. The toys’ relationship with Andy has always been central to these movies, though Andy himself gets very little screen time. Here, he feels more central than before as we wonder along with most of the characters just how he feels about his old toys now. The movie answers that question in a scene likely to prompt a tear or two from even the most stoic viewers.

Toy Story 3 is a film that both entertains and challenges. While there’s plenty there to delight young viewers, it will probably be adults who walk away most affected, especially if they were around Andy’s age or parents to children around Andy’s age when they first saw Toy Story. The animation is smoother than ever, though less ground-breaking this time around, and I don’t know that the 3-D ultimately adds much to the movie. But as impressive as Pixar has always been in the visual department, not to mention music (with Randy Newman again enhancing this outing), it’s the intricate, character-rich stories that make the movies so irresistible. This third installment with the duo who started it all demonstrates that this commitment to excellent storytelling is as strong as ever.

Toy Story Took Disney and Pixar to Infinity and Beyond

I recently learned that Disney and Pixar will be parting ways soon, after the release of the upcoming Disney/Pixar projects The Incredibles and Cars. It seems a shame that such a successful partnership should dissolve after only seven movies, but apparently Disney has had some trouble keeping its friends lately. It remains to be seen just how badly this split will hurt Eisner and company, but I suspect the loss will be felt keenly. Their five films together thus far have met with roaring success, counteracting such projects as the string of cheaply made sequels to Disney classics. Toy Story is the movie that started it all.

I don’t often get to see movies in their first run at the theater, and Toy Story had left Tinseltown before I even heard much about it. The first extensive praise I heard of film was from my ninth grade English teacher, also a friend of the family. For reasons forgotten to me now, she had offered me a ride home, and as she drove she told me how much my family and I would enjoy Disney’s latest offering. Shortly after that conversation occurred, my family dropped by the dollar theater to see for ourselves if Toy Story was really as impressive as she intimated. We were not disappointed.

The first notable thing about this film at the time of its release was the fact that it was entirely computer animated. This animation style was just becoming widespread. The first Veggie Tales video actually preceded Toy Story by a couple years, but I would not discover my beloved singing plant life until the next year. No, it was Woody (Tom Hanks) and Buzz (Tim Allen) who introduced me to the next frontier in animated films.

The story and its cast of characters were particularly suited to this new style. Such creativity and care went into the crafting of this film, most children probably gave their toys a second or third look when they got home and wondered what their playthings had been up to during their absence. The film has nods at lots of traditional childhood toys; Etch-a-Sketch, Slinky Dog (Jim Varney), Mr. Potato Head (Don Rickles), Hamm the Piggy Bank (John Ratzenberger), a troop of toy soldiers, Rex the dinosaur (Wallace Shawn), Little Bo Peep, and many others make up the supporting cast in a tale whose core relationship is between Woody, the boy Andy’s faithful pull-string cowboy, and Buzz, the high-tech space adventurer who usurps Woody’s position of favor when he arrives as Andy’s birthday gift. Buzz is a bit overconfident when he makes his debut, but he harbors no ill will toward Woody, the established leader. Woody, meanwhile, is consumed by a most unheroic jealousy that sets in motion the great adventure he and Buzz must undertake. As Buzz and Woody’s rivalry blooms into friendship, they are each able to combine the best that each has to offer in order to get them out of their precarious situation.

The toys in Andy’s bedroom interact hilariously with one another, via both the dialogue expertly delivered by the seasoned actors voicing them and the movements dictated by their particular traits. Slinky Dog’s front walks halfway across the room while his hind legs remain rooted to the floor. Mr. Potato Head loses all his facial features and reconstructs himself a la Pablo Picasso. Woody and Etch-a-Sketch challenge each other to a draw, with Woody pulling the gun from his holster and Etch-a-Sketch literally drawing a gun. There’s also a bit of romance, with Bo Peep showering affection first on Woody than Buzz and Mr. Potato Head dreaming of the day when Andy’s sister will receive a Mrs. Potato Head.

Outside of Andy’s house, the toys are no less engaging. When Woody and Buzz finagle their way into the Pizza Planet where Andy is eating dinner, they find themselves in a claw machine surrounded by adorable squeezable alien clones who speak in unison. Once they become imprisoned in the home of the sadistic Sid, Andy’s neighbor, they encounter a host of freaky toys that have all been mutilated and redesigned to reflect their owner’s ghoulish personality. These silent masses seem to pose a grave danger to Woody and Buzz, but they soon reveal themselves to be innocent victims of Sid’s operations and powerful allies against him.

Hanks is as lovable as always here, and it’s easy to forgive Woody the touch of arrogance that comes to light when he feels his position is being threatened. Allen puts just the right amount of bombast into the valiant but not too bright Buzz. Later in the film, Woody’s regret and Buzz’s uncertainty add a lovely layer of vulnerability to these initially indomitable characters. The stages of their development as individuals and in relation to one another are beautifully illustrated with Randy Newman’s evocative soundtrack.

This endearing, imaginative story of friendship set the standard for all future Pixar / Disney projects, and while I have no doubt that their last two projects will be just as rewarding, and that Pixar will be successful in future ventures, it all started with Toy Story.