A Bug's Life (soundtrack)

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A Bug's Life: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by
Randy Newman
ReleasedOctober 27, 1998
Recorded1997–1998
Studio
GenreFilm score
Length47:32
LabelWalt Disney
ProducerRandy Newman
Pixar soundtrack chronology
Toy Story
(1995) 		A Bug's Life
(1998) 		Toy Story 2
(1999)
Randy Newman chronology
Michael
(1996) 		A Bug's Life
(1998) 		Pleasantville
(1998)

A Bug's Life: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack is the soundtrack to the 1998 Disney/Pixar film A Bug's Life featuring original music composed by Randy Newman and released on October 27, 1998 by Walt Disney Records.[1] Aside the instrumental cues accompanying the album, it also features an original song "The Time of Your Life" written and performed by Newman.[2]

The score transitions from orchestral music to 1940s jazz which was used when Flik travels to the city.[3] It was recorded at the Sony Scoring Stage in Culver City, California, Signet Sound Studios in Los Angeles and Conway Recording Studios in Hollywood, California. The score received a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture or Television and was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Musical or Comedy Score, and Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score.

Reception[edit]

Alex Henderson of AllMusic rated three out of five stars to the album, summarising: "A Bug's Life isn't an essential purchase by any means, although some of Newman's more hardcore and devoted fans might find it mildly interesting to hear this other side of him."[4] Ian Freer of Empire also rated three stars and called it as "very likeable but ultimately does not grab the attention as well as it might".[5] Filmtracks.com wrote "A Bug's Life could leave non-Randy Newman fans cold. His jazz is predictable and his generic orchestral animation music begs for more personality. The highlights of both Newman's own Pleasantville from the same year and the competing Antz are superior to anything heard here."[6] Rating four-and-a-half stars out of five, James Southall of Movie Wave called the film's score as "the best of Newman's scores for Pixar" as it "lends itself better than the others to album treatment due to its more flowing, less bitty nature".[7]

Far Out ranked third in the best of Newman's scores (top 10).[8] Writing for that article, Calum Russell summarised: "Randy Newman’s Bug’s Life score is a joy to listen to, taking the listener immediately back to Pixar’s animated world as it so well recreates the essence of the chaos of the city or the intensity of a bird sighting."[8] Also ranking in their top 10 of the composer's best scores, Dalton Norman of Screen Rant wrote "Newman understood what was expected of him and his score is just as fun and jaunty as his previous Pixar outing. He proved he could work cleverly with scope and scale with his music by shrinking the orchestrations down in scenes that needed simplicity. The film is about a tiny world and the music reflects both the smallness of the world and the overwhelming size of Flik's adventure."[9]

Track listing[edit]

No.TitleLength
1."The Time of Your Life"3:16
2."The Flik Machine"2:54
3."Seed to Tree"1:01
4."Red Alert"1:49
5."Hopper and His Gang"3:21
6."Flik Leaves"2:37
7."Circus Bugs"1:27
8."The City"2:35
9."Robin Hood"0:59
10."Return to Colony"1:33
11."Flik's Return"1:24
12."Loser"2:43
13."Dot's Rescue"4:00
14."Atta"1:08
15."Don't Come Back"1:07
16."Grasshoppers' Return"3:01
17."The Bird Flies"2:38
18."Ants Fight Back"2:14
19."Victory"2:33
20."A Bug's Life Suite"5:12
Total length:47:32

Accolades[edit]

Awards[10]
Year Association Award Category Recipient (if any) Result
1999 Academy Awards[11][12] Best Original Musical or Comedy Score Randy Newman Nominated
Chicago Film Critics Association[13][14] Best Original Score
Golden Globe Awards[15][16] Best Original Score
Motion Picture Sound Editors Best Sound Editing, Music – Animated Feature Lori L. Escher and Bruno Coon
2000 Grammy Awards[17] Best Instrumental Composition Randy Newman Won
Best Song
(for the song "The Time of Your Life") 		Nominated

Personnel[edit]

Credits adapted from CD liner notes.[18]

  • Music – Randy Newman
  • Producer – Frank Wolf, Randy Newman
  • Engineer – Greg Dennen, Mark Eshelman, Pat Weber, Rich Weingart, Sean O'Dwyer, Sue McLean, Tulio Torrinello
  • Recording and mixing – Frank Wolf
  • Mastering – Doug Sax
  • Assistant music editor – Brenda Heins
  • Associate music editor – Bruno Coon
  • Supervising music editor – Lori Eschler Frystak
  • Music supervisor – Andrew Page
  • Production manager – Tom MacDougall
  • Executive producer – Chris Montan
  • Orchestration – Don Davis, Ira Hearshen, Jonathan Sacks
  • Orchestra contractor – Sandy De Crescent
  • Vocal contractor – Luana Jackman
  • Copyist – Jo Ann Kane Music Service
  • Art direction – Luis M. Fernández
  • Design – Marcella Wong

References[edit]

  1. ^ "iTunes Music – A Bug's Life (An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack) by Randy Newman". iTunes Store. October 23, 2001. Archived from the original on November 6, 2013. Retrieved October 21, 2013.
  2. ^ Pareles, Jon (November 13, 1998). "POP REVIEW; Randy Newman's Songs Mix Humor and Barbs". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 27, 2015. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
  3. ^ Noyer, Jérémie. "Monsters, Inc.'s Composer Randy Newman: "I score because I care!"". Animated Views. Retrieved May 19, 2023. The people at Pixar liked that 1940s jazz. I did it in Bug's Life and they loved it when I did Flick going to the City and stuff like that. So, it was essentially what they wanted.
  4. ^ Henderson, Alex. "Review: A Bug's Life". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Archived from the original on February 15, 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
  5. ^ Freer, Ian. "A Bug's Life Soundtrack Review". Empire. Archived from the original on October 15, 2014. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
  6. ^ "Review: A Bug's Life (Randy Newman)". Filmtracks.com. Archived from the original on October 28, 2014. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
  7. ^ Southall, James. "A Bug's Life – Review". Movie Wave. Archived from the original on February 15, 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
  8. ^ a b "The top 10 film scores of Randy Newman". Far Out Magazine. November 28, 2021. Archived from the original on November 30, 2021. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
  9. ^ "10 Best Randy Newman Movie Scores". ScreenRant. December 16, 2021. Archived from the original on December 23, 2021. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
  10. ^ "A Bug's Life (1998) Awards". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2011. Archived from the original on May 11, 2011. Retrieved March 7, 2009.
  11. ^ "The 71st Academy Awards (1999) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. AMPAS. Archived from the original on November 9, 2014. Retrieved November 19, 2011.
  12. ^ Munoz, Lorena (February 10, 1999). "It's the Early Birds That Get to Squirm". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 4, 2014. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  13. ^ Klady, Leonard (January 18, 1999). "Chi crix like 'Line,' 'Show'". Variety. Archived from the original on January 4, 2015. Retrieved December 21, 2014.
  14. ^ Knopper, Melissa (March 2, 1999). "Chicago Critics: 'Ryan' Best Film of the Year". Daily Herald. Archived from the original on January 8, 2023. Retrieved December 21, 2014.(subscription required)
  15. ^ Higgins, Bill; Hontz, Jenny (December 16, 1998). "'Truman,' Bard win noms". Variety. Archived from the original on January 12, 2018. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
  16. ^ Higgins, Bill (January 24, 1999). "Globes 'In Love' and war". Variety. Archived from the original on January 12, 2018. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
  17. ^ "1999 Grammy Awards". Grammy Awards. The Recording Academy. Archived from the original on June 23, 2014. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
  18. ^ "Credits – A Bug's Life". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Archived from the original on May 19, 2023. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
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