I think we all need at least one
really nice positive thing about the entertainment business every single
day of the year, including weekends. Sometimes it may be something
simple, like a video that showcases something fun and sometimes it may
be a movie poster that embraces the aesthetic we all want Hollywood to
aspire to. Sometimes it may be a long-winded diatribe. Sometimes it’ll
be from the staff and extended family of CHUD.com. Maybe even you
readers can get in on it. So, take this to the bank. Every day, you will
get a little bit of positivity from one column a day here. Take it with
you. Maybe it’ll help you through a bad day or give folks some fun
things to hunt down in their busy celluloid digesting day.
8.16.10
By David Oliver: Author Page
What I’m Thankful For
Hoyt Curtin’s Music
There’s possibly no greater music composer in the realm of television cartoons than Hoyt Curtin. If you grew up enjoying cartoons at any time over the last fifty years or so, chances are you’ve heard his themes on many an occasion. Among Curtin’s staggering amount of credits are many of the themes from the Hanna-Barbera cartoons during the heyday of the animation company. These include the themes for The Flintstones, The Yogi Bear Show, Top Cat, The Jetsons, Superfriends, The New Scoobie Doo Movies, Josie and the Pussycats, Hong Kong Phooey, The Grape Ape Show, The Huckleberry Hound Show, The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan, and Jonny Quest.
As great as the music for all of those toons is, the main reason I find myself writing this article is because lately, I’ve been going back and rewatching my collection of Battle of the Planets episodes and just marveling at the lush arrangements he did for that project, one of my favorite cartoons ever. Gatchaman did have some great original pieces of music, including the theme, as composed by Bob Sakuma. Curtin, I think, took it and ran with it, adding his own style and also many new tracks that are instantly recognizable as BOTP. You can catch snippets from the complete Battle of the Planets Soundtrack by clicking the image below:
Listening to the music apart from the cartoon, I found myself catching the funk influences (and yes the disco as well, but it was 1978) in pieces such as Two Monsters/Star Fight, BP-105/BP-2001 and BP – Teenage Mysterioso more than I ever had. But it’s also got grand sweeping orchestrations such as in The Main Title, Alien Planet, the Gatchaman Theme Redo, Fight Between People and Zoltar’s theme music. There are pieces like the themes for Keyop, Rover and Zark that are too cute for their own good, but I’ve loved the majority of Curtin’s work on that show for most of my life.
There’s a good quick piece on Curtin’s Jonny Quest below: