Friday, December 12, 2014

Anime Juke Box - Escape - Transformers: The Movie

Now some of you may be making faces because Transformers: The Movie is not technically an anime. But I think it sits right on the edge there. The series and toys originated in Japan, and the animation studio behind the original series was based in Japan. So I feel pretty good about including it in the Anime Juke Box.

The score was composed by an American Vince DiCola. It really is a blast. DiCola creates a number of themes and interweaves them throughout the film, often with fast paced and exciting action music. The score has a certain pop vibe to it, but it really fits the film, and he even gets some moments of wonder and even sadness with a beloved robot dies. DiCola's score fits the film perfectly and is oh-so-80s all at the same time. It ends up being one of my favorite scores from the 1980s and my favorite all synth score. 

Enjoy this track, Escape, which features various themes (and even a quote from one of the songs featured in the film, Dare). 


2 comments:

  1. Pretty progressive track for a Transformers cartoon, sort of new age and jazz. I've never seen the movie or really any of the shorter cartoons, but had friends that were fans. I never knew either that Transformers came out of Japan or if it was something created for the American market that had the feel of anime.

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    1. Yeah Transfomers was kind of a weird hybrid. They concept of transforming robots originated in Japan. But I think the Transformers themselves are a joint American/Japan toy effort. The animation mostly took place in Japan and Korea if I'm not mistaken. But it was certainly geared toward a North American audience.

      Dicola actually took a theme or two from the television series and worked it into the score as well for the film. It was kind of a shame that none of those themes were brought back for the Michael Bay films, but they really seemed to be distancing themselves from the whole 1980s Transformers concept with those movies.

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