So the universe has finally decided to listen to me. It only took it over 10 years, thank you very much universe. A handful of Shirley Walker's amazing scores for the Batman the Animated Series are finally out on CD. The 2 disc limited edition collection features the full score from 11 episodes plus some bonus material. Unfortunately there's no villain theme medley which is really all I'm interested in... but there's more than enough here to get any Batman fan excited. Besides, my dream of having the Joker's theme as my cell phone ring will finally come true! You can purchase the album through La-La Land Records (by the way, one of my personal pet peeves is calling LA "la-la land"... don't do it).
Also, did you guys know Shirley Walker died two years ago? I was heartbroken to find that out when looking up this album... PLUS the f-ing academy didn't give her a mention in the "In Memoriam" section... which is particularly insulting considering she's one of the only female composers working in Hollywood. Ladies, you should write your congressman/woman complaining about this 2 year old slight!
6 comments:
"Shirley can suck it!"- Danny Elfman
Dude! They were friends! She conducted the orchestra for every one of his scores! How do you think she got the batman gig! And come on, show at least a modicum of respect! Her work was amazing!
She didn't work on all his scores (only the period 1988-91; after Article 99 other people came on board, plus she conducted and orchestrated for other composers like Hans Zimmer and Brad Fiedel), but she never joined in the claims that Elfman's Batman score was all really done by herself and others on account of his not being a "real" composer... claims which persist to this day. Plus Elfman contributes to the liner notes of this album!
It's too bad that hardly anyone gave her a chance at showing her stuff on the big screen (apart from John Carpenter and Wong & Morgan), but I never heard her going on autopilot.
Thanks for the lowdown CL. It's unfortunate that she didn't have more feature credits under her belt, her work on BTAS is great.
I'll slice a bitch who wants to tell me that Danny isn't a "real" composer. People wanted to credit Prince for that score, for crissake. It's like, the dude in the crushed purple suit and beehive is a far superior option to the frontman of that band who did "Weird Science." Come on.
Music on the Animated series were great. Shirly incorporated Elfman's theme, but made it her own. Mask of the Phantasm was a great score too.
Walker's genius shows through in all of the character themes she created for the Rogues. Joker's theme is one of the most memorable character cues of all time. Perfect for the way he was characterized in the show - loopy, kind of a dandy, but always mocking and extremely unhinged. When the theme goes from circus-to-evil, it's a work of art.
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