Composing Greatness: #11. Thomas Newman - "Saving Mr. Banks" (2013)

Scene from Saving Mr. Banks

Welcome to Composing Greatness: a column dedicated to exploring the work of film composers. This will specifically focus on the films that earned them Oscar nominations while exploring what makes it so special. This will be broken down into a look at the overall style, interesting moments within the composition, and what made the score worth nominating in the first place. This will also include various subcategories where I will rank the themes of each film along with any time that the composer actually wins. This is a column meant to explore a side of film that doesn't get enough credit while hopefully introducing audiences to an enriched view of more prolific composers' work. This will only cover scores/songs that are compiled in an easily accessible format (so no extended scores will be considered). Join me every Sunday as I cover these talents that if you don't know by name, you recognize by sound.

Series Composer: Thomas Newman

Entry: Saving Mr. Banks (2013)

Collaborators (If Available): N/A

Nomination: Best Original Score 

Did He Win: No

Other Nominees:
-Gravity (Steven Price)*winner
-The Book Thief (John Williams)
-Her (Will Butler & Owen Platt)
-Philomena (Alexandre Desplat)

Additional Information

This is to help provide perspective of where each composer is in their Oscar-nominated life as it related to the current entry.

Oscar Nomination: 12

Oscar Wins: 0

Track List

1. "Chim Chim Cher-ee (East Wind)
2. "Travers Goff"
3. "Walking Bus"
4. "One Mint Julep"
5. "Uncle Albert"
6. "Jolification"
7. "The Mouse"
8. "Leisurely Stroll"
9. "Chim Chim Cher-ee (Responstible)"
10. "Mr. Disney"
11. "Celtic Soul"
12. "A Foul Fowl"
13. "Mrs. P.L. Travers"
14. "Laying Eggs"
15. "Worn to Tissue"
16. "Heigh-Ho"
17. "Whiskey"
18. "Impertinent Man"
19. "To My Mother"
20. "Westerly Weather"
21. "Supercaligragilisticexpialidocious"
22. "Spit Spot!"
23. "Beverly Hills Hotel"
24. "Penguins"
25. "Pears"
26. "Let's Go Fly a Kite"
27. "Maypole"
28. "Forgiveness"
29. "The Magic Kingdom"
30. "Ginty My Love"
31. "Saving Mr. Banks"

Note: Listen to here.

Exploring the Music

The area of the column where I will explore the music in as much detail as I see fit for each entry.

Theme Exploration:

"Travers Goff"

There's something exciting about realizing that this score wasn't just borrowing heavily motifs from the Mary Poppins and Disney canon extensively. I was worried upon revisiting it that this would be the case. Instead it's more of a traditional Thomas Newman score in the best sense. He mixes the orchestral strings with a jaunty piano number in ways that are sentimental and upbeat in perfect ways. For as corny as I expected this score to be, it's actually a very accomplished piece of music, flowing melodically through the tapestry of interesting instrument choices, layered in a way to create an emotional sensibility. This is a solid start to an overall pretty solid score, proving that Newman and Disney do make pretty good partners.

Interesting Standout:

"Jolification"

While it's merely coincidental, there's something that tickles me about this particular track. A lot of the latter half of the soundtrack is reminiscent of other Thomas Newman cues, such as the ambient echo of Finding Nemo. However, there's something disconcerting about hearing this track because it feels almost directly lifted from American Beauty with its sitar vibe and percussive flow. If one wasn't careful, they could almost be interchangeable. It's kind of funny not because Newman is getting lazy, but because how this family friendly film is reminiscent of one of the 20th century's most iconic dysfunctional family comedies, maybe even note for note.

Best Moment:

"Walking Bus"

If there's one thing that this score does very well, it's having a personality. While there's a few callbacks throughout the soundtrack to Mary Poppins, they're thankfully extemporaneous tracks from other artists. Here he gives one of the earliest signs of fun in the entire score with a track that sounds like its name. It is jaunty and carefree, managing to mix strings with wind instruments in a way that captures the whimsy of the melodies to come. As a whole, it's the perfect embodiment of what this soundtrack got right. It didn't need to borrow heavily from existing material to leave an impression. It just had to write its own songbook.

Did This Deserve an Oscar Nomination?:
Yes

The only issue with doing Composing Greatness is that the further away from the year you get, the harder it is to remember what should've been nominated. I'm not sure that this is the greatest score of the year, but I still think it exceeded my expectations for a largely milquetoast movie. Even my thought that half of the score was dominated by Mary Poppins motifs was largely wrong. What is here is one of his most innocent scores and also one that uses his technique to full effect, managing to layer orchestra with piano in a way that evokes awe. There's plenty to like here, even if maybe there were better scores from 2013 to be nominated. I don't know, but having gone through this series has given me a deeper appreciation for Thomas Newman's craft, and it may be why this one resonates so well with me now.

Up Next: Passengers (2016) for Best Original Score.

Best Theme

A ranking of all themes composed by Thomas Newman.
1. "Dead Already" - American Beauty (1999)
2. "Wow" - Finding Nemo (2003)
3. "Orchard House" - Little Women (1994)
4. "Rock Island, 1931" - Road to Perdition (2002)
5. "Shawshank Prison (Stoic Theme)" - The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
6. "Grand Bazaar, Istanbul" - Skyfall (2012)
7. "2815 A.D." - WALL-E (2008)
8. "Travers Goff" - Saving Mr. Banks (2013)
9. "Unrecht Oder Recht (Main Titles" - The Good German (2006)
10. "The Bad Beginning" - A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)
11. "End Titles" - Unstrung Heroes (1995)

Best Song

A ranking of all songs composed by Thomas Newman.

1. "Down to Earth" - WALL-E (2008)