General Discussion : The importance of theme songs

[nauru]

Just watched The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn (2011) yesterday. Good film, with the most technically impressive animation I've seen yet.

One thing I cannot understand: what possible reason could there be for leaving out the iconic Tintin theme song? Honestly it is one of the best theme songs I remember from my childhood along with Ninja Turtles and X-Men. They didn't even replace it with another theme song, they just put in generic music instead.

I actually have the same issue with the X-Men films. There is an awesome theme song that would work perfectly yet the filmmakers decide not only to leave it out, but to not replace it with anything memorable at all.

What is up with this? I think it is one of the biggest weaknesses of both films/sets of films.

Can you imagine the Indiana Jones films with generic music instead of the genre-defining theme song that played at just the right moments? No way they would have the same lasting appeal that they have -- the music is a crucial part of the total experience of going to the movies to see a rollicking, globe-trotting, swashbuckling adventure.

Tintin theme song


X-Men theme song

[TheDenizen]

There's no good reason to leave the songs out.

The last 10 years or so of the movies has largely been Gen X and Gen Y regurgitating the icons of their youth all over themselves, so I don't see any reason not to go whole hog with the fanservice, especially with something like a song that is so easy to license. Movies that don't do it are dumb.

[Stewball]

My biggest gripe with the film industry, I don't know, since the 80's, is their fear of appearing to rely too much on music. There've been exceptions of course, but it's the prevailing attitude. It's just my taste, of course, but maybe that's the problem they're dealing with--or afraid to.

Excellent soundtracks in the last 10+ or so years, IMNTBHO:

Gladiator
O Brother, Where Art Thou
Moulin Rouge
Chicago
Once Upon a Time in Mexico
Across the Universe
Gangs of New York
Black Snake Moan
Cars
The Departed
Inception
Sucker Punch

Damn few.

[nauru]

Hollywood wouldn't make a Mission Impossible film without the Mission Impossible theme song. Or a James Bond film with out the Bond theme. Even Back to the Future wouldn't be the same without the song.

And of course, go ahead and update it, use different instrumentation, or add something new, maybe a variation or extension that expands on the main theme if you want, that's fine. But it makes no sense to not include the songs that everyone knows. The theme song is a central characteristic of a timeless action-adventure franchise, including Tintin.

I don't consider myself a diehard fan of any 80s or 90s cartoons; I mean I don't still have action figures or read rebooted comics of them. But yeah when someone asks what film I want to watch, the main reason I am saying the new Tintin flick instead of a thousand other things that came out last year is because I watched it as a kid and now I will be introducing others to the awesomeness of Herge. I don't mind that they changed the story considerably and made other substantial changes to the books. I'm not one of those annoying people who always whines "oh but the book was sooOOOoo much better than the movie". No. But come on; there's a song that goes with this character, it's a good song, people know it and like it, so use it in the film once or twice to maintain a bit of continuity with the feel of the rest of the franchise. I'm not sure I even consider this fan service, because it's not like only the die-hard fans will appreciate it. I think the whole audience would appreciate a memorable theme song to go with the daring adventures of our hero.

I'll acknowledge that the part with the sketch artist at the beginning was a nice touch, an appropriate nod to the original books.