Uploaded July 2011 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
This one´s for Stefan96ze! ;-)
With a track record like that of Blue Sky Studios, it's hard to imagine that its parent company, 20th Century Fox, won't green-light every project the subsidiary has coming down the pipes. In its short history, Blue Sky has produced the Ice Age franchise, Robots, Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!, and Rio, each translating their sub-$100 million budgets into immense box office returns (sometimes exceeding half a billion dollars). Their 2011 venture, Rio, continues that trend while also being among the most critically acclaimed of the lot. Its animated protagonists are brightly exotic birds, the two leads a pair of macaws who are extremely rare and are thus the targets of bird smugglers based in Rio de Janeiro. The entire film is essentially comprised of chases of this awkward duo (and friends) by the evil humans and their cohorts in the animal kingdom. An unlikely romance between the macaws and the initial inability of the out-of-place, Minnesota-raised male of the pair leads to inevitable redemption. The movie has been widely praised for its tasteful application of 3D technology and extremely vivid colors. The soundtrack for Rio was meant to play a far greater role in the narrative of the film than in previous Blue Sky animations, with musical elements conveyed directly by characters and source music tied to the region in many scenes. Extending this personality into his score is John Powell, whose contribution is equally saturated with Brazilian-related flavor. The composer has been a reliable mainstay of the studio's animations since Robots in 2005, producing solid music that has served to define his lighter style of writing during the period since. His output for Rio couldn't be any more predictable, taking his established orchestral writing habits and infusing them with a variety of mambo, salsa, and otherwise generally Latin elements with often wild zeal. These affable ethnic aspects in Rio help distinguish the otherwise short score (due to the presence of other material in the film) by supplementing Powell's normal, light-hearted symphonic techniques with a slew of creative sounds and rhythms that have been touched upon briefly in comedic circumstances in the composer's past but now dominate an entire score with overflowing personality. On top of that, you get a fair dose of Powell's usual upbeat tendencies for bouncing orchestral themes, some interpolated from the film's songs, and a soaring ensemble conclusion to finish the story with the necessary romantic and redemptive climax. For established enthusiasts of Powell's animated scores, it'll be yet another likable entry, but be careful if Latin flair and the sound effects of tropical bird calls and whistles make your ears twitch.
(filmtracks.com/titles/rio.html)
This one´s for Stefan96ze! ;-)
With a track record like that of Blue Sky Studios, it's hard to imagine that its parent company, 20th Century Fox, won't green-light every project the subsidiary has coming down the pipes. In its short history, Blue Sky has produced the Ice Age franchise, Robots, Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!, and Rio, each translating their sub-$100 million budgets into immense box office returns (sometimes exceeding half a billion dollars). Their 2011 venture, Rio, continues that trend while also being among the most critically acclaimed of the lot. Its animated protagonists are brightly exotic birds, the two leads a pair of macaws who are extremely rare and are thus the targets of bird smugglers based in Rio de Janeiro. The entire film is essentially comprised of chases of this awkward duo (and friends) by the evil humans and their cohorts in the animal kingdom. An unlikely romance between the macaws and the initial inability of the out-of-place, Minnesota-raised male of the pair leads to inevitable redemption. The movie has been widely praised for its tasteful application of 3D technology and extremely vivid colors. The soundtrack for Rio was meant to play a far greater role in the narrative of the film than in previous Blue Sky animations, with musical elements conveyed directly by characters and source music tied to the region in many scenes. Extending this personality into his score is John Powell, whose contribution is equally saturated with Brazilian-related flavor. The composer has been a reliable mainstay of the studio's animations since Robots in 2005, producing solid music that has served to define his lighter style of writing during the period since. His output for Rio couldn't be any more predictable, taking his established orchestral writing habits and infusing them with a variety of mambo, salsa, and otherwise generally Latin elements with often wild zeal. These affable ethnic aspects in Rio help distinguish the otherwise short score (due to the presence of other material in the film) by supplementing Powell's normal, light-hearted symphonic techniques with a slew of creative sounds and rhythms that have been touched upon briefly in comedic circumstances in the composer's past but now dominate an entire score with overflowing personality. On top of that, you get a fair dose of Powell's usual upbeat tendencies for bouncing orchestral themes, some interpolated from the film's songs, and a soaring ensemble conclusion to finish the story with the necessary romantic and redemptive climax. For established enthusiasts of Powell's animated scores, it'll be yet another likable entry, but be careful if Latin flair and the sound effects of tropical bird calls and whistles make your ears twitch.
(filmtracks.com/titles/rio.html)
