On November 24, boutique label La-La Land Records announced a very special treat for fans of John Williams: Hook – The Ultimate Edition, a 3-CD collection with a newly restored and expanded presentation of the magnificent score composed by John Williams for the 1991 film directed by Steven Spielberg, assembled and produced by Mike Matessino in full cooperation with the composer
To celebrate this new release and also to coincide with the anniversary of the film’s original release in US theaters (December 11, 1991), we are very happy to present an essay by film music producer and writer John Takis, one of the associate producers and co-writers of the liner notes of Hook – The Ultimate Edition, exploring the personal connection of the author with the film and its musical score.
A MAGICAL PLACE FOR CHILDREN
An Essay By John Takis
Near the end of Steven Spielberg’s film Hook, a grown-up Peter Pan (Robin Williams) confronts his old nemesis (Dustin Hoffman) and quips, “I remember you being a lot bigger.” Hook’s sneering rejoinder is, “To a ten-year-old, I’m huge.” I suspect that this exchange resonates with many who, like me, were roughly the age of the Lost Boys when Hook debuted in theaters in December 1991. I was eleven, not ten, but the film indeed loomed large for me! For one thing, I loved all things pirate related. (Blame Gilbert & Sullivan!) For another, there was John Williams. I don’t remember whether I actually knew that Hook had a Williams score before I saw the film, but most likely I did. I loved movie music from an early age, and the first CD my father ever gave me was the 1987 album By Request… The Best of John Williams and The Boston Pops. Even as a child, I would gravitate to the soundtrack section at the local music shop (when such places were still common) and pay attention when I saw the name John Williams. The original Hook album, with its striking poster artwork by John Alvin, would certainly have caught my eye.
For all this, my eleven-year-old self was unprepared for how powerfully Hook would resonate with me. In 1991, I was not yet privy to the powerful alchemy of the Spielberg/Williams collaboration. I had seen a handful of Williams-scored films—the Star Wars trilogy on VHS and Home Alone in the theater—but it was those compilation CDs that I played endlessly. (I had no idea what The Cowboys was, but I knew it had phenomenal music!) Amid the distractions of home, I had watched at least part of Spielberg’s E.T. on television. I had not seen much from the Indiana Jones films, since my parents deemed me too young (although I remember seeing a blurb about Raiders of the Lost Ark when I was three or four and supposing that it referred to Noah’s Ark). For me, as for many of my generation, Hook was the first time I sat down in a darkened theater and gave a Steven Spielberg film my full attention.
The moment that crystallized things for me was the early scene when Peter visits his old nursery and is spellbound by the fantastical décor—including a mural of Captain Hook. The scene is wordless, painted in soft shadows, and the music creates a mood of numinous wonder. Solo French horn introduces an ominous melody, which repeats and swells over darkling string arpeggios. My mind was transported to a liminal space where the fantastic might suddenly become real—where the figure in the portrait might turn his head, a wicked glint in his eye, and step down from the wall. Then the moment passed, and Peter returned to the “real world.” But I was utterly entranced. Of course, any trip to the movies held a certain magic for me at that age, but this was something new. The rest of the film unfolded like a dream, full of moments that were marvelous, thrilling, even profound—the parade to the Jolly Roger; the spectacular Never-Feast; the trio of charming songs by Williams and lyricist Leslie Bricusse; the shocking death of Rufio; Hook consumed by the long-dead crocodile. “London is a magical place for children,” asserts Moira, Peter’s wife. As far as I was concerned, the same was true of Hook.
The Hook soundtrack album quickly became an essential title in my small but growing collection. Yes, it was frustrating that the track names were printed nowhere but on the disc itself, but I knew the album by heart soon enough. “Presenting The Hook” and “Smee’s Plan” were my go-to tracks, as they featured my favorite theme in the score (the melody we now know originated as the song “Stick With Me”). Hook was also one of the first times I experienced the crushing realization that some of my favorite musical moments were inexplicably missing from the album. Where was the music from the nursery scene? What about the museum of broken clocks? What happened to the entire final duel? “By hook or by crook,” I did eventually manage to obtain some of this material in a format that could be listened to apart from the film. VHS excerpts could be dubbed onto tape cassette. Later, DVD audio could be ripped onto a computer and burned onto CD-Rs. More “piratical” ventures need not be detailed here … suffice it to say that many playlists were cobbled together as I pursued the ultimate Hook soundtrack experience, one the official album had denied me.
Part of the fun of this process was that it coincided with the explosion of Internet use during the late nineties and early aughts. It turned out that I was far from alone in my musical obsessions. On web-based forums like Film Score Monthly and the John Williams Fan Network, there was a growing community of like-minded individuals ready to dig deep into their mutual fandom—whether it was picking apart the isolated DVD score for 1941 or arguing over how to fit together the musical puzzle pieces of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace that were trickling out via video games. Hook was a frequent topic of conversation, not only because of the richness of the music (even for an epic Williams score, it overflowed with melodies and set pieces) and the large amount of unreleased material, but because—I was fascinated to learn—it had at one point been developed as a movie musical. One of the unused songs, “Childhood,” had even been printed in a Leslie Bricusse songbook. What’s more, tantalizing reports emerged that Williams had worked on a proposed Spielberg Peter Pan film in the 1980s. How did all these dots connect? What was the bigger picture?
As the boutique soundtrack labels gained more access to Williams titles, and multi-disc sets such as Home Alone and 1941 appeared, an expanded version of Hook ranked high on just about every fan’s wish-list. And although the 2012 La-La Land Records 2-CD version was a noteworthy event in the soundtrack community, with its lavish artwork and detailed liner notes, that release was not quite the definitive presentation of Hook’s music. Through no fault of the label, it turned out that certain recordings were inaccessible and that some of the most fervently desired material had to be taken from less-than-ideal (and incomplete) sources. And while the program notes did shed light on the fabled songs, the complete story and the songs themselves remained frustratingly out of reach. While this was naturally a disappointment, most fans resolved to enjoy the release, customize their playlists, and continue dreaming that someday the stars might align to make a true “ultimate edition” of this masterpiece possible.
That day has now arrived. Thanks to years of tireless work—in particular, by album producer Mike Matessino and his direct collaboration with the late Leslie Bricusse—fans can finally enjoy the music of Hook in all its unredacted glory, with a presentation of the full score on the one hand and the “musical that never was” on the other, all transferred from original analog scoring masters (save two song demos from DAT). What has been most surprising, even for those of us who were privileged enough to work on this new release, is just how beautifully the songs work together with alternates and source music to form a satisfying musical journey. Disc 3 of the Ultimate Edition is not merely an interesting curio; it informs and illuminates the music as presented on Discs 1 and 2, just as the treatment of the musical narrative in the full score deepens one’s appreciation of the songs. It is a total musical experience that I believe will not fail to move even the crustiest critic of the film. As for me, this album feels like faith rewarded. However many times I listen, it is 1991 again and I am eleven years old. That is the magic of John Williams and Leslie Bricusse. As long as we have their music to point us to that second star to the right, we never do need to grow up!
Hook – The Ultimate Edition original soundtrack 3-CD set is available at La-La Land Records:
https://lalalandrecords.com/hook-the-ultimate-edition-expanded-remastered-limited-edition-3-cd-set/
Special Thanks to Mike Matessino and Jason LeBlanc
The Legacy of John Williams 