The sound of jazz's big-band era shapes
Once Around, although its spirit of energy and innovation is sorely lacking from
James Horner's tired and familiar music. Once again regurgitating wholesale melodies and motifs from previous scores,
Horner simply lends new swing-inspired arrangements to material introduced in animated features The Land Before Time and An American Tail -- regardless of the music's relative quality, its reuse is unacceptable, and proves just how little
Horner respects the filmgoing populace. Varese Sarabande's official soundtrack whittles
Horner's score to roughly 20 minutes to make room for a pair of performances by co-star
Danny Aiello and an odd-duck Arabic entry,
George Abdo's "Sulu Kulé (Karsllama)." All in all, a dull, disjointed package. ~ Jason Ankeny