If
Bruce Broughton remains unknown outside the realm of hardcore cinephiles and soundtrack collectors, it's because his best scores rarely had the good fortune to accompany commercially successful films -- even when he landed an opportunity to work with Disney on 1990's The Rescuers Down Under, the end result was one of the company's most forgettable animated features, produced just months prior to the creative rebirth heralded by the arrival of the modern classic Beauty and the Beast. What's particularly frustrating is that
The Rescuers Down Under remains one of
Broughton's most gripping and imaginative action scores, a soaring symphonic effort that includes moments of real power as well as genuine levity. While far more robust and kinetic than the average
Broughton score, it retains his trademark lyricism, and boasts an exuberance that's neither forced nor overbaked. A handful of vocal tracks from the original 1977 Rescuers rounds out the package. ~ Jason Ankeny