Final Thesis - John Williams - ScholarsArchive at Oregon State ...

Hook
Hook is a film directed by Steven Spielberg that tells the magical story of
Peter Pan, but from the perspective that he’s now grown up and needs to remember
his past in order to save his children. John Williams had originally collaborated on
the project to make it a stage musical, but that was cancelled and then was taken on
as a screenplay. So many creative minds worked on the development of the film that
it was disappointing to many critics how mechanical the story seemed, and that it
lacked Spielberg’s typical touch. Fortunately for Williams, his score was a huge
redeeming feature of the film and critics responded very well to its whimsicality and
robustness.
Many aspects of the score style show how Williams was trying out new ideas.
Some of the unfinished music he composed for Hook became part of some of his
later scores such as Jurassic Park and Harry Potter. As a release for the film’s trailer,
Williams created the shortened version of the main theme as “Prologue,” which
many consider one of the best 90 seconds he has ever composed ("Hook"). The
overall score is full of nostalgia, fantasy and energy, which Williams is able to
maintain throughout the film with fluid theme variation transitions, the use of a
wide variety of instruments, and his ever present ability to perfectly match the
music to the action on screen.
The soundtrack contains a variety of themes, such as the aforementioned
“Prologue,” all of which span the emotional dynamics of the film. The flying motif is
part of the main theme, which is an energetic piece that has reprisals throughout the
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