Yoshitaka Amano's 1001 Nights

As Christmas draws near, I discover a song title chosen for the name of a photo album on my cousin's Facebook. That song/photo album title was 'Once upon a December.' You may have guessed that this was a theme from Don Bluth's animated feature Anastasia [1997] which was created toward the end of Disney's Golden Age. Though the song itself brought back many cherished memories, it was the score by David Newman that I found myself pursuing. What has actually been officially released of it is limited, though it enough for any film music fan to sink there teeth into. Being part of the prestigiously musical Newman family, David is known for his scores to Serenity, Matilda and Galaxy Quest.

So what does this have to do with the famed illustrator of the Final Fantasy series, or the Arabian Nights? A year after Anastasia was made, David Newman would go on to score a short film by Mike Smith based on a concept by Yoshitaka Amano. While searching through Newman;s discography, I came across a link to the website of Mike Smith [http://www.realmikesmith.com] and finally i was able to find a film I have been looking for, for quite some time.

"Let us then dream. Let us dream, as always, some world hidden within our own world. A world where wicked restless spirits move, whimsical and fierce, forcing us to abandon our self centred selves. Let us dream this sleeping princess Budu, and then her dreaming prince Kamar and see what happens their dreams conjoin. Let us dream that when they wake they may recall how they were transfixed by one another,  then transported, then transfigured. Let us then dream."

Prologue to 1001 Nights

Be warned as this does contain flashing imagery. [http://www.realmikesmith.com/motion/shorts_promos/1001_nights.html]

The film was directed by Mike Smith, and was based on one of Amano's books. the few I have in my own collection include a book of his prints, a book of Tarot cards, fairies, and a visual adaptation of Mozart's Magic Flute. Amano's influences take from a wide spectrum of art, ranging from art nouveau, surrealism and Japanese woodblock brints. He has delved into most traditional forms ranging from animation [Gatchman/Eagleriders/Battle of the Planets, Casshern and Speed Racer], illustration and printmaking. The Arabian Nights is a subject that Amano constantly revisits, the minarets and domes, cursed princesses, flying horses and valiant princes are heavily prominent in his work, note the way his characters are usually dressed in orient costume. I especially liked his take on the camel in the above short. I found some of the traditional technics used quite interesting, such as the paper puppetry towards the end. [N.B. http://www.anime-planet.com/anime/1001-nights]

I have been looking, on and off, for 1001 Nights since I first read about it on Amanosworld about nine years ago. To find it only yesterday has filled me with the immense joy and excitement that is particular to this man's work. His visions and dreamscapes range from delicate watercolours to sharp monochromatic sceneries. The faces are how you recognise him, the shapes, the huge amount of draperies and fabric, the almost carnival like nature of his work is like a drug that instills a blissful and addictive confusion, to come close and understand this un-imitable world of fantasy.

Newman's score adds to and drives the overall narrative of the film, as the above quote being the only dialogue to the story. Given this introduction, the remainder of the vision is left to the imagination. The score itself is brimming with dark tones, violin solos, both acoustic and electric. Other musicians associated with Amano include Nobuo Uematsu in the early Final Fantasy games, Yasuharu Takanashi in Tori no Uta [2007] and Yoshihiro Kanno in Mamoru Oshii's Tenchi no Tamago [1985]. I will hopefully cover the latter two in the future.

Next time, I would like to talk about one of my personal favourites. A japanese film composer who arranged Kenji Ito's music for Romancing SaGa 3, scored an Onimusha title, and just made a return to game scoring with a Korean MMORPG.