Jim Lang is a longtime composer for television and movies, including the much beloved Hey Arnold! franchise. We had a chance to talk with him about his work on the latest film.
If you were a kid growing up in the 90’s and a fan of Nickelodeon’s Hey Arnold! one question that you probably always had was “What actually happened to Arnold’s parents?” Thanks to the latest feature film installment, Hey Arnold! The Jungle Movie that question has finally been answered. While plotting one of the most monumental scenes in the series, the creators knew all the elements had to come together for the perfect payoff. One of the most important elements being the score to match the emotion of a boy reuniting with his long lost parents.
Veteran show composer Jim Lang was just as nervous to tackle this task, as a fan himself, knowing Arnold and fans had been waiting for this moment for a very long time. Describing the process he says, “It was one of those wonderful moments when I got out of the way and the music just sort of wrote itself.” We talked to Jim more in depth below about this scene, his famous “Parent’s Day” theme and revisiting these beloved characters through the new film.
What in your background inspired to pursue a career in film/television composing? Was it a conscious decision or did you just fall into it?
Jim Lang: I mostly wanted to be a rock star. Elton John, to be precise. Since that job was already taken, I toured as a keyboard player for a few years. I played with Todd Rundgren, Joe Cocker, the Pointers, and Juice Newton among others. When I got married in the mid eighties, I started looking for ways to make a living staying in town, and a couple of good friends from the Midwest hooked me up with the occasional gig writing music for their video projects. My first feature film score was for Todd Hallowell, who has been an executive producer on Ron Howard’s movies for ever. He actually managed an LA band I played in in the early eighties called Snapshots. So I guess in a way the film composing career flowed from the live gigging world.
How did you establish the “sound” of Hey Arnold!?
JL: Craig (Bartlett) and I had both been listening to acid jazz on Jason Bentley’s show on KCRW and thought that the blend of modern beats with samples from soul jazz LPs would be a good fit with the urban visual environment of Hey Arnold. Craig and I also love Vince Guaraldi’s music for the Peanuts tv specials- so sweet and melodic! So we figured we would shoot for a score that had elements of both. And that’s pretty much where we ended up, with a few stupid-pet-trick comic samples and a Nord Lead synth thrown in.
In addition to that, we both grew up loving musical comedy songs, so that little thread of Tin Pan Alley is woven through the score as well.
If you were to go back and do anything different to the Hey Arnold! score what would it be?
JL: I’d try to spend more time making stuff to cut up and re-sample. Especially some live drums, which we didn’t get to use much because of how tiny my basement studio was. (As in, I could put my palm flat on the ceiling and I’m 5’7) And I’d also like to spend more time in the studio with live players, although the synths and programming are a really big part of what I do.
Creator Craig Bartlett told the Huffington Post that in the 15 years since the last movie, he’s seen various fan comments online that ended up informing the direction of his new film. Did anything you see online help shape this most recent movie score?
JL: I think the only thing I could say is that the theme from the “Parents Day” episode has been a huge favorite on my SoundCloud and You Tube. So that is all over the movie. But aside from that, the influence of the fans made its way to me and to the music through the script that Craig and the writers wrote and through the images that Raymie Musquiz and the amazing animation crew created. To me, the movie is a valentine to our fans- and a big thank you for their perseverance and support. Without them harassing Nickelodeon, we never would have been given the opportunity to make TJM.
What was your favorite scene in Hey Arnold! The Jungle Movie to compose? Why?
JL: I was a little terrified to write the scene where the Green Eyes and Arnold’s Parents are awakened. It is a moment that we all- fans and creators alike- have been waiting for for years. When I read the script I wasn’t sure that I would be able to find a way to play it that would be big enough and sweet enough at the same time. But when I got the picture and started to write my way through the scene, the emotions that flow from the animation – especially the butterflies coming to life and the pacing of Arnold’s run through the Hidden City – did all the work for me. It was one of those wonderful moments when I got out of the way and the music just sort of wrote itself.
The jungle is a lot different from where the show takes place in the city. So new sounds had to be created that you have never used before. Did you look forward to branching out of the city sounds?
JL: I actually wished that we had spent more time in the urban environment. Going back to the sonic palette from the series was really fun. And playing with the humor inherent in blues and jazz and using that musical language to punctuate the action and the tone of the show is one of the great delights of working on it. There were only a few spots where I got to indulge in a little “jungle” sound design and as it happened some of those were sacrificed to notes from the executives.
Of course the trade-off was that I got to write some big adventure music for the orchestra. The series score always used an old school heroic tone for the big action set pieces, and in the Jungle Movie, once Arnold and his crew go to San Lorenzo, that’s where the score goes.
What instrument(s) did you find were key in this particular story to set the tone or musical theme you all were striving to achieve for Hey Arnold! The Jungle Movie?
JL: I used a wonderful piano sample called “Una Corda” a lot in the film. As the name suggests, it is a sampled piano that has only one string for each note all the way up the range of the instrument. It is a very pure, covered tone not unlike playing a regular piano with the soft pedal down, which achieves a similar effect. That sample combined with a very long, lush reverb is all over the score. Its a really haunting sound that plays to Arnold’s longing to find his parents.
I also made use of tuned agogo bells, a sound that I borrowed from “The Journal.” – the special from back in the day which tells the backstory of Arnold’s parents, the Green Eyes, and the evil Lasombra.
Lastly- the motif that I wrote for Lasombra- a deep drum figure interrupted by a dry wood block- occurs quite a few times in the score. Sometimes it plays the same rhythm as a melody, like in the sequence where “Eduardo’s” ship is attacked by the river pirates. For the big drum sound I used a great big metal bin that film editors used to use to store their trims- with a 24” bass drum on top of it.