The Academy Award for Best Original Score is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer. Some pre-existing music is allowed, though, but a contending film must include a minimum of original music. This minimum since 2021 is established as 35% of the music, which is raised to 80% for sequels and franchise films. Fifteen scores are shortlisted before nominations are announced.
Anastasia is a 1997 American animated musical historical fantasy film produced and directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman from a screenplay by Susan Gauthier, Bruce Graham, and the writing team of Bob Tzudiker and Noni White, and based on a story adaptation by Eric Tuchman. It features original songs were written by composer Stephen Flaherty and lyricist Lynn Ahrens, and an original musical orchestral score composed and conducted by David Newman. The film stars the voices of Meg Ryan, John Cusack, Kelsey Grammer, Christopher Lloyd, Hank Azaria, Bernadette Peters, Kirsten Dunst, and Angela Lansbury. Set in an alternate 1926, the film follows an eighteen-year-old amnesiac Anastasia Romanov, who sides with two con men who wish to pass her off as the Grand Duchess to Anastasia's paternal grandmother, Dowager Empress Maria Romanov, amidst rumors that the Grand Duchess had escaped the murder of the Romanov family. The film shares its plot with the 1956 film Anastasia, which in turn was based on a play by Marcelle Maurette. Unlike those treatments, this version adds Grigori Rasputin as the main antagonist.
William Conti is an American composer and conductor, best known for his film scores, including Rocky (1976), Rocky II (1979), Rocky III (1982), Rocky V (1990), Rocky Balboa (2006), The Karate Kid I (1984), The Karate Kid, Part II (1986), The Karate Kid Part III (1989), The Next Karate Kid (1994), For Your Eyes Only (1981), Dynasty, and The Right Stuff (1983), which earned him an Academy Award for Best Original Score. He also received nominations in the Best Original Song category for "Gonna Fly Now" from Rocky and for the title song of For Your Eyes Only. He was the musical director at the Academy Awards a record nineteen times.
Alan Anthony Silvestri is an American composer and conductor of film and television scores. He has been associated with director Robert Zemeckis since 1984, composing music for nearly all of his feature films including the Back to the Future film series, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Death Becomes Her, Forrest Gump, Cast Away, and The Polar Express. Silvestri also scored many other popular movies, including Predator, The Abyss, Father of the Bride, The Bodyguard, Eraser, The Parent Trap, Stuart Little, The Mummy Returns, Lilo & Stitch, The Wild, Night at the Museum trilogy, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, The Croods, Ready Player One, and several Marvel Cinematic Universe films, including the Avengers films.
Robert David Grusin is an American composer, arranger, producer, jazz pianist, and band leader. He has composed many scores for feature films and television and has won numerous awards for his soundtrack and record work, including an Academy Award and 10 Grammy Awards. Grusin is also a frequent collaborator with director Sydney Pollack, scoring many of his films like Three Days of the Condor (1975), Absence of Malice (1981), Tootsie (1982), The Firm (1993), and Random Hearts (1999). In 1978, Grusin founded GRP Records with Larry Rosen, and was an early pioneer of digital recording.
Stephen Flaherty is an American composer of musical theatre and film. He works most often in collaboration with the lyricist/book writer Lynn Ahrens. They are best known for writing the Broadway musicals Ragtime, which was nominated for thirteen Tony Awards, two Grammy Awards, and won the Tony for Best Original Score; Once on This Island, which won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical, the Olivier Award for London's Best Musical, and was nominated for a Grammy Award and eight Tony Awards; and Seussical, which was nominated for the Grammy Award. Flaherty was also nominated for two Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards for his songs and song score for the animated film musical Anastasia.
Lynn Ahrens is an American writer and lyricist for the musical theatre, television and film. She has collaborated with Stephen Flaherty for many years. She won the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award for the Broadway musical Ragtime. Together with Flaherty, she has written many musicals, including Lucky Stiff, My Favorite Year, Ragtime, Seussical, A Man of No Importance, Dessa Rose, The Glorious Ones, Rocky, Little Dancer and, recently on Broadway, Anastasia and Once on This Island.
Cars (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album to the 2006 Disney/Pixar film of the same name. Released by Walt Disney Records on June 6, 2006, nine songs from the soundtrack are from popular and contemporary artists. The styles of these songs vary between pop, blues, country, heavy metal, and rock. The remaining eleven pieces are orchestral scores composed and conducted by Randy Newman. The soundtrack was released three days before the film's release into theaters. It was also the fifth Pixar film not to be scored by Michael Giacchino or Thomas Newman.
"Journey to the Past" is a song written by lyricist Lynn Ahrens and composer Stephen Flaherty for the animated musical film Anastasia (1997). Originally recorded for the film by American actress and singer Liz Callaway in her title role as the singing voice of Anastasia – who is going by her nickname "Anya" at the time – the song expresses the character's desire to follow sparse clues about her past in the hopes of learning more about her family and who she is. The third song written and recorded for the film, Ahrens and Flaherty conceived "Journey to the Past" as a means of expressing the different emotions Anya feels while she prepares to venture out on her own for the first time. Accompanying a musical sequence during which Anya travels from her Russian orphanage to St. Petersburg, the song incorporates the film's central themes about home, love and family.
Toy Story is the soundtrack album for the 1995 Disney/Pixar animated film Toy Story, with music composed, conducted, and performed by Randy Newman. The soundtrack includes the film score, as well as three original songs written and performed by Newman. It was released by Walt Disney Records on November 22, 1995, the week of the film's release, and the first soundtrack album from a Pixar film.
Toy Story 2: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack is the soundtrack album to the 1999 Disney/Pixar film Toy Story 2. The score for the film is composed by Randy Newman, who previously composed for its predecessor, Toy Story. It was released by Walt Disney Records on November 9, 1999. Although out of print in the U.S., the CD is available in the U.S. as an import and all but one song is available digitally.
"At the Beginning" is a song by Donna Lewis and Richard Marx, released as the first single from the Anastasia soundtrack. It plays during the end credits of the film. It was released as a CD and cassette single on October 21, 1997, on Atlantic Records.
The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film. The performers of a song are not credited with the Academy Award unless they contributed either to music, lyrics, or both in their own right. The songs that are nominated for this award are typically performed during the ceremony and before this award is presented.
Toy Story 3 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album to Disney/Pixar's 2010 film of the same name composed by Randy Newman. The score was composed by recurrent Pixar composer Randy Newman, who also scored for the previous instalments in the franchise. The score album, featuring an original song "We Belong Together" performed by Newman, and instrumental tracks were released on June 15, 2010 by Walt Disney Records. It was also the sixth Pixar film not to be scored by Michael Giacchino or Thomas Newman. The track "You've Got a Friend in Me" from the first instalment is also featured in the album, performed by The Gipsy Kings.
"We Belong Together" is a song written, composed and performed by Randy Newman for the 2010 film Toy Story 3. The song was nominated for several Best Original Song awards from various film society and awards committees. The song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 83rd Academy Awards in February 2011.
Saving Mr. Banks: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack album of the 2013 drama film Saving Mr. Banks, written and conducted by American film composer Thomas Newman.
Trolls: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack album to the 2016 DreamWorks Animation film Trolls, released on September 23, 2016 by RCA Records. The soundtrack is produced primarily by singer Justin Timberlake, Max Martin, and Shellback. It features work from Timberlake himself, along with Anna Kendrick, Ron Funches, Zooey Deschanel and Gwen Stefani, who all voice characters in the film, as well as Earth, Wind & Fire and Ariana Grande. The album was certified Platinum in Australia and Double Platinum in the United States. The song "Can't Stop the Feeling!" was nominated for an Academy Award and won a Grammy Award.
Toy Story 4 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album for the 2019 film Toy Story 4, the fourth instalment in the Toy Story franchise, created by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Randy Newman, who composed for the previous installments returned to score the film. Unlike the previous installments, the score was recorded at The Newman Scoring Stage, Twentieth Century Fox Studios. The soundtrack featured Newman's score along with three original songs, which released on June 21, 2019, with the film. In addition to the English-language, the soundtrack album was released in Spanish (Castilian), Spanish (Neutral), Italian, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Korean, Japanese, Russian and Polish languages.
Winnie the Pooh is the soundtrack album to the 2011 film of the same name, based on the eponymous novel created by A. A. Milne and E. H. Shepard, and directed by Stephen J. Anderson and Don Hall, the latter in his feature directorial debut. Henry Jackman composed the film score with additional music by Christopher Willis. The original songs were written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. The soundtrack was released by Walt Disney Records on July 12, 2011.
The United States vs. Billie Holiday is the soundtrack album to the 2021 film of the same name, released on February 19, 2021 by Warner Records. The film is based on the life of singer Billie Holiday, and also from the book Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs by Johann Hari. Directed by Lee Daniels, it features Andra Day performing the titular character. The soundtrack featured several compilation of songs composed and performed by Day. She also wrote the original song "Tigress & Tweed" and had co-produced the album with Salaam Remi, and Raphael Saadiq and Warren Felder. Lynn Fainchtein and Daniels were the music supervisors.
