''Muppets Most Wanted: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack'' is a soundtrack album released by Walt Disney Records on March 18, 2014, for the

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

'' Muppets Most Wanted''. The soundtrack features six original songs, two re-recordings of popular Muppet songs (" The Muppet Show Theme" and "Together Again"), three cover versions of existing songs (

Allen Toussaint Allen Richard Toussaint (; January 14, 1938 – November 10, 2015) was an American musician, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was an influential figure in New Orleans rhythm and blues from the 1950s to the end of the century, descri ...

's "

Working in the Coal Mine "Working in the Coal Mine" is a song with music and lyrics by the American musician and record producer Allen Toussaint. It was an international hit for Lee Dorsey in 1966, and has been recorded by other musicians including Devo in 1981. Lee Do ...

Maroon 5 Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. It currently consists of lead vocalist Adam Levine, keyboardist and rhythm guitarist Jesse Carmichael, lead guitarist James Valentine (musician), James Valentine, drummer Matt ...

's "

Moves Like Jagger "Moves like Jagger" is a song by American band Maroon 5 featuring American singer Christina Aguilera. It was released on June 21, 2011, as the fourth and final single from the re-release of the group's third studio album '' Hands All Over'' (201 ...

", and Los del Río's " Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)"), an orchestral suite by Christophe Beck, five demos by

Bret McKenzie Bret Peter Tarrant McKenzie (born 29 June 1976) is a New Zealand musician, comedian, music supervisor, and actor. He is best known as one half of musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords along with Jemaine Clement. In the 2000s, the duo's com ...

, and eight dialogue tracks. Songs not included in the album, but featured in the film include " Long Train Runnin'" by

The Doobie Brothers The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band formed in 1970 in San Jose, California, known for their flexibility in performing across numerous genres and their vocal harmonies. Active for five decades, with their greatest success in the 1970s, ...

, " End of the Road" by

Boyz II Men Boyz II Men (pronounced ''boys to men''), also known as B2M, is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are currently a trio composed of baritone Nathan M ...

and

Marvin Hamlisch Marvin Frederick Hamlisch (June 2, 1944 – August 6, 2012) was an American composer and conductor. Hamlisch was one of only seventeen people to win Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards. This collection of all four is referred to as an " EGOT ...

's " I Hope I Get It" (from '' A Chorus Line'').

Overview

In November 2012, it was announced that

would be returning to write songs for '' Muppets Most Wanted'' following the success of its 2011 predecessor, ''

The Muppets The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an absurdist, burlesque, and self-referential style of variety- sketch comedy. Created by Jim Henson in 1955, they are the focus of a media franchise that encompasses ...

''. As opposed to the previous film, McKenzie wrote all of the original songs for ''Muppets Most Wanted''; his songwriting influences for the film include the

Sherman Brothers The Sherman Brothers were an American songwriting duo that specialized in musical films, made up of Robert B. Sherman (December 19, 1925 – March 6, 2012) and Richard M. Sherman (born June 12, 1928). Together they received various accolades in ...

, Irving Berlin, Paul Williams, and Harry Nilsson. With song ideas originating from short descriptions in the film's screenplay, McKenzie developed numerous songs and performed demo versions of each by doing impressions of various Muppets. "I'm usually just on piano, with me singing and doing my now quite extensive catalog of Muppet impressions," said McKenzie. "I play a rough version then we get together and work out the best. James obinoften has an idea that's visual that he needs to change the lyric to suit the visual and then we record it with the Muppets." A music video of McKenzie performing "I'll Get You What You Want (Cockatoo in Malibu)" was released on March 19, 2014, on Funny or Die.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adopted from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

: ;Muppet performers * Steve Whitmire – Kermit the Frog, Beaker, Statler, Rizzo the Rat, Link Hogthrob, Lips, Foo-Foo *

Eric Jacobson Eric Jacobson is an American puppeteer. He is best known for performing Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, and Sam Eagle for The Muppets Studio, as well as ''Sesame Street'' characters Bert, Grover, Oscar the Grouch, and Guy Smiley—all roles tha ...

– Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear,

Sam Eagle Sam Eagle, or Sam the Eagle, or Sam the American Eagle, is a Muppet character best known for his ultra-patriotism and disciplined manner of being. Sam originated on the television show ''The Muppet Show'', where he was performed by Frank Oz. ...

Animal Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Kingdom (biology), biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals Heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, are Motilit ...

* Dave Goelz –

The Great Gonzo Gonzo, also known as The Great Gonzo or Gonzo the Great, is a Muppet. Aside from his trademark enthusiasm for performance art, another defining trait of Gonzo is the ambiguity of his species, which has become a running gag in the franchise. He has ...

Dr. Bunsen Honeydew Dr. Bunsen Honeydew is a Muppet character from ''The Muppet Show'', performed by Dave Goelz. He is a bald, yellow-skinned, bespectacled, lab-coated scientist who presented periodic science segments from "Muppet Labs, where the future is being mad ...

, Zoot, Waldorf * Bill Barretta – Rowlf the Dog,

Pepé the King Prawn Pepino Rodrigo Serrano Gonzales, better known as Pepe the King Prawn, is a Muppet character created for ''Muppets Tonight'' and performed by Bill Barretta, originally as part of a vaudeville double act with Seymour the Elephant. Overview Pepe i ...

, Dr. Teeth,

The Swedish Chef The Swedish Chef is a Muppet character that appeared on ''The Muppet Show''. He was originally performed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz simultaneously, with Henson performing the head and voice and Oz performing the character with real hands. The S ...

, Carlo Flamingo * David Rudman – Scooter, Janice, Bobby Benson * Matt Vogel –

Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I * Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine given na ...

, Floyd Pepper, Lew Zealand,

Camilla the Chicken The Muppets are an ensemble group of comedic puppet characters originally created by Jim Henson. The Muppets have appeared in multiple television series, films, and other media appearances since the 1950s. The majority of the characters listed ...

* Peter Linz –

Walter Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...

, Manolo Flamingo ;Production * Christophe Beck – composer *

– composer, producer, music supervisor *Tim Davies – conductor *Kaylin Frank – producer *Mitchell Leib – producer, executive in charge of music *

James Bobin James Bobin is a British filmmaker. He worked as a director and writer on ''Da Ali G Show'' and helped create the characters of Ali G, Borat, and Brüno. With Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement, he co-created ''Flight of the Conchords''. He direc ...

– executive producer *

David Hoberman David Elliot Hoberman (born September 19, 1952) is an American film and television producer, best known as the co-creator and executive producer of the USA Network television series ''Monk'', and the founder and co-owner of Mandeville Films. He h ...

– executive producer *

Todd Lieberman Todd Darren Lieberman (born February 20, 1973) is an American film and television producer. He founded Hidden Pictures Media in 2022 and won an Emmy for Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers in 2022. He co-founded Mandeville Films and Television with ...

– executive producer *Peter Rotter – orchestra contractor *Jasper Randall – choir contractor ;Orchestration *Tim Davies – score coordinator *Dave Metzger – score orchestration * Chris Caswell – orchestration *Zach Robinson – arranger, orchestration *Doug Walter – orchestration *Joanne Kane – music preparation *Booker White – music preparation ;Technical *David Bianco – engineer, vocal engineer *Satoshi Noguchi – engineer, mixing *Rick Ruggieri – engineer, mixing *Casey Stone – engineer, mixing *Nick Wollage – engineer, vocal engineer *Francois LaLonde – vocal engineer *Rich Spillberg – vocal engineer *John VanNest – vocal engineer *

Mickey Petralia Mickey Petralia is an American producer, engineer, and mixer. Petralia produced all of the music on ''Flight of the Conchords''. Discography *2014 - ''Muppets Most Wanted: Original Soundtrack'' *2011 - ''The Muppets: Original Soundtrack'' *200 ...

– mixing *Patricia Sullivan – mastering * Richard Ford – score editor *Brett Pierce – music editor *Lisa Jaime – supervising music editor ;Art *Steve Gerdes – art direction, design *Steve Sterling – art direction, design

Charts

''Muppets Most Wanted: Original Score''

Christophe Beck was officially announced to score the film in August 2013. The score was recorded during the latter half of 2013 at the Sony Scoring Stage in

Culver City, California Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. Founded in 1917 as a "whites only" sundown town, it is now an ethnically diverse city with what was called the "third-most d ...

. With the use of an 82-piece ensemble of the

Hollywood Studio Symphony The Hollywood Studio Symphony (sometimes the Hollywood Freelance Studio Symphony) is the credited name of the symphony orchestra behind many major soundtracks, including '' The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'', ''Suck ...

, Beck drew his inspiration from various cross-cultural styles. "With characters spread across the world," said Beck, "there was opportunity after opportunity to explore many musical styles and settings." A separate album entirely containing Beck's score was released by Walt Disney Records and Intrada Records on April 15, 2014. The album features music from both ''Muppets Most Wanted'' and ''The Muppets'', also scored by Beck.

References

External links

Official album entry
at Walt Disney Records {{DEFAULTSORT:Muppets Most Wanted 2014 soundtrack albums Christophe Beck soundtracks Disney film soundtracks Intrada Records soundtracks The Muppets albums Walt Disney Records soundtracks Musical film soundtracks Comedy film soundtracks