''Muppets Most Wanted: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack'' is a soundtrack album released by

Walt Disney Records Walt Disney Records is an American record label of the Disney Music Group. The label releases soundtrack albums from The Walt Disney Company's motion picture studios, television series, theme parks, and traditional studio albums produced by its ...

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 Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwo ...

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 o ...

Muppets Most Wanted ''Muppets Most Wanted'' is a 2014 American musical crime comedy film and the eighth theatrical film featuring the Muppets. Directed by James Bobin and written by Bobin and Nicholas Stoller, the film is a sequel to ''The Muppets'' (2011) and sta ...

''. The soundtrack features six original songs, two re-recordings of popular Muppet songs ("

The Muppet Show Theme ''The Muppet Show'' is a sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and featuring the Muppets. The series originated as two pilot episodes produced by Henson for ABC in 1974 and 1975. While neither episode was moved forward as a ser ...

" 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",

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 Los del Río (, "Those from the River"), also known as The Del Rios, are a Spanish Latin pop and dance duo which was formed in 1962 by Antonio Romero Monge (17 February 1948) and Rafael Ruiz Perdigones (10 November 1947). They are best known fo ...

's " Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)"), an orchestral suite by

Christophe Beck Jean-Christophe Beck (born November 30, 1972) is a Canadian television and film score composer and conductor. He is a brother of pianist Chilly Gonzales. He is best known for his collaborations with Disney and its subsidiaries, which include co ...

, 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 c ...

, and eight dialogue tracks. Songs not included in the album, but featured in the film include "

Long Train Runnin' "Long Train Runnin" (or "Long Train Running") is a song recorded by the Doobie Brothers and written by band member Tom Johnston. It was included on the band's 1973 album '' The Captain and Me'' and was released as a single, becoming a hit and pe ...

" 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 ...

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 " E ...

's "

I Hope I Get It "I Hope I Get It" is a song from the musical ''A Chorus Line''. Production ''A Chorus Line'' premiered Off-Broadway at The Public Theater in May 1975. The musical moved to Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguati ...

" (from ''

A Chorus Line ''A Chorus Line'' is a 1975 musical with music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Edward Kleban, and a book by James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante. Set on the bare stage of a Broadway theater, the musical is centered on seventeen Broadway dancers ...

'').

Overview

In November 2012, it was announced that

would be returning to write songs for ''

'' 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 encompas ...

''. 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 i ...

Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Born in Imperial Russ ...

, Paul Williams, and

Harry Nilsson Harry Edward Nilsson III (June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994), sometimes credited as Nilsson, was an American singer-songwriter who reached the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. His work is characterized by pioneering vocal ov ...

. 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 Funny or Die is a comedy video website and film/television production company owned by Henry R. Muñoz III that was founded by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Mark Kvamme, and Chris Henchy in 2007. The website contained exclusive material from a re ...

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adopted from

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

: ;Muppet performers *

Steve Whitmire Steven Lawrence Whitmire (born September 24, 1959) is an American puppeteer, known primarily for his work on ''The Muppets'' and ''Sesame Street''. Beginning his involvement with the Muppets in 1978, Whitmire inherited the roles of Ernie and Kerm ...

–

Kermit the Frog Kermit the Frog is a Muppet character created and originally performed by Jim Henson. Introduced in 1955, Kermit serves as the everyman protagonist of numerous Muppet productions, most notably ''Sesame Street'' and ''The Muppet Show'', as well ...

, Beaker, Statler,

Rizzo the Rat Rizzo the Rat is a Muppet character, created and originally performed by Steve Whitmire. He is a fictional rat who appeared on '' The Muppet Show'' and numerous films, with a starring role in the 1992 film '' The Muppet Christmas Carol''. The ch ...

, Link Hogthrob,

Lips The lips are the visible body part at the mouth of many animals, including humans. Lips are soft, movable, and serve as the opening for food intake and in the articulation of sound and speech. Human lips are a tactile sensory organ, and can be ...

, 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 role ...

–

Miss Piggy Miss Piggy is one of the Muppet characters known for her breakout role in Jim Henson's ''The Muppet Show''. Since her debut in 1976, Miss Piggy has been notable for her temperamental diva superstar personality, tendency to use French phrases i ...

Fozzie Bear Fozzie Bear is a Muppet character best known as the insecure and comedically fruitless stand-up comic on ''The Muppet Show.'' Fozzie is an orange-brown bear who often wears a brown pork pie hat and a pink and white polka dot necktie. The char ...

, Sam Eagle,

Animal Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and go through an ontogenetic stage ...

Dave Goelz David Charles Goelz (; born July 16, 1946) is an American puppeteer and puppet builder known for his work with the Muppets. As part of the Muppets' performing cast, Goelz performs Gonzo the Great, as well as Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, Waldorf (after ...

– The Great Gonzo,

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, 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 David Rudman (born June 1, 1963) is an American puppeteer, puppet builder, writer, director, and producer known for his involvement with the Muppets and ''Sesame Street''. Career David Rudman has been a ''Sesame Street'' Muppet performer since ...

– Scooter,

Janice Janice may refer to: * Janice (given name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) * ''Janice & Abbey'', a reality TV series * Processor codename of the Samsung Galaxy S Advance Android smartphone * Janice, Łódź Voivodes ...

, Bobby Benson * Matt Vogel – Constantine, 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, Manolo Flamingo ;Production *

– 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 di ...

– 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 ...

– 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 Richard Ford (born February 16, 1944) is an American novelist and short story writer. His best-known works are the novel ''The Sportswriter'' and its sequels, ''Independence Day'', ''The Lay of the Land'' and ''Let Me Be Frank With You'', and the ...

– 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''

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 ...

. 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 Intrada is an American record company based in Oakland, California, owned and managed by Douglass Fake. The company specializes in movie and television soundtracks, notably those by the late Jerry Goldsmith. Intrada was founded in 1985 by owner ...

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

{{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