Copyright by Matthew David Young 2013 The Dissertation Committee for Matthew David Young Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Musical Topics in the Comic Book Superhero Film Genre Committee: James Buhler, Supervisor Byron Almén David Neumeyer Eric Drott Charles Berg Musical Topics in the Comic Book Superhero Film Genre by Matthew David Young, B.A.; M.Music Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin August 2013 Dedication To my wife, for her support, encouragement, and patience. Acknowledgements Foremost, I would like to thank Dr. Buhler for his support and guidance throughout this project. His insight has been invaluable in helping me to expand the depth and increase the quality of this work. I am also deeply grateful to my committee, Byron Almén, David Neumeyer, Eric Drott, and Charles Ramírez Berg for their inspiration and teachings which helped me to grow as an academic. I would also like to thank Sean Johnston, Cari McDonnell, and Emily Kausalik for providing the peer support network every graduate student needs to give feedback and brainstorm new directions to explore in this project. Finally, I would like to thank my wife and parents, for their support, love, encouragement, and guidance not only throughout graduate school, but throughout life. v Musical Topics in the Comic Book Superhero Film Genre Matthew David Young, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2013 Supervisor: James Buhler The comic book superhero film has become a mainstay amongst Hollywood blockbuster films. However, despite their popularity and financial success, the genre has only recently begun to receive scholarly attention. In particular, there has been little research on what traits distinguish and define the genre, and even less on the music which accompanies the films. This scope of this dissertation can be divided into three parts. First, it is a study of the superhero film genre. I provide a historical overview both of the superhero comic, as well as its filmic adaptations – delineating the semantic and syntactic traits of the superhero film genre and the ways in which it adheres to and differs from its encompassing genre of the action film. Second, it is a study of the music for superhero films. By examining the musical themes of superhero films over time, I establish what musical parameters are held in common amongst superhero films – namely, what contributes to the comic book sound. Finally, it is a study of topic theory, and in particular, how topical analysis can function within, and enrich the study of film music. By expanding on topical theories established for the study of classical music, I further systematize the topical study of film music, using superhero films as a model for vi demonstrating the potential for new musical topics to be uncovered through the topical analysis of film music. vii Table of Contents List of Tables ...........................................................................................................x List of Figures ........................................................................................................ xi List of Illustrations .................................................................................................xv Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................1 Chapter Summaries .......................................................................6 Chapter 2: The Comic Book Film Genre ..............................................................10 A Brief History of Marvel and DC Comics ................................13 Comic Book Films ......................................................................25 Syntax and Semantics of the Superhero Film Genre ..................36 Chapter 3: Musical Topics .....................................................................................54 Topic Theory in Classical Music ................................................57 Musical Topics in Film ...............................................................77 Leitmotifs as Topics ....................................................................95 Topical Representation of Film Genres ......................................98 Conclusion ................................................................................102 Chapter 4: Towards a Superhero Musical Topic .................................................105 Early Superhero Films: 1941-1978 ...........................................105 The Batman Model: Superhero films from 1989-Today ..........118 Conclusion ................................................................................153 Chapter 5: The Superhero Topic in Context .......................................................157 X-Men: Villains and Heroes .....................................................157 Iron Man and Identity ...............................................................168 Conclusion ................................................................................180 Chapter 6: Captain America: Hero of Yesterday, Today .....................................182 Captain America in Comics ......................................................183 Early Captain America Films....................................................187 viii Captain America: The First Avenger ........................................191 Captain America in The Avengers ............................................199 Captain America and Black Widow .........................................201 Captain America and Tony Stark ..............................................205 Chapter 7: Conclusion.........................................................................................214 Bibliography ........................................................................................................219 ix List of Tables Table 2.1: List of Live Action Television and Film Productions based on Marvel and DC Superheroes. ...........................................................27 Table 3.1: Skiles' Mood Categories and Associated Instruments ........................101 x List of Figures Figure 3.1a: Batman (1989) Theme, Danny Elfman (Author's Transcription) ......55 Figure 3.1b: Batman (1989) Theme, Danny Elfman (Author's Transcription)......56 Figure 3.2: Hatten’s Outline of Ratner's Topics ....................................................62 Figure 3.3: Triadic Semiotic Process of Musical Topics .......................................70 Figure 3.4: Rodman's List of Rapée's Topics ........................................................83 Figure 3.5: Hurry No. 2, by Otto Langey, from Rapée's Motion Picture Moods ..85 Figure 3.6: Agitato No. 2, by J.E. Andino, from Rapée's Motion Picture Moods .86 Figure 3.7: Furioso No. 3, by O. Langey, from Rapée's Motion Picture Moods ..86 Figure 3.9: Metaphorical Interaction of Music and Image in Films ......................89 Figure 3.10: Re-categorization of Topics, Types, and Tokens ..............................91 Figure 3.11a: Airplane Token 1 .............................................................................93 Figure 3.11b: Airplane Token 2 .............................................................................93 Figure 4.1: Reproduction of Monelle's 17th Century Trumpet Calls ..................106 Figure 4.2a: Bugle Calls from Gordon's Motion Picture Collection ...................107 Figure 4.2b: "Battle Scene" from Eclipse Motion Picture Folio .........................108 Figure 4.2c: "Battle Music" from Sam Fox Photoplay Edition ...........................108 Figure 4.3a: Captain Blood (1935) Theme, Erich Wolfgang Korngold (From Hearing the Movies) ............................................................109 Figure 4.3b: The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) Fanfare, Erich Wolfgang Korngold (Author's Transcription) .................................................109 Figure 4.3c: The Mark of Zorro (1940) Fanfare, Alfred Newman (Author's Transcription) ..................................................................109 xi Figure 4.4a: Superman (1941) Theme, Winston Sharples and Sammy Timberg (Author's Transcription) ..................................................................112 Figure 4.4b: Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941) Theme, Cy Feuer (Author's Transcription) ..................................................................112 Figure 4.4c: Captain America (1944) Theme, Mort Glickman (Author's Transcription) ..................................................................113 Figure 4.5: Batman (1943) Theme, Lee Zahler (Author's Transcription)............115 Figure 4.6: Superman (1978) Theme, John Williams (Author's Transcription) ..116 Figure 4.7a: Batman (1989) Theme, Danny Elfman (Author's Transcription) ....127 Figure 4.7b: Batman Forever (1995) Theme, Elliot Goldenthal (Author's Transcription) ..................................................................................128 Figure 4.8: The Shadow (1994) Theme, Jerry Goldsmith (Author's Transcription) ..................................................................131 Figure 4.9a: X-Men (2000) Theme, Michael Kamen (Author's Transcription) ...133 Figure 4-9b: X2 (2003) Theme, John Ottman (Author's Transcription) ..............134 Figure 4.9c: X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), John Powell (Author's Transcription) ..................................................................136