Night at the Museum (soundtrack)

Night at the Museum (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the film score composed by Alan Silvestri to the 2006 film Night at the Museum directed by Shawn Levy starring Ben Stiller in the lead role, alongside Carla Gugino, Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney, Bill Cobbs and Robin Williams. The soundtrack featuring 35 tracks from Silvestri's score was released on December 19, 2006 via Varèse Sarabande.

Alan Silvestri composed the film score for Night at the Museum. He was initially associated in the film when Stephen Sommers was attached as the director; Silvestri and Sommers worked in The Mummy Returns (2001) and Van Helsing (2004). When Levy replaced Sommers, John Ottman also replaced Silvestri as the composer, but later Silvestri returned to score the film. It was recorded at the Newman Scoring Stage at 20th Century Fox Studios. Silvestri conducted the 101-piece orchestra which involved eight French horns, six percussionists and a choir. He set up a mobile studio at the scoring stage, so that he could simultaneously write and record the score, making any necessary adjustments and changes needed in an identical setup to his studio. The score was orchestrated by Dave Slonaker, Conrad Pope and John Ashton Thomas, mixed by Dennis S. Sands and edited by Ken Karman.^[1] Varèse Sarabande released the soundtrack album on December 19, 2006.^[2]

Thomas Glorieux of Maintitles noted that Silvestri's score "has its moments, but [...] isn't exactly hitting you with one adventure after another".^[3] Clark Douglas of Movie Music UK admitted that while "[Silvestri's] effort is satisfactory, it's a little bit disappointing" as the composer seemed to "have been directed to provide more standard action music for the proceedings".^[4]

Christian Clemmensen of Filmtracks wrote "There are no unlistenable moments in Night at the Museum, however, and something must be said for Silvestri's proven consistency in the genre."^[5] AllMusic reviewed "Veteran film score composer Alan Silvestri gives a variety of sumptuous orchestral treatments to this New York fable of mysterious nighttime goings on at the Natural History Museum."^[6] Justin Chang of Variety wrote "Alan Silvestri's score is a bit on the obvious side."^[7] Stephen Holden of The New York Times wrote "Contributing to the bulk is a score (by Alan Silvestri) that rivals the Star Wars soundtracks in pounding grandiosity."^[8]

The following songs are featured in the film, but not in the soundtrack:^[9][10]

• "Friday Night" – performed by McFly; not featured in American version of the film, but heard in some international cuts, used during the end credits. It can be heard on the American DVD on the Spanish dub.
• "September" – performed by Earth, Wind and Fire; used before the end credits where everyone in the museum is partying.
• "Weapon of Choice" – performed by Fatboy Slim; used in the scene where Larry returns to the museum for his second night and is preparing for the chaos.
• "Tonight" – performed by Keke Palmer featuring Cham; used for the end credits.
• An instrumental version of "Mandy" by Barry Manilow is used when Larry is standing in the elevator, while escaping from Attila the Hun.
• "Ezekiel Saw Them Dry Bones" is the tune Larry whistles as he passes the empty T. rex exhibit on his first night.
• "Camptown Races" by Stephen Foster is sung by the townspeople of the American West miniature diorama. This is a period-correct song.

Credits adapted from liner notes:^[11]

Notes

• ^{^[P]} Principal
• ^{^[P2]} Principal 2nd
• ^{^[C]} Concertmaster