Burbank, CA. (Top40 Charts/ CineMedia Promotions) - La-La Land Records will release the soundtrack for BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHT on July 29. The animated feature will be released on DVD on July 8, prior to the release of the new film in the Batman series The Dark Knight. Composers Kevin Manthei (Justice League: The New Frontier), Robert J. Kral (Superman: Doomsday) and Christopher Drake (Hellboy Animated).
BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHT is a fresh and exciting new entry into the Batman mythos, spinning out of a 40-year history in animation including the Emmy® winning Batman: The Animated Series, widely considered a pivotal point in American animation.
Six interlocking stories reveal Bruce Wayne's earliest adventures as Batman and the steps he took to become the grim avenger of Gotham City. Three different DVD packages will be released, a single DVD, a 2-disc collector's edition, and the 2-disc collector's edition on Blu-Ray DVD
To tell the six different stories, the executive producer turned to 3 composers: Kevin Manthei, Robert J. Kral and Christopher Drake. "Our producer, Bruce Timm's idea was to have the music be as unique and different as the visual style of each segment," Drake describes. "The three of us were sequestered from each other, allowing each of us complete creative freedom."
Christopher Drake was selected by Academy Award® nominated film director Guillermo del Toro to compose the music for two animated films Hellboy: Sword of Storms and Hellboy: Blood and Iron. Drake also scored the upcoming game Hellboy: The Science of Evil. Based on his work on the Hellboy movies producer Bruce Timm hired Drake to score two of the six BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHT segments.
Drake's segments include 'Have I Got A Story for You', and 'In Darkness Dwells,' which was written by David Goyer, who co-wrote the screenplays for Batman Begins and the upcoming film The Dark Knight.
In addition to Drake, Timm turned to two composers with whom he had previously worked Kevin Manthei (Justice League: The New Frontier, soundtrack available on La-La Land Records) and Robert J. Kral (Superman: Doomsday, soundtrack available on La-La Land Records).
Kevin Manthei has been working in the film, television and game arena for over 15 years. He has worked as the series composer on five animated TV shows including Invader Zim, Xiaolin Showdown, and Johnny Test - representing over 130 half hour episodes, composed over 50 game soundtracks, including the recent releases of Marvel Universe Online & Kung Fu Panda, has made a mark composing music for animated features, independent films, as well as contributing additional music on many well-known feature films.
Manthei scored the segments 'Crossfire' and 'Working Through Pain.' His two segments are completely different from each other - the former an east-meets-west score and the latter telling an emotional story as Wayne went on a soul-searching trip to India. Manthei describes, "The angularity and oddness of the animation [in 'Crossfire'] gave me freedom to go further than I usually dare to go. With this episode I really felt it needed to be organically electronic and that is should have some sort of repeating loop like electronic pulse that just forwards on the dread and unease of the episode." For 'Working Through Pain', Manthei incorporated Indian instruments into his score.
Robert J. Kral is no stranger to writing themes for characters battling evil. For five seasons, Kral contributed the score for the TV series Angel. The Australian film and TV composer also composed the scores for the TV series The Dresden Files, Jake 2.0 and Miracles. He earned an Annie Award for Best Music in an Animated Television Production for his work on Duck Dodgers.
'Field Test' and 'Deadshot' were both scored by Kral. 'Field Test' was more of a traditional superhero story - and Kral created a score with a more recognizable feel. 'Deadshot' is the segment that ties the others together. "I realized," he said, "one of the things that makes this project so unusual, so unique, is that each segment deals with the same hero, but with a different approach, so in the end, I really wanted to score it with new music, with different themes and motifs."
Warner Bros. Video presents BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHT available on DVD and Blu Ray on July 8th. The BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHT Original Motion Picture Soundtrack will be available in stores or from www.lalalandrecords.com on July 29, 2008.
