What's the Royal Raceway music from Wreck-It Ralph based on?

November 3, 2013 10:59 AM

The Henry Jackman soundtrack for Wreck-It Ralph has a 10 second section at the start of the "Royal Raceway" scene which sounds maddeningly like the opening to some old BBC sports show. I can't place my finger on it. Does anyone know what the violin part is based on, or sounds similar to? Video here at 0:33 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gdnn3mY0tYQ
posted by nevan to Media & Arts (6 answers total)

Best answer: Sounds like the beginning to the Big Country to me!
posted by einekleine at 11:12 AM on November 3, 2013

Best answer: The BBC theme that most comes to mind for that bit is Ski Sunday, but it's closer to The Big Country.
posted by holgate at 11:28 AM on November 3, 2013

Response by poster: Excellent, thank you both. It was Ski Sunday that I was thinking of, but the violins seem to be taken directly from The Big Country.
posted by nevan at 11:58 AM on November 3, 2013

And the Ski Sunday theme - Pop Looks Bach - is supposed to be composer Sam Fonteyn's major key re-working of Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor - listen about 2 minutes and 40 seconds in.
posted by rongorongo at 1:11 PM on November 3, 2013 [2 favorites]

... All of which is explained by Bill Bailey much better than I could.
posted by rongorongo at 1:27 PM on November 3, 2013 [4 favorites]

The Big Country theme also seems to have been derived from Widor's toccata from organ symphony no. 5 to me. So the games makers seem to be drawing from a couple of different Toccatas. Promise I'll be quiet now.
posted by rongorongo at 1:44 PM on November 3, 2013 [2 favorites]