The film marked Howard's third collaboration with Walt Disney Animation Studios; he previously scored for Dinosaur (2000) and Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001). The music from the film is largely orchestral in nature. Howard said that the score is "very much in the wonderful tradition of Korngold and Tiomkin and Steiner."[4] The score has been described as a mixture of modern "classical style" music in the spirit of Star Wars and Celtic music.[5][2] Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser is credited as the co-composer of the track "Silver Leaves", and is also listed as a soloist in the film's credits.[1]
The music includes two moderately successful pop singles — "I'm Still Here" and "Always Know Where You Are". The Goo Goo Dolls frontman John Rzeznik performed both the tracks in the film version, whereas the latter was recorded by the British pop-rock group, BBMak, which was featured in the soundtrack.[2]
Originally, Alan Silvestri was supposed to compose the film's score, but he dropped of it and went on to score another film for Walt Disney Animation Studios, Lilo & Stitch (2002). Jerry Goldsmith, who previously worked with the studio on Mulan (1998), was also considered to compose the score.[6]
Writing for BBC, Jack Smith stated "James Newton Howard's score is firmly in the old-fashioned escapade mould, more swash and buckle than Space Odyssey. It is, perhaps, less of a tribute to the music's descriptive powers than a result of the familiarity of Disney's musical conventions that the listener feels they would be able to guess the plot without ever having seen the film [...] This soundtrack is certainly workmanlike and inoffensive, but there's little buried treasure awaiting anyone digging beneath the surface."[7] Jason Ankeny of Allmusic wrote "Treasure Planet is pure Disney formula, balancing rousing action, cornball comedy, and bittersweet romance in bold, broad strokes. What sets it apart from its predecessor is the presence of Gaelic whistles and fiddles, as well as a fiery electric guitar that adds a dash of rock & roll to Howard's otherwise conventional symphonic sensibilities. The problem with Treasure Planet is the problem that plagues all contemporary Disney scores, and that's the mind-numbing predictability of the music's emotional arc."[8]Filmtracks.com wrote "[James Newton] Howard's score is about as predictable as it could be, but it is enjoyable even so, launching Erich [Wolfgang] Korngold's bold style from The Sea Hawk to a place where no sailing score had gone before."[9]A. O. Scott of The New York Times called the score as "treacle-dipped sea-chanty-on-steroids".[10]
