Summa This, Summa That
The themes/settings feel Ghibli-esque to me (though I wasn't quite sure 'til the magic-whimsy showed up around a minute through the trailer), but the obviously CGI character animation feels like a stark (and somewhat unwelcome) departure from their usual aesthetic. I suspect that's because the primary animation is being done by Polygon Pictures, not Ghibli.
When I saw the film some years back, I simply could not separate the fictional character from Wayne himself. Watching the legendary star so close to the end (and such a shadow of his former, iconic self) was hard for me; it felt like a dirge, not a film. And my sadness at watching Wayne "go out" was the only emotion I could remember in the years since, so I've been exceedingly disinclined to return to it any time soon/ever.
I watch General Waverly standing gratefully in the gently falling snow -- or standing tearfully on the barn dance floor as his men honor him for his uprightness and his perseverance and his courage -- I forget the sappy silliness and secularized, gift-wrapped, Hallmarked "Seasons Greetings-ness" of it all.
It's the original True Grit, starring the unchallenged King of the Western in the lone Oscar-winning performance of his career. I don't think I like it quite as much as the Coens' more recent effort (either as an adaptation or as a film), and I'm not sold on the idea that Wayne won his statue based on the strength of this particular performance (rather than for his overall body-of-work). But it and he are still highly enjoyable, and it's streaming on Netflix.
I think the strengths and weaknesses of the "traditionally orchestrated" versions really underscore the fact that great artists often work as well (or better) with limitations as they do if they are unimpeded. (The Czech National Symphony Orchestra's version of "On Earth As It Is In Heaven," for example, lacks the vibrancy of The Mission's original. Somehow, the added layer of polish obscures the wonderful roughness and ethnicity of the film's soundtrack.)
Lastly, grasping at straws, I tried whistling the melodic shard over and over again, hoping to coax the faintest of memories from the back of my head, somewhere. Eventually, the word "Haugen" came to mind (which was weird), and then, the word "wedding." And that (and Google) took me the rest of the way home.
