How to Train Your Dragon limited expanded CD coming from Varèse Sarabande (1 Viewer)

[Jake Lipson]

Varèse Sarabande is currently taking pre-orders for a surprise (to me) Deluxe Edition release of John Powell's score for the original How to Train Your Dragon film.

How To Train Your Dragon is making it’s debut in our CD club. This Oscar nominated score was produced in collaboration with and curated by composer John Powell and 5 Cat Studios. This 2-CD Deluxe Edition features the score from the film along with alternate versions and demos. Featuring detailed liner notes by film music journalist, Tim Greiving. This significant expansion features 42 tracks and is limited to 3,000 copies.

Estimated ship date of Oct 16th. Any other titles ordered at the same time will be held and shipped together.

I seem to recall we have some fans of this around the board so I thought I would post about it. I got the email from their mailing list announcing this release this morning and to be honest, I'm not sure I've ever ordered anything so fast in my life.

How To Train Your Dragon: The Deluxe Edition (2-CD)

How To Train Your Dragon is making its debut in our CD club. This Oscar nominated score was produced in collaboration with and curated by composer John Powell and 5 Cat Studios. This 2-CD Deluxe Edition features the score from the film along with alternate versions and demos. Featuring...

www.varesesarabande.com

Of course, this also raises the question of whether they will do similar expanded releases for the two sequels. Hopefully this one sells out and they are encouraged to do those too, since I would absolutely get them as well.

 

[Neil Middlemiss]

This score is perhaps John Powell’s finest, and he has a number of excellent scores so that’s saying something. I got my order in first thing this morning (I wanted to pick one more score from their sales items and snagged a copy of Bill Conti’s Lock Up which is a fine score as well).

 

[Jake Lipson]

I wrote a comment on Powell's Facebook and Instagram pages under where he announced this release and asked if there are plans to do releases for the sequels In this manner or not. I have no idea if he will respond, but I thought it was worth a shot and indicated that I would buy those as well. We'll see. I'll report back if he does answer.

It's interesting that Powell got Varèse Sarabande to release this on CD but Disney is only releasing the expanded score of Solo on digital. You'd think there would be at least as many Star Wars diehards who would want that to justify a print run at least matching or exceeding the 3,000 copies that Varèse Sarabande is giving to Dragon.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I went around to Varèse Sarabande's social media channels today and commented on their post announcing this release. I indicated that I ordered it and asked if they might do the same with the sequels. So at least that's out there. I'd buy those in a hot minute as well.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I thought I would bump this thread to reflect that this release is now shipping.

Varèse Sarabande sent over email confirmation of my shipment this afternoon. According to the tracking number, the package is expected to arrive on Monday. I'm very much looking forward to getting this and I expect to listen to it frequently.

 

[Jake Lipson]

My copy just arrived, so that was really quick. I had it shipped first class, but it only took two days so that was essentially priority. I'm listening to it right now and, of course, it is terrific.

The total running time across both discs is about 106 minutes, which is longer than the film itself. It is the complete score, plus a handful of alternate cues and demo versions of things. Sound quality is fantastic.

I'm really satisfied with this release and hope that Varèse Sarabande will have enough success with it to continue with the series. I would absolutely buy a complete score for both of the sequels in a second.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I'm bumping this old thread because Varèse Sarabande just released a matching extended soundtrack for How to Train Your Dragon 2. Composer John Powell had said it would be coming sometime this year, so this isn't a total shock. But it was a surprise drop. As far as I know, it just became available this morning and is in stock for shipment now.

How To Train Your Dragon 2: The Deluxe Edition (2-CD)

On the heels of Varèse Sarabande’s Deluxe Edition of How to Train Your Dragon (2010) comes this 2CD set of John Powell’s magnificent symphonic score to the 2014 sequel, How to Train Your Dragon 2. Beloved by critics and audiences alike, the How to Train Your Dragon trilogy was produced by...

www.varesesarabande.com

Of note, this edition is limited to 2,000 copies, which is 1,000 fewer than the original. I have no idea how many have already been sold, but if you want it, I would order it soon. I locked mine in as soon as I saw it was available.

John Powell also confirmed on his Facebook page that there will be a similar deluxe edition released for the third film, The Hidden World, but didn't provide a release timeframe for it. Still, it is nice to know that they will be completing the trilogy.

 

[TravisR]

I was gonna post about this but I figured that you were already on top of it, Jake.

 

[Jake Lipson]

For anyone who is interested, composer John Powell said on his Facebook page that the deluxe edition album for How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World will be available in "early 2024." So that's basically a two-year wait from the recent release of the expanded soundtrack for the second film.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Well, the deluxe edition expanded soundtrack for The Hidden World is finally available to order.


It arrives three years after the release of the second score. John Powell had said earlier it would be out in early 2024, but that obviously didn't happen. I had begun to wonder if it had been abandoned. But here it is. I just ordered mine to complete the trilogy. This is my first order with Varèse Sarabande since the second one was released in 2022. It's funny; I just watched the movie again last week and was thinking about this release.

John Powell – How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - Deluxe Edition CD)

Varèse Sarabande completes its trilogy of Deluxe Editions of John Powell’s magnificent scores to the How to Train Your Dragon series with How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019). DreamWorks Animation’s third and final animated film is a heartfelt and bittersweet conclusion, written and...

varesesarabande.com

I can't find any information about the size of the print run. But the second one was only 2,000 copies, so I can't imagine this one would be much larger than that.

@Neil Middlemiss @TravisR -- I'm tagging you both to make sure you see this. I assume you might be interested since you're the others who have posted in this thread before.

 

[Jake Lipson]

My copy of The Hidden World deluxe edition came yesterday. It is a beautiful package with extensive and detailed liner notes that enhance your appreciation for the score. The music itself is 1 hour and 57 minutes across two discs, including the entire score and bonus demo tracks. If you have the other two, you probably know what to expect, but that doesn't make this release any less special. Powell opens up about scoring this film after losing his wife and how that impacted the music, and I definitely wasn't expecting the liner notes to get this personal. I am thrilled that the full score soundtrack trilogy has now been completed with this release and expect to play it often. It was worth the wait.