Varèse Sarabande Records to Release Gamba - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Composed by Benjamin Wallfisch

(October 7, 2015 – Los Angeles, CA) – Varèse Sarabande will release the GAMBA – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack digitally on October 9, 2015 with a CD release date forthcoming. The album features the film's original score composed by Benjamin Wallfisch (Desert Dancer, The Escapist). This animated film is based on the beloved Japanese children's book The Adventures of Gamba.

“Even though this is a children's movie, there are some moments of real tragedy in the story, followed by plot shifts which are quite deeply rooted in Japanese traditions,” Wallfisch described. “The idea that you must avenge the death of a loved one, a friend or simply someone who loses their life fighting for a cause you share.”

Gamba, a town mouse with a brave, adventurous spirit decides to go on an adventure to discover the ocean. On his way, he meets a troubled child mouse, Chuta. He says his family and other mice have been killed by a clan of weasels living on a nearby island. Chuta asks a group of ship mice, the bravest of their kind, for help, but when they find out that the villain behind this event is the terrifying weasel-leader Noroi, they give up on helping Chuta. However seeing the hopeless Chuta, Gamba promises him to save the island, his family and the other mice. Gamba and his friends team up to go on their adventure to defeat the evil Noroi and his clan.

“There are so many layers to Gamba's story, but the one thing that is consistent throughout is the sense of a child's wonder at the world, and that anything is possible,” Wallfisch explained. “His personality is larger than life, and it was important to the director that the score helped reflect that; but at the same time there is a fragility to his character - he is only really as strong as the friends he has around him. Once you go beneath the surface of the story you find strong messages of hope in the face of adversity, all in the context of a faced-paced, visually stunning and often action-led movie.”

Benjamin Wallfisch is an EMMY® and multiple Ivor Novello nominated composer who has worked on 52 movies to-date. He made his scoring debut at the age of 24, composing the music for Thomas Vinterberg's Dear Wendy (World Soundtrack Awards 'Discovery of the Year' nominee & Danish Film Academy Awards nominee for 'Best Original Score').

Wallfisch composed, orchestrated and conducted the suspense thriller The Escapist (Ivor Novello Awards nominee & World Soundtrack Awards 'Discovery of the Year' nominee). Recent scoring projects include Desert Dancer (soundtrack released earlier this year on Varèse Sarabande), Hours, Summer in February, Hammer of the Gods, The Thirteenth Tale, Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain, Pressure and additional music for Twelve Years a Slave. He orchestrated and conducted the Oscar® winning score for Atonement and upcoming scoring projects include the features Bitter Harvest, A Flickering Truth, Mully and Within for New Line Cinema.

Earlier this year he composed the original score for the Steven Spielberg produced short film Auschwitz, directed by James Moll, and was invited by Academy Award winning composer Hans Zimmer to collaborate on the arrangement of the Grammy performance of ‘Happy’ by Pharrell Williams.

“Though Gamba is well-known in Japan, the story is hardly known in the West,” said Wallfisch. “The director and producers were keen the movie has a universal appeal. This helped me make the decision not to use any Japanese instruments in the score (except for one ritualistic scene with onscreen music) - the score focuses on the universal messages of the film, through the medium of a large orchestra.”

Shirogumi Inc. presents Gamba, in theaters in Japan on October 10 and in the United States and other territories following. The GAMBA – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack will be available digitally on October 9, with a CD release date forthcoming.