Composer Natalie Holt Explains Why 'Obi-Wan Kenobi' Didn't Rely On Classic Themes From The Saga
Disney+ has added a new musical composer to the Star Wars saga with Natalie Holt. The composer was recently tasked with creating musical scores for the newly released Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi. This was a very much anticipated series and an important one for the Lucasfilm and Disney franchises. Holt was tasked with creating an identity for the Obi-Wan Kenobi series through her music while staying in tune with John Williams’ original template. She is also no stranger to Disney as she was also the composer for the Marvel series Loki.
Natalie Holt’s career took off after winning an Ivor Novello award together with Martin Phipps for their work on The Honorable Woman. When the COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing, and everyone was in lockdown, she started watching all the Star Wars films with her then seven-year-old daughter. Even before she found out that she was working on the Obi-Wan Kenobi series, she was already preparing for her role.
“I watched the J.J. Abrams stuff, and Rogue One, and the Han Solo movie, but I hadn't seen them. So, it was really interesting to watch them with my daughter and appreciate them. Anakin Skywalker is her favorite character, because you see him from a little boy, pod racing. Annie just thought it was the coolest thing. It was great to also just be a fan of those as well.”
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Most of the series’ musical composition was strictly Holt’s with some assistance from director Deborah Chow. At first, Chow was not sure if John Williams would allow them to use his music in Obi-Wan Kenobi, and it took some time before he responded to their inquiry. Holt explained:
“Deborah Chow was saying to me, ‘ I think we need to score the show as if we’re not going to be able to use [John Williams’ themes]. I don’t want to find out we can’t, so let’s make it work without. Let’s do our own thing.”
After John Williams granted permission for his themes to be used in “Part VI,” Holt decided, “Okay, we can’t use the themes until this point, so we need to be leading to them.” The delay in obtaining permission from Williams allowed Natalie to plan for the series using her own music. For instance, the moment during the Vader vs. Obi-Wan duel when Obi-Wan cracked open Vader’s helmet and Vader says, “You didn’t kill Anakin Skywalker. I did.” Holt pointed to the familiar music that the audience heard:
“Now when you hear [“The Imperial March”], it’s so powerful. Deborah didn’t want that theme playing every time you see Darth Vader, she wanted to explore his journey to get there.”
Thus, “The Imperial March” marks when everyone realizes Anakin’s full transformation into Darth Vader.
Natalie Holt further elaborated on the fantastic yet nervous experience composing music for the series:
“… for my job, it was just like I just want to make sure that I’m walking the right line and striking the right balance between the old and the new and doing what Deborah Chow is asking me to do, and what Kathleen is asking me to do, and yeah. Striking the right balance was definitely one of the challenges of the job. And I don’t think you’re ever going to please everyone unless John Williams had come and scored the whole show. But he’s 90, and I don’t think that was in the cards. So, we to do the best we could and be as respectful as possible to the original.”
It looks like we may be seeing more of Natalie Holt in future Disney+ series. Perhaps she will be the next recurring Star Wars composer. Since she already composed the music in Loki, I think it is safe to assume that Disney fans will hear from her again.
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Source(s): Screen Rant