Without anyone ever actually realising it, Netflix went and made one of the most iconic sounds of the internet. You’ve definitely heard it before, despite how brief the very minimalist jingle is; It plays at the start of every Netflix Original. Actually, I could just type it out and I’m sure you’d be able to hear it playing in your mind: “Ta-Dum”. Those two notes are Netflix’s mark of branding placed on all their productions and while it’s incredibly effective for a format that encourages quick media consumption, it’s just a little too brief for a cinema going experience.
So to fix this problem, Netflix went to one of the best (and most prolific) cinematic composers in the past twenty years: Hans Zimmer. Again, you’ve definitely heard his work before. The Dark Knight, Gladiator, Inception, even The Lion King. Zimmer has composed some of the most acclaimed music of the last twenty years so it makes sense that Netflix would turn to him to extend their little “Ta-Dum” stinger into something more suitable for the big screen and wouldn’t you believe, Zimmer did a damn fine job. Just take a listen:
The Netflix "ta-dum" soundmark is one of the all time greats, but doesn't work as well in a theater because it's only 3 seconds long.
So Netflix commissioned Hans Zimmer to extend it for theaters and … it's … so … good.pic.twitter.com/RGw26vCAGY
— Siqi Chen (@blader) August 9, 2020
Now sure, it doesn’t have the drama of the theme music from Pirates of the Caribbean but it certainly takes the essence of that iconic sound and blows it up to a much grander scale.
You might be wondering why Netflix would have commissioned Zimmer for this. Why would they even bother with wanting a cinematic cut of their jingle? Well, Netflix has been trying to have more of its original content shown in theaters so as to qualify for prestigious awards, like the Oscars, who don’t recognise streaming-only films. The extremely brief intro used online just doesn’t hit as well in a dark cinema, hence the apparent need for a 16-second promo clip.
If anything this just proves that Hans Zimmer really can compose anything and have it sound great.
(Source: Engadget)
