Soundtrack Magazine
by Randall Larson

"Alan Williams has composed a highly appealing score for this quaint and enjoyable family adventure. This was one of two animated features scored by Williams (the other being THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA), TINY HEROES told the story of Dr. Albert E. Owl, who thwarts an evil plot to capture the forest animals. The simple story called for a simple score, and Williams complied with a pleasant, monothematic composition that musically rises above its childrens-story origins. The dozen and a half short cues that embody the score and linked by a melodic theme for strings, driven by a pulsing rhythm of violins and percussion, which is alternately delicate and potent. The orchestration is a standard symphony orchestra.

Williams supports not the anthropomorphized characters of the forest, but creates a straightforward dramatic underscoring for their adventures, treating the storyline dramatically rather than putting it off as just a kids' story. The result is an effective and very likable score that holds up splendidly by itself on CD. Williams' main theme is truly memorable and immediately induces in even the casual listener an urge to conduct an invisible orchestra. His action music is consistently tonal and wrapped around the melody of the main theme, rhythmic pulses of violins and percussion drive the horn-based melody line, which creates a larger-than-life heroism for the animated characters, and its straightforward, dramatic rendering accentuates their plight and their eventual triumph.

The film also featured five songs, but fortunately only Williams' orchestral score is included on this CD, allowing the listener to thoroughly enjoy his likable melodies without distraction. The score is yet another item in evidence that Alan Williams is a major talent in film composition, with a remarkable gift for melody and large-form orchestration. What sounds to be a performance from a fairly small orchestra never really sounds small - Williams makes the most of each instrument, and his orchestration, such as the subtle but driving harp fingering in the midst of "Sledding to Safety" and the celebratory xylophone hits in "End Credits," lends an effective texture to the fast-paced music. This score is a thoroughly satisfying one."