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Ted (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Soundtrack album by Walter Murphy and various artists
Released	June 26, 2012
Studio	Newman Scoring Stage, 20th Century Fox
Genre	Film soundtrack
Length	56:34
Label	Universal Republic
Producer	Walter Murphy Seth MacFarlane Leslie Lewis Vanessa Curwen (asst.)
Walter Murphy chronology
Family Guy: Live in Vegas (2005) Ted (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2012) Ted 2 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2015)

Ted (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack to the 2012 film Ted directed by Seth MacFarlane. The soundtrack featured musical score composed by Walter Murphy and songs from Queen, Hootie & The Blowfish, Rita Coolidge, Tiffany amongst others; an original song "Everybody Needs a Best Friend" written by MacFarlane and Murphy and performed by Norah Jones, which was later nominated for Academy Award for Best Original Song. The soundtrack was released through Universal Republic Records on June 26, 2012, three days ahead of the film's release.

Background

Walter Murphy was roped in to compose the film's musical score as he previously did the same for MacFarlane's animated television series: Family Guy, American Dad! and The Cleveland Show. When MacFarlane sent the script to Murphy, he mentioned that he wanted an old school orchestral score that would have themes for the individual characters and a main title song which he could quote throughout the film, that eventually became the song "Everybody Needs a Best Friend".

MacFarlane sent different sets of lyrics than the one he used for the actual song, and he wrote the theme based on it. But he rewrote them so as the song being sung from the standpoint of Ted, and also felt it funnier if a woman sung it track. MacFarlane then discussed it to singer Norah Jones who agreed to perform it, and Murphy arranged in the style of Nelson Riddle's work. According to Murphy, "It's not only well sung, but Norah's attitude also just fit the main title section perfectly."

The score was recorded at the Newman Scoring Stage in the 20th Century Fox Studios with an 80-piece string orchestra conducted by John Elg. Besides the accompanying music, the album featured songs from Queen, Hootie & The Blowfish, Rita Coolidge, Tiffany and more musical numbers that were not in the album, but in the film. Universal Republic Records released the soundtrack on June 26, 2012.

Reception

Heather Phares of AllMusic wrote "Witty and distinctively MacFarlane, the soundtrack shows he can translate his musical ideas, as well as his comedy, to the big screen." Daniel Schweiger of Assignment X wrote "Walter Murphy hits all the right Williams and Mancini notes for a foul-mouthed Teddy Bear".

Track listing

All tracks are written by Walter Murphy, except where indicated.

Original score

The complete score was released by Universal Pictures as a part of their For Your Consideration (FYC) campaign for the 2012–13 film awards season.

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes

Accolades

References

1. Boggan, Justin (April 18, 2012). "Walter Murphy Scores Seth MacFarlane's 'Ted'". Film Music Reporter. Archived from the original on April 28, 2012. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
2. Glazer, Eliot (July 5, 2012). "Hear Norah Jones's Song 'Everybody Needs a Best Friend,' Which Appears on the Ted Soundtrack". Vulture. Archived from the original on September 5, 2012. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
3. "'Best Friend' From 'Ted': Story Behind the Oscar Best Song Nominee". Billboard. February 22, 2013. Archived from the original on January 24, 2015. Retrieved January 30, 2015.
4. Goldwasser, Dan (December 5, 2012). "Walter Murphy scores Seth MacFarlane's Ted, coming Dec 11 to home video". ScoringSessions.com. Archived from the original on November 23, 2016. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
5. Jagernauth, Kevin (June 19, 2012). "'Ted' Soundtrack Features Hootie & The Blowfish, Tiffany, Norah Jones, Queen & More; Full List Of All The Songs In The Film". The Playlist. Archived from the original on August 2, 2024. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
6. Phares, Heather. "Review: Ted [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Archived from the original on April 8, 2023. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
7. Schweiger, Daniel (September 1, 2012). "CD Review: TED soundtrack". Assignment X. Archived from the original on September 8, 2012. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
8. Murphy, Walter. Ted (For Your Consideration – Best Original Score) (Media notes). Universal Studios.
9. Murphy, Walter. Ted (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (Media notes). Universal Republic Records.
10. "IFMCA: the International Film Music Critics Association » IFMCA Winners 2012". Filmmusiccritics.org. February 21, 2013. Archived from the original on February 25, 2013. Retrieved February 21, 2013.
11. "Members". www.georgiafilmcritics.org. Archived from the original on April 23, 2020. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
12. "2013 Oscar Nominees | 85th Academy Awards Nominees". Oscar.go.com. Archived from the original on March 9, 2016. Retrieved February 26, 2013.
13. Morgan, David (January 10, 2013). ""Lincoln," "Life of Pi" lead Oscar race". CBS News. Archived from the original on March 13, 2014. Retrieved October 7, 2013.

• 2012 soundtrack albums
• Universal Republic Records soundtracks
• Ted (franchise)