Bach had written the film 's original screenplay , but he sued Paramount Pictures before the film 's release because he felt that there were too many discrepancies between the film and the book . Director Bartlett had allegedly violated a term in his contract with Bach which stated that no changes could be made to the film 's adaptation without Bach 's consent . Bach took offense to scenes Bartlett had filmed which were not present in the book , most notably the sequence in which Jonathan is suddenly attacked by a wild hawk ( voiced by Bartlett himself ) . Ultimately , the court ruled that Bach 's name would be taken off the screenplay credits , and that the film would be released with a card indicating that Bach disapproved of the final cut . Bach 's attorney claimed , " It took tremendous courage to say this motion picture had to come out of theaters unless it was changed . Paramount was stunned . " The Grammy Award-winning soundtrack album was composed by Neil Diamond and produced by Tom Catalano . It won the 1974 Grammy Award as Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special . The album apparently also made more money than the film . The album sold two million copies in the United States , 400,000 in France , 250,000 in Germany , 200,000 in Canada and 100,000 in the United Kingdom
1974 Grammy Award
16th Annual Grammy Awards
Jonathan Livingston Seagull