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Enchanted: (Alan Menken) Everyone else is doing it,
so why not Disney? The original
Shrek film proved that it's now
cool to make fun of fairy tales, and Disney finally pokes fun at itself
in
Enchanted, a musical unlike any in its storied history. The
film opens like any classic Disney animated tale, with a princess, a
prince, and the prince's wicked mother. While the two youths decide to
immediately marry and carry on with the "happily ever after" part of the
equation, the evil queen mother (Susan Sarandon, no less) banishes the
girl to a place where "there are no happy endings." For the princess,
that means the end of the animated world and a magical transfer to real
life New York, where she has absolutely no idea about how to cope. The
film becomes live action cinema at this point, and the princess is
assisted by a divorce attorney who is seemingly the only person who
believes her story. The attorney's girlfriend isn't thrilled, though. To
complicate matters, the animated prince follows into the real world on a
rescue mission. Eventually, with the princess surviving the
not-so-magical kingdom, the queen herself has to unleash her own
real-life spells on the people of the city. The script of
Enchanted is a series of in-jokes and references to previous
Disney classics. The overarching style of the production imitates parts
of
Snow White,
Cinderella, and
Beauty and the Beast
with clever moves, typically staying true to the societal mores of the
earlier Disney pictures. Since the film also mimics the musical format
of those classics,
Enchanted allows the song and score style of
such films to transfer over to both its two worlds. After himself
retreating to a world of non-activity, composer Alan Menken has returned
to Disney over the past four years to produce impressive scores (and
songs) for a handful of terrible films. His straight score work for
The Shaggy Dog in 2006 was nearly among the year's best.
For
Enchanted, he would be tasked with providing
five original songs, one parody song, and over half an hour of score.
Unlike his previous efforts for Disney's fairy tales, though, this film
causes him some stylistic dilemmas caused by the switch in locations.
The intent with both the score and songs was to reach back to Disney's
own Golden Age of soundtracks, and Menken is quite successful at raising
that over-embellished orchestral zeal in
Enchanted. The first and
final thirds of the film are rich with the spirit of classic Disney
scores and songwriting, merging with Menken's own fluffy styles to
produce an almost insufferably positive atmosphere suitable for any
princess. Expect an excess of tingling percussion, light choir, and
squeaky strings, all performing to noble brass in thematic structures
often reminiscent of the big band atmosphere from yesteryear. Menken's
sense of humor is evident in a few places, with direct references to
classic themes led by a creatively fragmented statement of the
Beauty
and the Beast title song's theme in "Nathaniel and Pip." Both the
score and songs switch to a modern style, however, with contemporary pop
elements encompassing the three later songs and the score track "Girls
Go Shopping." Most listeners won't be familiar with Menken's abilities
in that kind of setting, but rest assured that the same undeniably
positive spirit translates to a light rock ensemble. While the score is
mostly rooted in the classical style of animated scoring, usually to a
level of excessive bravado, the songs are not as consistent. "True
Love's Kiss" is the princess' main performance, and translates to the
often choral-accompanied title theme in the score. While Amy Adams'
performances are adequate, a lack of memorability in the songs' themes
and the fact that her voice is seemingly mixed behind her accompanying
ensemble causes some dissatisfaction with them.
The two modern songs not performed by a cast member are
equally stale, with Carrie Underwood's performance of the end title
piece "Ever Ever After" a bit too grating in its instrumentation and
vocalization to fit with the remaining music. The parody song "That's
Amore," complete with all the necessary Italian elements and performed
by the prince, is ironically the most entertaining song in the film.
Otherwise, the most interesting score tracks are the final two, when the
wicked queen's theme is given robust treatment by menace brass and
choir. The final "Suite" cue is exactly that, stating the themes from
the first five songs in succession in the same style that Jerry
Goldsmith recorded a suite for
Mulan. Opening with a vibrant
orchestral version of "That's How You Know" and eventually leading to a
short burst of the contemporary instrumentation for "Ever Ever After,"
the suite is a satisfying summation of Menken's contributions.
Collaborating with Menken once again is lyricist Stephen Schwartz, who
both an Oscar last for
Pocahontas. Their best work together in
Enchanted is for the harpsichord-laced "Happy Working Song," with
comical lyrics describing the princess' attempts to conjure an ultra
happy tune while scrubbing floors and toilets in the real world.
Overall,
Enchanted is an extremely charming endeavor, but be
aware that its hopelessly positive attitude, bordering on comedy, will
frustrate and annoy listeners who can barely tolerate the already
normally upbeat style of Menken's writing. The substance of the music is
largely obscured by its fluffy tones. It's doubtful that
Enchanted is of a quality that will garner significant
consideration come awards season, but the project should at the very
least confirm that Menken has once again cemented his place in another
era of Disney productions.
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| Bias Check: | For Alan Menken reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating
is 3.45 (in 11 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.54
(in 56,205 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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The insert includes extensive credits and lyrics, but no extra information about
the score or film.
