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Composed and Conducted by:
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Anne Dudley
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Compiled and Produced by:
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Roger Dudley
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Release Date:
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March 20th, 2001
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Availability:
Regular U.S. release.
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Filmtracks Editorial Review:
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Monkeybone: (Anne Dudley) From the director of The Nightmare Before
Christmas and James and the Giant Peach comes yet another claymation
fantasy film of lovable weirdness. For Monkeybone, the rotation of
composers for this budding genre of film stopped with Anne Dudley, who has
proven herself to be one of the most versatile composers of the past decade.
While many mainstream fans will recognize her name from such darkly dramatic
projects as The Crying Game and American History X, the lighter
side of her skills is often overlooked. Not only winning the Academy Award for
The Fully Monty in 1997 (which some might argue as inappropriate due to
the songs' success in the film), Dudley also composed the popular score for the
television fantasy The 10th Kingdom this past year. With all of these
talents readily available, Dudley produced for Monkeybone exactly that
which you would expect for the director of the film. The uncanny similarities
between this score and those of Danny Elfman's early wackiness during the days
of Pee Wee and Beetlejuice is clearly evident, and it fits this
particular film well enough. It's funny to think about how this new breed of
animated film lends itself so well to a sort of "stop action" musical score or
songs which, too, jump wildly from cue to cue wth little relation to each other.
Unless you enjoy the frantic and unpredictible pace of Elfman's early comedy and
children's scores, then Monkeybone could drive you nuts. Dudley takes a
medium-sized orchestra and scores the film with a creative array of comedy
cliches and punchy rhythms. The music has no discernible theme; rather, the
choice of its instrumentation and rhythm carry the personality of the score
where a theme could otherwise accomplish the task. The opening of the score
greets you with a contemporary, though still awkwardly silly, pop rhythm. As the
setting shifts to the crazy "Downtown," the music gets the full Elfman
treatment, with enough frenetic energy to make your hair stand on end in certain
parts. Volume is surely not a problem with this score. Bouncing woodwinds, with
swingy performances by sax and brass, give Monkeybone a strangely jazzy
touch in parts, while other moments are punctuated by big band pomp with snare
and cymbals crashing on every beat. As per the jazzy elements, there are various
cues that are reminiscent of Elliot Goldenthal's silliest Batman Forever
measures. Included as well are all of the expected orchestral hits that signify
funny lines or slapstick action in the film. Perhaps the most interesting aspect
of all of these prancing comedy cues, most of which are divided into short
tracks, is that they remain consistent enough so that after a while, your brain
tunes them out if you're not overly enthusiastic about the music. This happened
to me on the second listen; while the first listen left me seeking peace and
quiet, the second listen went surprisingly easily since the cues all run
together in a mesh of comical orchestral rhythms.
If you're not the type who can sit through straight, swingy, orchestral comedy
for 50 minutes, then this is definitely not your album. The second and final
tracks have the same kind of cartoonish lyrics of Inspector Gadget,
although I was somewhat disappointed that (unlike Gadget), Dudley never
broke this score out into a full score song. The most interesting aspect of
Monkeybone were the few moments during which Dudley addressed the cheezy,
but equally viable moments of romance and awe in the film. I call it the
Muppets from Space effect because that score, more than any other, could
spontaneously bust out with a magnificent ochestral theme with no ties to the
rest of the score, simply as a parady ploy. Dudley does it a few times in
Monkeybone, specifically during the decent and ascent between worlds (2
and 23), and the romping "Grand Plan" track (14). Also thrown into the mix is
the oddly out-of-place tenderness of the "Kitty's Plan" track (12), which is the
only serious break the score offers from the relentless locomotion of the comedy
cues. These moments of the score, even though they are enticing and bring a
smile to anyone's face, will not be enough to save this score for most fans of
dramatic film music. Although the same comical rhythms and instrumentation of
Elfman's The Nightmare Before Christmas is easy to hear, Dudley didn't
(or couldn't, depending on the nature of the film) capture the same dramatic or
romantic edge for the score to Monkeybone. Therefore, Dudley's ultimately
runaway comedy score will likely appeal to only those who grew up listening to
and enjoying the Pee Wee scores. ***
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Viewer Ratings and Comments:
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• 1. The Crayon Game (2:31)
• 2. Welcome to Downtown (4:19)
• 3. Can't Escape the Reaper (3:57)
• 4. Julie's Dream (2:11)
• 5. The Invitation and the Proposal (1:29)
• 6. How to Steal an Exit Pass (2:00)
• 7. Downtown Train (3:36)
• 8. Monkeybone Gets to Work (1:06)
• 9. The Stuff of Nightmares (1:18)
• 10. Surgeons Give Chase (1:34)
• 11. No Time to Lose (2:40)
• 12. Kitty's Plan (2:00)
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• 13. A Beaker of Nightmare Juice (2:36)
• 14. A Grand Plan (0:46)
• 15. Clothes Take Revenge (1:22)
• 16. Buster Gets It (2:06)
• 17. I'll Really Never Forget You (1:46)
• 18. Not this Monkey (1:08)
• 19. No Tears (1:42)
• 20. Nightmare in a Bunker (1:17)
• 21. Up on the Roof (4:06)
• 22. Journey to the Land of Death (1:49)
• 23. America's Most Disturbed Comic Strip (1:39)
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Insert includes no information about the
score or film, although the outer packaging has a quick blurb from Dudley.
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