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| M. Danna |
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| J. Danna |
The Addams Family: (Mychael Danna/Jeff Danna) To
nobody's surprise, the original 1938 comic characters of "The Addams
Family" finally found themselves in an animated feature film in 2019.
While rather pedestrian in its story and execution, MGM's
The Addams
Family adaptation pulled in enough audiences to merit immediate
sequel talk. The origin story tells of how the group met and, despite
their bizarre, far-flung European roots, managed to find themselves
together in a hick American setting. (In some versions, this town is
called "Eastfield" and in others it's called "Assimilation," so approach
the soundtrack's cue titles with both options in mind.) How they respond
to the locals and the town's pesky founder occupies the script, with the
addition of hidden cameras and live streaming built in to modernize the
concept. The film makes a point of joking about the diversity of the
Addamses, and that point has an overwhelming impact on the soundtrack.
Ever since
The Good Dinosaurin 2016, brothers Mychael Danna and
Jeff Danna have ventured into the mainstream animation realm, the
veteran composers often bringing their tendency towards eclectic worldly
instrumentation into these lighter projects. In the case of
The
Addams Family, the Danna Brothers went wild with the cultural
elements to address the characters' Eastern European and Spanish
backgrounds, along with some American country folk for their new
setting. The Dannas played a variety of specialty instruments, primarily
the Eastern European ones, themselves in the recording, though their
contributions aren't really the highlight of the overall work. They also
employed the same, historic Fox Wurlitzer organ heard in
The House
With a Clock in its Walls and owned by that score's composer, Nathan
Barr, and it's often joined by humorously belching, low saxophones and
theremin effects. A full orchestra lends depth to the scenes of monster
mayhem and associated mystery, though don't expect sustained
satisfaction of any one sequence given that no cue even reaches the
two-minute mark in length. The most important thing to realize about
this music for
The Addams Family is that it only barely strives
for the same waltz-based elegance that Marc Shaiman's music for the
1990's live-action films achieved beautifully for the same concept.
Aside from some faint tango references, nothing from Shaiman's alluring
music survives here. As a result, you get a haphazard, slapstick-riddled
score with stylistic changes in every cue, some of which written by a
few others in totally different genres for humorous effect.
The gypsy characteristics of the Dannas for
The
Addams Family extend to all of its themes at some point, including
the original Vic Mizzy television theme for the concept, which the
composers apply here much more than Shaiman ever did. It gets whirlwind
treatment in "Welcome to the Addams Family" with a lovely fiddle solo
before the organ lets rip with it in "Make Yourself at Home" (the best
performance) and "Give My Creatures Life!" A folksy version awaits the
melody in "An Addams Family Reunion." Some of these only use the theme's
catchy opening bass riffs and snapping fingers, but the Dannas really
excel when they apply the whole theme. They supplement this idea with
three themes of their own and one supporting motif. The first major
theme is arguably the main one for the picture, introduced ominously
right off the bat in "It's Creepy, It's Kooky" and taking on a fluffy
personality in "What a Lovely Morning" and "Scented Embalming Fluid." A
heroic rendition of this idea in "Wednesday Crashes the Party" is
followed by a lovely piano solo for the melody in "My Little Raven" and
an upbeat followup in "Give Us a Chance to Make It Right." The theme's
redemption late in "Pugsley Coronation" leads to a robust conclusion in
"Get Out!" that comes closest to the famous Shaiman tango material. More
impressive is the monster theme from the Dannas, heard first on brass at
0:57 into "An Army of Freaks" and reprised in similarly muscular fashion
at 0:40 into "A Town Overrun" and 0:05 into "Addamses Not Wanted Here."
It also stews late in "Margaux Inflames the Townsfolk," kicks it up a
gear in "Give My Creatures Life!," and provides suspense or frantic
action in "Mommy's Crafting Room," late in "Margaux Attacks," and in "If
They're Freaks, Then So Are All of You." A melancholy theme for the
Addams' daughter, Wednesday, is highlighted in "Wednesday's Wish" and
"Wednesday and Parker." The town itself receives a rather obnoxious folk
motif in "The Addams Visit Assimilation" and "Assimilation Junior High."
Put together, these themes create a more cohesive whole than expected,
but the work still suffers from an extraordinary whiplash effect in its
shifting parody modes. You could assemble ten minutes or so of really
good music here, including most of the organ and brass passages along
with the gorgeous vocals of "Tea and Seance" and tender heart of "My
Little Raven." Expect to hear a lot of early Danny Elfman in this work.
The gypsy and folk instrumentation is mildly obnoxious, and although the
album does include the Mizzy song adaptation heard over the end credits,
it is missing other notable songs heard on screen. It's a solid souvenir
from this film, but seek out Shaiman's music from the live-action
entries for a better concept listening experience.
*** @Amazon.com: CD or
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| Bias Check: |
For Mychael Danna reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.36
(in 14 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.02
(in 4,373 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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The insert includes a list of performers but no extra information about the score or film.
