: (James Horner) Extraordinarily sappy in its
dramatization of the story of Casper the Friendly Ghost, the Steven
Spielberg and Universal Studios production of
was a
pleasant if not somewhat mindless exhibition for the talents of
Industrial Light & Magic. A supernatural psychiatrist and his daughter
inhabit a haunted mansion in Maine by the employment of a wicked woman
who inherited the mansion and wants its mostly not-so-friendly ghosts
exorcized. In the process of getting to know the ghosts of the mansion,
the psychiatrist's daughter befriends Casper, who was a boy about her
age when he died about a hundred years prior. The comedy provided by
Casper's three mischievous uncles is balanced by the sorrow of Casper's
wish to be a boy again, and with the help of the ghost of the girl's own
dead mother, the boy's wish is granted for a short time. The career of
composer James Horner experienced a renaissance in the year's time
between late 1994 and 1995, and it was during this time that the
composer would bid farewell to the children's film genre for more than a
dozen years. Because of the overwhelming popularity of Horner's work for
) has floated away into relative obscurity. Horner was
regarded as a leading veteran of the children's genre at the time,
scoring most of Spielberg's animated and live action productions that
were meant to compete with Disney in the early 1990's. Significant
connections exist throughout many of these scores, and most of the more
orchestrally robust structures can be traced back to
in 1988. The same can be said of
Casper does benefit from two deviations from the
normal equation for Horner's children's scores; first, he uses a comical
set of themes and rhythms that pushes towards the boundaries of animated
parody writing, and secondly, he wrote one spectacular lullaby for
Casper that would be rearranged, as mentioned previously, for use
in
The Spiderwick Chronicles. In both of its somewhat unique
characteristics,
Casper is the closest Horner would come to
emulating the comical spirit and supernatural beauty offered by Danny
Elfman during the same era. The opening cue marches through Horner's
thematic ideas for
Casper, emphasizing the motifs that deal with
jazzy comedy, goofy action, and silly character sketches. Due to the
movement of the film, these ideas would not receive lengthy treatment
until the more cohesive suite-like presentation in the "End Credits." A
theme for the evil "Carrigan & Digs" is a harpsichord and saxophone
dance with a pompous rhythm for their bumbling buffoonery (ending with a
notable theremin throwback motif for an old-style haunted mansion). The
sax in this cue draws the easiest connection to Elfman's work, and this
idea would be extended into the even more flamboyant "March of the
Exorcists." The suspense and action cues would offer other specialty
performances and continued Elfman references. The wild rhythms of "First
Haunting" is pulled from the opening of
Beetlejuice, though the
latter half of the cue, "The Swordfight" would mock Korngold action from
long before. The later action cues would be more conventional entries in
Horner's typical sound, though the infusion of "Casper's Lullaby" would
elevate the score to a far more memorable status. First introduced
during the gorgeous lighthouse sequence in the film, this melancholy
theme delicately rolls on solo piano before being joined by full strings
and light choir. This quiet, somber, and surprisingly simple lullaby is
anchored by poignant piano performances that expand in scope throughout
the film as Casper's relationship with the daughter grows and Casper's
sadness becomes more evident.
This primary character theme is romantic and longing,
really deserving a film better than
Casper, but it plays an
important role in the film nonetheless. Various woodwinds and Horner's
sweepingly majestic choir provide two full performances of this theme in
the concert arrangement ("Casper's Lullaby") and as Casper's wish to be
alive again comes true in "One Last Wish," the theme matures into an
even fuller orchestral and choral piece. For these haunting moments
alone, the album is worth the price. The theme would receive a more
upbeat series of variations in "Fond Memories," though its sorrowful
form would send off the "End Credits" and album with taste. Aside from
the gorgeous lullaby, little remains on this score that is particularly
interesting or important. The comedy mould is somewhat different for
Horner in
Casper, but much of it sounds too intent on mirroring
Danny Elfman to be taken seriously. While other parts definitely
reference
The Land Before Time, the lack of resounding power from
the previous work can be heard in the Los Angeles performers' less
robust recording stature. The jazzy material dedicated to the three
supporting ghosts will attract some listeners, as will a rambling
creativity in the percussion section that would foreshadow some of the
ambitious rhythmic usage in
Bicentennial Man. While refreshing in
their application to this film, these sequences aren't particularly
listenable outside of context, including the extremely obnoxious "The
Uncles Swing" at the finale of the film. The Universal album for
Casper is of considerable length, with well over an hour of
Horner's score interrupted by only two songs utilized in the film. Of
the two songs, the soft rock piece used for the pivotal scene at the end
of the film is quite decent. It's easy to understand the appearance of
Little Richard's performance of "Casper the Friendly Ghost," but
tolerating it for any length of time is another story. The score and
album's redeeming element, however, comes with "Casper's Lullaby" and
its twenty minutes of variants throughout the work. Its heart-breaking
melody will charm itself onto a permanent spot on your CD shelves,
regardless of your opinion about the rest of the score.
*** @Amazon.com: CD or
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| Bias Check: |
For James Horner reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.16
(in 103 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.26
(in 192,912 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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