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FILMTRACKS.COM
PRINTER-FRIENDLY VIEW 
Review of Christopher Robin (Geoff Zanelli/Jon Brion/Various)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you can't help but feel warm and fuzzy about
songwriter Richard M. Sherman's involvement in this picture and the
sweet, conservatively rendered ensemble score for this concept's
continuation.
Avoid it... if you assume that this story would inspire its team of composers to intelligently interpolate the Sherman Brothers' classic or new themes into the score in satisfying fashion.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Christopher Robin: (Geoff Zanelli/Jon
Brion/Various) For any middle-aged man who has discovered an old bin of
his childhood stuffed animals or other toys, Disney's continuation of
the "Winnie the Pooh" concept in 2018's Christopher Robin will
carry a fair amount of meaning. The feel-good story of the live-action
movie postulates that the titular character, as a grown man, has lost
his passion for life and struggles in his relationship with his wife and
daughter. Per chance and the magic of imagination, Winnie Pooh and other
characters from the Hundred Acre Wood intervene to save the day and
reemerge as impactful characters in the lives of Robin's family. Solid
special effects, the return of voice actor Jim Cummings, and a
noteworthy lead performance by Ewan McGregor were widely praised, though
the film's otherwise tepid critical response and underwhelming returns
revealed a hint of Eeyore cynicism at work. The film attempted to aim
for both children and adults, the goofiness of the action scenes for the
former and the weighty contemplations for the latter not really merging
for universal appeal. The music for the film was a mess in its
production but manages to have a somewhat happy ending itself. On the
upside is the fresh involvement of Disney songwriter Richard M. Sherman
at the age of 90. He and his late brother, Robert, wrote the iconic
songs and scores for the "Winnie the Pooh" shorts and features that
started in the 1960's and persist into the digital age. Sherman was
proud to conjure three short, new songs for Christopher Robin,
one for the assembled cast and the other two for his own vocals. To hear
these additions to the concept's musical cannon in 2018 is nothing short
of miraculous, and the soundtrack contains numerous references to three
of the Sherman Brothers themes from the legacy films. Unfortunately, the
situation involving the original score for Christopher Robin was
an absolute mess, and the resulting mash-up of ideas for the picture
manifests itself in a rather underplayed score that excels only
occasionally. The assignment was originally Jóhann
Jóhannsson's, though his death sent the studio in the direction
of the Hans Zimmer realm for a replacement. Reports indicated that Klaus
Badelt was slated to be involved, though a conflict of some sort led
Disney to songwriter and niche composer Jon Brion instead. Later in
production, the studio returned to the Zimmer realm to eventually hire
longtime Remote Control Productions associate Geoff Zanelli to re-score
the bulk of the film.
The resulting soundtrack for Christopher Robin contains new songs from Sherman, reprises of his classic tunes, two new themes for the orchestral score by Brion, and one new main theme by Zanelli, not to mention a slew of ghostwriters providing bits and pieces here and there. Even Danny Elfman's usual orchestrating team became involved. Casual audiences probably won't care about the disjointed elements of the overall soundtrack, and Zanelli's team does a pretty good job weaving the new ideas together, but this haphazard methodology does have a nagging negative impact on the score. It's the kind of work that surely suffices and even excels at times, but there's an absence of convincing emotional connection in this music that comes from its conservatively rendered stance and sometimes disparate thematic interests. The ambient tone is largely fine, with the orchestra utilizing all the solo piano, woodwinds, and light chimes you'd expect for the occasion. The lack of convincing depth to the ensemble performances, even in the final action and resolution sequences, is a bit disappointing. While the concept has never blown the roof off the theatre with its musical resonance, this live action variation merited some of the ambitious presence of comedy and drama closer to Rachel Portman's vintage output in the genre, such as The Adventures of Pinocchio. There's a lot of melodic intent to unpack in Christopher Robin, but the slow and understated nature of the score's personality could lose the interest of listeners anyway. The discussion of new themes for the score has to pause for a moment to consider the interpolation of Sherman's classic themes into the mix. Sadly, these adaptations are provided more wholesale than hoped; for a film about rediscovery, the composers fail to intelligently integrate Sherman's music directly into their own themes as they become more focused during the length of the narrative. You hear the famous "Winnie the Pooh" theme, along with "Up, Down and Touch the Ground" and "The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers," dropped into the film without the kind of thoughtful interpolation necessary in this context. The album release completely ignores two of the three, with only the brief phrasing of "The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers" heard in "Nothing Ever Bad Comes from Bouncing." Zanelli, Brion, and associates essentially reinvent themes for the major concepts where all-new ideas weren't really necessary or even desired, at least not by the end of the film. The presence of the new Sherman material, including his cameo during the credits sequence, negates any argument of necessary musical separation. The best cue attributions available for the Christopher Robin score seem to indicate that Zanelli and his crew wrote what became the film's main theme while Brion's contribution was reduced to the work's two major secondary themes. Interestingly, it's the new theme by Zanelli for Pooh and his relationship with Robin that both dominates the score and needlessly shuns the prior musical identity for that connection. Heard immediately in "Storybook" and continuing through the majority of cues in the score, this melancholy piano-led theme eventually achieves redemption by its full, symphonic performances in "I Do Nothing Every Day" after being run though a number of stylistic variants in between. It's an affable series of three-note phrases that retains its inherent sadness even in its most upbeat performances. Meanwhile, Brion's theme of mischief bursts forth in "Train Station" and "Heffalump Battle," along with frenzied extensions of its jazzy, Heffalump-worthy humor in late action cues. (These are the portions that owe the most to Portman humor.) Brion's piano theme of outright sadness is heard in full during "Not Doing Nothing Anymore" and likewise returns in the latter half of the score. Interestingly, neither of the character themes, Zanelli's nor Brion's, helms the score's arguably most pivotal moment. At the height of "A Father of Very Little Brain," Zanelli opts instead to adapt fragments of the score's prior identities into a new momentous idea of victory. It's at moments like this and "Returning to the Hundred Acre Wood" when obvious, smart interpolations of the Sherman themes, whether vintage or new, would have been appreciated. Surprisingly, two of the most engaging cues are back-to-back Zanelli entries early on; in "I Would Have Liked It to Go On for a While Longer" and "Chapters," the music handles the transitional scenes in the story with better pep and engagement. The latter features the score's only notable choral element, aiding acoustic guitar and percussion in denoting the passage of time before yielding to a singularly positive pop-like moment of optimism in the final minute of the cue that remains, almost oddly, the highlight of the whole work. When you step back from this soundtrack, you get the feeling that it could have been coordinated so much more effectively had its production process gone smoothly. The result effectively serves its purpose, but there are melodic opportunities missed and the Sherman involvement seems token. The recording is also rather mundane, with none of the improvement to the ambient depth of the concept that Zanelli had guided for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. Expect the nearly hour-long album for Christopher Robin to drag significantly during its middle passages. ***
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 56:50
* Composed by Richard M. Sherman
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert includes a list of performers but no extra information about the score or film.
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The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from Christopher Robin are Copyright © 2018, Walt Disney Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 10/31/18 (and not updated significantly since). |
