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PRINTER-FRIENDLY VIEW 
Review of The Croods (Alan Silvestri)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you appreciate well-executed orchestral children's
scores, this entry reaffirming Alan Silvestri's capabilities in the
genre with better than average themes, orchestrations, and general
personality.
Avoid it... if not even some grandiose, majestic interludes for choir and a few amusing references to Silvestri's own classic Predator score can justify what otherwise will sound like a generic and anonymous extension of genre norms.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
The Croods: (Alan Silvestri) At a time when
original ideas are in short supply in Hollywood, Dreamworks hit all the
right notes with its 2013 animated children's film, The Croods.
Directors Kirk DeMicco and Chris Sanders were greeted by positive
reviews and surprisingly robust grosses for the project, earning the
concept an immediate television spin-off and feature sequel. The story
of The Croods, written in part by famed British humorist John
Cleese, tells of a family of Neanderthal Cavemen going about their daily
lives in pre-historic times but battling through experiences that have
many parallels to modern life, including a significant amount of
interpersonal familial drama. When a more intelligent Cro-Magnon boy
disrupts the family with his inventions (including fire, shoes, and
other essentials), gaining the attention of a daughter who yearns for a
more exciting lifestyle, an overly protective father steps in to
reassert his conservative viewpoints. Funny, inventive sequences and
strange, mostly silly creatures abound in The Croods, the film
aiming for an innocuous set of basic moral lessons that will satisfy
children and leave adults watching the clock. One thing that can be said
about the prior projects of DeMicco and Sanders is a tendency for their
finished products to feature better than average children's music. For
DeMicco, these films included Quest for Camelot and Racing
Stripes, and for Sanders, his successes have been highlighted by
Mulan, Lilo & Stitch, and How to Train Your Dragon.
For The Croods, the production team turned to veteran composer
Alan Silvestri, who had collaborated with Sanders on Lilo &
Stitch and had written decent, if not occasionally strong animation
music for that, The Wild, and The Polar Express, among
others. While the composer will likely always been remembered for his
intense action and thoughtful dramatic modes, his capabilities in
animation have often gone overlooked. His workmanlike efforts for the
genre may not have yielded any classics to the degree that John Powell
transcended with How to Train Your Dragon, but Silvestri is
certainly capable of writing serviceable, entertaining scores in these
circumstances. In the case of The Croods, he does just that,
executing a fun, carefree, large-scale orchestral score that is
appealing in nearly all of its parts while never really blazing through
new stylistic territory in the genre. The right ingredients are all
applied by Silvestri in this work, the orchestra joined by specialty
contributors to lend genre-bending infusions of character, a tasteful
and limited touch of choral majesty layered at the right moments, and
electronic embellishments held to a minimum.
The Croods is about as organic a score as most listeners will hear in any genre during the 2010's, adhering to traditional animation music techniques at times but also remaining surprisingly true to Silvestri's adult-oriented works as well. The Mickey Mousing is restrained, and the diversions into the jazz and Latin realms are rare. One notable performance by a marching band does break up the listening experience. Otherwise, there are significant portions of The Croods that, when not tapping the feel-good, light-hearted drama that the genre demands, actually sounds similar to his roaring action favorites. These portions are highlighted by "Piranhakeets," a clear homage to Predator with several bursts of that classic score lifted with good humor for reference here. Despite this and other impressive action cues, the best aspect of The Croods is its well-developed thematic base. Silvestri rotates through three or four prominent themes in the score, one of which adapted for the obligatory song. While the style and performance of "Shine Your Way" (obviously aimed at teenagers with the tone of Minnesota band Owl City) will be obnoxious to Silvestri collectors, the composer's underlying melody in this song informs some of the prettiest portions of the score. Heard immediately in "Prologue" and fleshed out in "Going Guy's Way" and "Star Canopy," this theme is magnificently orchestrated in the latter half of "Epilogue." The interlude sequence of this melody is especially romantically appealing, wafting through "Going Guy's Way" in the string lines. It's difficult not to appreciate the brass counterpoint to this theme in "Epilogue," a heroic sendoff without trending towards corniness. The score's own primary theme exists for the family at the center of the story, its melody starting with superficial similarities to John Williams' Jurassic Park and its demeanor as redemptive and positive as possible. Silvestri provides an excellent arrangement of this idea alone in "The Crood's Family Theme," which follows similar treatment for the "Cave Painting Theme." This likewise somewhat anonymous but sufficient theme is utilized in the "Cave Painting" and "Big Idea" cues in the actual score. Other motifs rotate throughout the score, one of suspense in "Turkey Fish Follies" and "We'll Die If We Stay Here" and another brightly optimistic and wondrous with progressions that, by "Epilogue," will remind you of Hans Zimmer's Backdraft. Much of The Croods will strike film score listeners as derivative, but Silvestri executes the expected formula well enough to make the score an enjoyable listening experience should you be seeking this atmospheric cheeriness. These scores are not as easy to pull off as one might think, and the crisp orchestrations, the thematic integrity, the neat Predator references, and the right balance of emotional and stylistic appeals make this one recommended over many of its peers. A very strong 15 to 20-minute compilation assembled from the long album awaits any enthusiast of children's scores. ****
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 70:35
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert includes lyrics for the song 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 The Croods are Copyright © 2013, Sony Classical and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 5/23/13 (and not updated significantly since). |
