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Review of Enchanted (Alan Menken)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you're a sucker for Alan Menken's hopelessly positive
style of writing, accentuated in this musical by the story's need for
grandiose tributes to the tone of Disney's animated classics from
yesteryear.
Avoid it... if you don't already maintain a healthy collection of Disney musicals in your film score collection.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Enchanted: (Alan Menken) Everyone else is doing it,
so why not Disney? The original Shrek film proved that it's now
cool to make fun of fairy tales, and Disney finally pokes fun at itself
in Enchanted, a musical unlike any in its storied history. The
film opens like any classic Disney animated tale, with a princess, a
prince, and the prince's wicked mother. While the two youths decide to
immediately marry and carry on with the "happily ever after" part of the
equation, the evil queen mother (Susan Sarandon, no less) banishes the
girl to a place where "there are no happy endings." For the princess,
that means the end of the animated world and a magical transfer to real
life New York, where she has absolutely no idea about how to cope. The
film becomes live action cinema at this point, and the princess is
assisted by a divorce attorney who is seemingly the only person who
believes her story. The attorney's girlfriend isn't thrilled, though. To
complicate matters, the animated prince follows into the real world on a
rescue mission. Eventually, with the princess surviving the
not-so-magical kingdom, the queen herself has to unleash her own
real-life spells on the people of the city. The script of
Enchanted is a series of in-jokes and references to previous
Disney classics. The overarching style of the production imitates parts
of Snow White, Cinderella, and Beauty and the Beast
with clever moves, typically staying true to the societal mores of the
earlier Disney pictures. Since the film also mimics the musical format
of those classics, Enchanted allows the song and score style of
such films to transfer over to both its two worlds. After himself
retreating to a world of non-activity, composer Alan Menken has returned
to Disney over the past four years to produce impressive scores (and
songs) for a handful of terrible films. His straight score work for
The Shaggy Dog in 2006 was nearly among the year's best.
For Enchanted, he would be tasked with providing five original songs, one parody song, and over half an hour of score. Unlike his previous efforts for Disney's fairy tales, though, this film causes him some stylistic dilemmas caused by the switch in locations. The intent with both the score and songs was to reach back to Disney's own Golden Age of soundtracks, and Menken is quite successful at raising that over-embellished orchestral zeal in Enchanted. The first and final thirds of the film are rich with the spirit of classic Disney scores and songwriting, merging with Menken's own fluffy styles to produce an almost insufferably positive atmosphere suitable for any princess. Expect an excess of tingling percussion, light choir, and squeaky strings, all performing to noble brass in thematic structures often reminiscent of the big band atmosphere from yesteryear. Menken's sense of humor is evident in a few places, with direct references to classic themes led by a creatively fragmented statement of the Beauty and the Beast title song's theme in "Nathaniel and Pip." Both the score and songs switch to a modern style, however, with contemporary pop elements encompassing the three later songs and the score track "Girls Go Shopping." Most listeners won't be familiar with Menken's abilities in that kind of setting, but rest assured that the same undeniably positive spirit translates to a light rock ensemble. While the score is mostly rooted in the classical style of animated scoring, usually to a level of excessive bravado, the songs are not as consistent. "True Love's Kiss" is the princess' main performance, and translates to the often choral-accompanied title theme in the score. While Amy Adams' performances are adequate, a lack of memorability in the songs' themes and the fact that her voice is seemingly mixed behind her accompanying ensemble causes some dissatisfaction with them. The two modern songs not performed by a cast member are equally stale, with Carrie Underwood's performance of the end title piece "Ever Ever After" a bit too grating in its instrumentation and vocalization to fit with the remaining music. The parody song "That's Amore," complete with all the necessary Italian elements and performed by the prince, is ironically the most entertaining song in the film. Otherwise, the most interesting score tracks are the final two, when the wicked queen's theme is given robust treatment by menace brass and choir. The final "Suite" cue is exactly that, stating the themes from the first five songs in succession in the same style that Jerry Goldsmith recorded a suite for Mulan. Opening with a vibrant orchestral version of "That's How You Know" and eventually leading to a short burst of the contemporary instrumentation for "Ever Ever After," the suite is a satisfying summation of Menken's contributions. Collaborating with Menken once again is lyricist Stephen Schwartz, who both an Oscar last for Pocahontas. Their best work together in Enchanted is for the harpsichord-laced "Happy Working Song," with comical lyrics describing the princess' attempts to conjure an ultra happy tune while scrubbing floors and toilets in the real world. Overall, Enchanted is an extremely charming endeavor, but be aware that its hopelessly positive attitude, bordering on comedy, will frustrate and annoy listeners who can barely tolerate the already normally upbeat style of Menken's writing. The substance of the music is largely obscured by its fluffy tones. It's doubtful that Enchanted is of a quality that will garner significant consideration come awards season, but the project should at the very least confirm that Menken has once again cemented his place in another era of Disney productions. ***
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 54:22
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert includes extensive credits and lyrics, 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 Enchanted are Copyright © 2007, Walt Disney Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 11/14/07 (and not updated significantly since). |
