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| Toprak |
Slumberland: (Pinar Toprak) Adapted from the comic
strip "Little Nemo in Slumberland" from the early 20th Century, the 2022
Netflix production of
Slumberland came at the time in the early
2020's when streaming platforms were pouring massive amounts of money
into their own theatrical-styled projects. Audience reactions did not
ultimately justify the $150 million spent on this entry, though it was
praised for some of its special effects. The tale spins the main
character, Nemo, into a young girl who lives with her father on a
gorgeous coastline, his job of keeper of the lighthouse balanced by
imaginative story time with his daughter in the evenings. When the
father is himself lost at sea, the girl is adopted by the man's
comparatively boring brother and moves in with him in the city. Her own
imagination kicks in as Slumberland occupies her dreams while asleep,
and she lives out adventures in that mythical place that brings her into
contact with a humorously ridiculous criminal named Flip. The two begin
adventures while asleep and seek to find magical pearls that can grant
wishes, in this case potentially leading to a reunion with the lost
father. In the end, the story teaches that real-life relationships are
more important than imaginary ones, as expected, but not before a
significant amount of sappiness along the journey. Director Francis
Lawrence had an active and very fruitful collaboration with composer
James Newton Howard for his films' scores, but for this Netflix project,
he instead hired rising star Pinar Toprak to provide an equivalent
result. Although active since the 2000's, her career had picked up with
mainstream assignments in the 2010's, and she had a particularly
outstanding year in 2022, which saw not only
Slumberland but also
The Lost City and her composition of the Thursday Night Football
theme for Amazon Prime on American television. This work easily
represented a pinnacle of her career, and it's clear that Lawrence had
either temped the film with immense quantities of Howard music or
instructed her to emulate it regardless.
Fortunately for Toprak, imitating Howard at the top of his
game unlocked the best in her writing as well. The composer approached
Slumberland with immensity in mind, yielding a dynamic symphonic
score with slight Celtic styling and variety of solo and group vocals of
high appeal. Her fantasy approach and execution sound like a cross
between Howard and Andrew Lockington in the latter's early 2010's
period. The outright action mode is very inspired by Howard alone,
though, especially at the height of "The Storm," and the main titles
animation at the end of the film strongly resembles the
Fantastic
Beasts and Where to Find Them franchise, as does Toprak's cue to
match. The handling of the various sections of the ensemble is really
commendable, with the orchestration in "Garbage Truck Chase"
particularly outstanding. The piano represents the family element per
usual, this time with sadness for the loss of the father as its intent.
(The girl also plays the instrument on screen.) All the typical sounds
of magical fantasy are present, from the tingling chimes to a harp that
accompanies the pearls at the end of the tale. Flutes provide frequent
presence at the very top of the range while the lower ends are all
organic, with no appreciable synthetic or bass-boosted power. As
expected, Toprak combines these ample lines of action with expert
counterpoint at key moments and a slew of themes that serve their duties
very well in the narrative. She coins themes for all the main characters
and several general concepts as well, with the heart of her work
existing in the main theme for Nemo and its two auxiliary supporting
lines that both serve as secondary phrasing, interludes, and standalone
identities of their own. The main theme is simple but alluring,
consisting of six notes prior to two similar three-note phrases that
recur on their own frequently as a reference to the whole journey.
Toprak sometimes smoothens the three-note phrases to remove the middle
note, which reduces the memorability of the theme but retains the same
harmonic purpose. This theme is absolutely prevalent in the score and
often mixes duties in the realm of fantasy and drama.
The main theme for
Slumberland debuts on
Lockington-styled ethereal female vocals at 0:30 into "Dreams" and
appears as a wonderful interlude to the Scottish tune in "The Parting
Glass." As altered for a more mysterious version leading to the
three-note phrases in "Bedtime Story," this alternate version of the
theme recurs late in "First Door," in the middle of "Adventure Begins &
Garbage Truck Chase," and late in "Jail Break." In its primary form, the
main theme for
Slumberland provides momentarily relief
interrupted by the nightmare motif at the end of "The Storm" and
occupies "New Room" on a solo piano in defeated hesitance and then
building a sense of defiance. It punctuates the action at 0:33 into
"Walking Bed" and at 1:59 in choral wonder mode before affording some
mystery later in "Finding Map." Its choral beauty persists at 2:38 into
"First Door" before the theme opens "Boat" on solo piano once again and
hints slightly at 1:31 into "Adventure Begins & Garbage Truck Chase" in
route to a humorously playful version at 2:40 that resembles Toprak's
material for the Flip character. As becomes typical for the theme, it
returns to piano at the outset of "Home Videos," switching to resonating
strings later in the cue; the three-note phrases are used in fragmentary
fashion here for the intentional incompleteness required by the plot.
The main theme really takes off in the last third of the score with
sentimental depth, its largest rendition yet for the ensemble coming at
1:21 into "Giant Geese" for stately majesty. The idea then stews with
nerves in the middle of "Entering the Sea of Nightmares," the three-note
phrases alone building hope in the latter stages of the scene. Extending
lightly on low celesta at the beginning of "Sneaking Out," the theme
consolidates on choir later, the solo female voice returning with allure
at 1:30. Toprak continues its presence on that solo voice of almost
siren intent at 0:21 into "Nemo Gets a Pearl" with abundant light
chimes, but it achieves massive size from the ensemble at 2:32 with
newly enhanced counterpoint lines. The choir and snare are especially
effective together with the other players during this sequence.
The solo piano persists at the start of "Flip Wakes Up" as
the character is figuratively adopted as family, and the composer
generates warmth on strings with the main theme thereafter, including a
notable solo violin passage. In this cue, the female vocals return again
at 2:02, the three-note phrases with cymbalom support becoming a
repetitive crescendo of fantasy. A monumentally large rendition of the
main theme then yields to a softly percussive conclusion. Once again,
the solo piano and celesta open "Nemo & Dad Reunite" with tender
fragmentary performances of the theme before a major emotional release
shifts the identity further into the melodramatic minor mode at 2:11.
The impact of the culmination of the main theme in "Nemo & Dad Reunite"
cannot be understated, as it remarkably overlaps the fantasy motif at
the height of the cue's midsection prior to its solemn maturation as the
piano and xylophone continue to define the theme's heartfelt resolution
later. In the aforementioned concluding cue, the idea satisfies at 0:18
into "Slumberland" for its concert-appropriate performance, returning at
1:17 on resounding brass. A partial solo piano statement closes the
album version of the cue, but this passage is not in the film. Toprak's
two ancillary motifs that function in tandem with the main theme or as
extensions of it include one for magical fantasy and another for
personal discovery. The fantasy motif is, like its sibling, either
formally an interlude or adjunct to the main theme or can be expressed
alone. A wavering, ascending phrase of hope and inspiration, this motif
is introduced on the solo female vocals at 0:46 into "Dreams" with
distinctly vintage Lockington character. Its underlying chords only
appear after the main theme in "Boat," and the same technique persists
at 0:56 into "Entering the Sea of Nightmares." It returns to the
parameters of its first "Dreams" performance at 1:39 and 2:17 into
"Sneaking Out" and flows directly out of the main theme early in "Flip
Wakes Up." Hugely impactful from the ensemble with new harmonics at 2:20
into "Nemo & Dad Reunite," this idea takes its turn as the secondary
sequence for the main theme at 1:29 into "Slumberland."
The other adjunct to the main theme in
Slumberland is a climbing sequence of yearning anticipation that
serves as the score's discovery motif during the girl's journey, both
outwardly and internally. Heard at 2:10 into "Walking Bed" as it
directly follows the main theme, it is expressed with reverence at the
end of "Boat" and mingles frequently with the main theme on piano in
"Home Videos." The discovery motif then bloats to grandiose scope at the
end of "Giant Geese," becomes cyclical in rhythmic form at 1:10 into
"Sneaking Out," and features with more depth of fantasy from the choir
at 0:46 and 2:11 into "Nemo Gets a Pearl," where it dominates the end of
the cue. The idea is lightly considerate with xylophone at 1:14 into
"Nemo & Dad Reunite" and moves to piano at 4:23 before generating large
group swells to close the story. It likewise functions in full, soaring
interlude duty to the main theme at 0:30 into "Slumberland." Together
with the main melody of Nemo's theme, these secondary lines are a
pleasure throughout. Three additional themes grace
Slumberland,
each confined to a character or concept more specifically. The outlier
is the identity for Jason Mamoa's funny Flip, the comedy relief but
important Slumberland alter ego for another real-life character.
Providing the children's comedy portion in the form of an ascending
eight-note phrase of quirky personality, this theme allows more
instrumental coloration to Toprak, including accents from an accordion.
Well-handled and easily distinguishable from everything else in the
work, this theme opens the summarizing "Flip" on viola and brass with
silly comic grinning as its intent. Don't expect much satisfying
variation in this theme during the revelations of the narrative, though
you will hear it with more restraint at 0:47 into "First Door," at which
point its otherwise elusive secondary lines are explored at 2:14. The
theme drunkenly stumbles back at 0:30 into "Adventure Begins & Garbage
Truck Chase" and blurts throughout "Jail Break" with its usual sly humor
on brass, but it sadly doesn't transfer to more serious tones for the
Philip character in later cues, even after the girl determines that Flip
represents his other side.
The father's theme is a unique highlight of the score,
based on the main phrases of the traditional Scottish tune, "The Parting
Glass." An early, on-screen piano performance by Nemo in "The Parting
Glass" has lovely string overlays, including a notable fiddle line. This
piece is expressed fully in "Notification" with beautiful lamentation
from exotic woodwind and strings, and it receives joyous closure at 3:00
into "Nemo & Dad Reunite" in one major statement. For the darker side of
the story, Toprak provides a nightmare motif, a very Howard-like,
four-note phrase of menace in the lower ranges. Frightening at the ends
of "Bedtime Story" and, in abbreviated form, "The Storm," this
distinctive melody ominously threatens at 3:02 into "First Door" and is
massively brassy at 0:40 into "Squid Attack." It proceeds in rousing
Howard horror fantasy mode with choir in "Truck Submerged" and
interrupts the discovery motif at 0:56 and 1:16 into "Nemo Gets a
Pearl." Of all these themes, it's ironically the traditional tune used
for the father that garners the most attention. With its main theme
integration and source-like piano performance, "The Parting Glass" is a
very popular sheet music target, which isn't surprising given the
popularity of the tune and its prominent placement during a lovely scene
of the lighthouse in the film. Overall,
Slumberland is a
delightful fantasy adventure score, the kind of immense children's music
that so rarely exists. The work is generally very listenable, with
infrequent passages of dissonance, and the presentation on album really
kicks into high gear from "Giant Geese" onward. The only detraction is
the disruptive, Latin song "Aguanile" just prior to the credits. There
are some other lingering points of dissatisfaction with this music
despite all its fantastic qualities, though. The mix of the score on
album is a little dull, the dynamic range mashed together at times; the
film's mix of the music has more vibrance to it. Along those lines, the
album also does not contain the film version of some cues, most notably
the pivotal "Slumberland" titles at the end. That suite has a far
livelier mix accenting different players and a distinct conclusion in
its film version, though its truncation isn't as pleasurable for
emotional closure. That said,
Slumberland remains a high point
for Toprak, and its final third is nothing less than phenomenal,
propelling this score into the top ranks of 2022.
@Amazon.com: CD or
Download
- Music as Written for the Film: *****
- Music as Heard on Album: ****
- Overall: ****
There exists no official packaging for this album.
