Alice in Wonderland was released March 2, 2010.When the creative forces of Tim Burton and Danny Elfman come together there is almost always reason to rejoice and Alice in Wonderland is clearly no exception. In the tradition of the dynamic duo’s most phantasmagorical works such as Edward Scissorhands, Batman, Batman Returns, and Sleepy Hollow there is a a supremely gothic and mystical essence that perhaps no other composer and director captures quite so deftly.
The music takes us on a journey - which if you have read any of my other reviews - is a surefire way to get me excited about a film score album. If music has no variance, no highs or lows, where is the interest and intrigue? Elfman takes us down the rabbit hole, through the dangers and beauties of Wonderland, and back out again with a smooth, varied, and exciting progression.
There are two major themes that dominate this score:
“Alice’s Theme” and Alice's "coming-of-age" theme. After listening to the score numerous times I have come to think of “Alice’s Theme” as the child Alice who is unsure about crossing from childhood into womanhood, while Alice's "coming-of-age" theme is a thematic idea that represents the reality Alice is hit with at the proposal party and how she handles the situation as a grown up individual. The "coming-of-age" theme is much more restrained and delicately beautiful, performed primarily on flute, while “Alice’s Theme” is urgent, mesmerizing, and gothicly stunning with string ostinato and soprano boy choir and soloists creating the ultimate dream-like atmosphere.
Even when the two themes representing our heroine are not present there is still much to enjoy creating a coherent and thoroughly entertaining listening experience. The eerie and odd textures that Elfman creates for Absolem, the caterpillar, which is somewhat mystically religious and the Chesire Cat, which carries a chilled vibe make for interesting musical interpretations of these characters.
The one thing I feel is missing is the battle music. The actual tracks featured for the end battle total to about 5 minutes and that is basically just the "book-ends". Hopefully the actual battle music will be made available someday on an extended or complete score release.
Otherwise, we are treated, early in 2010, to a brand new Danny Elfman classic that is sure to find its way into any Elfman or fantasy fan's heart.
Tracklisting:
1. Alice's Theme: A wonderfully strong start to a fantastic score! Fully lyrical with whirring strings, pounding drums, flighty flutes and soprano boy choir. *****
2. Little Alice: A brief cue that introduces us to Alice and her family in the beginning of the film. Glockenspiel and woodwinds dominate. ***
3. Proposal / Down the Hole: This cue starts out rather calmly for the proposal scene featuring the "coming-of-age" theme, but quickly segues into a slightly toned down version of "Alice's Theme" before ending with the frenetic
"down the hole" music. ****
4. Doors: "Doors" is basically an atmospheric track with unnerving string slides and light glockenspiel tones. ***
5. Drink Me: Another descriptive track, "Drink Me" is almost identical in flavor and instrumentation to "Doors", but with an addition of the choir softly "ahhing" in the background. I actually find these two cues to be quickly forgettable. ***
6. Into the Garden: Another too brief track, over as soon as it starts. **
7. Alice Reprise #1: Beautiful soprano boy choir track, but extremely short. ***
8. Bandersnatched: One of the better action tracks of the score, it showcases some hints of Elfman's Batman score complete with cathedral organ, choir, and driving percussion. ****
9. Finding Absolem: Esoteric and brooding, this makes for a good ambience track as well as featuring a brief statement of Alice's coming-of-age theme in french horn which is quite nice. ****
10. Alice Reprise #2: The second of five total reprises of "Alice's theme" which is more of a solo this go-round. Lovely, ethereal stuff. ****
11. The Cheshire Cat: The choir work in this particular track reminds me of the way Elfman utilized the voices in the woods sequences of Sleepy Hollow. Another good track for setting the mysterious and sometimes ominous tone of Wonderland. It ends strong with a building of "Alice's theme" complete with the lyrics "oh how will you find your way?" ****
12. Alice And Bayard's Journey: Who doesn't love a good "journey" track? It really gets going around a minute in and actually becomes very epic in nature. Unfortunately it does die back down after another moment giving way to the creepy elements of Wonderland - though it still retains interest. ****
13. Alice Reprise #3: My favorite reprise besides #5 because of the completely mystical, music box effect. ****
14. Alice Escapes: Only a moment long, this track is full force ahead - a wonderously unrestrained version of
"Alice's Theme." ****
15. The White Queen: An extremely brief recap of "Alice's theme". **
16. Only A Dream: One of my favorite presentations of Alice's "coming-of-age" theme which is quite gorgeous. ****
17. The Dungeon: This track is all about the ambience - leaning on the underscore side, though it still maintains the feel of the album. What's amusing is the first 30 second's string ostinato sounds like the track "Salvation" from last year's Terminator Salvation by Elfman is about to begin. ***
18. Alice Decides: A great momentum building cue, very enjoyable and gloriously over-the-top with full
orchestra and choir. ****1/2
19. Alice Reprise #4: A pleasant recapitulation of "Alice's Theme" before the brief battle music breaks. ****
20. Going To Battle: In league with "Bandersnatched", "Alice Escapes", and "Alice Decides" - this cue is thoroughly enjoyable with racing strings, cymbal crashes, and the omnipresent "Alice's Theme". ****
21. The Final Confrontation: There was some clear editing done between "Going To Battle" and this cue which is kind of disheartening, considering it would have easily been a 5 star score if they had retained more of the battle material and not smoothed over the true action music in 4-5 minutes. Oh well, it still offers about 30 seconds of strong material in the beginning of the cue. ****
22. Blood Of The Jabberwocky: I don't know why, but I picture the Hobbits saying goodbye to the elves in Return of the King right before leaving for the Grey Havens. Anyway, this is a lovely little piece to start wrapping up the score. ****
23. Alice Returns: Alice returns to reality and having to grow up very quickly upon her departure from Wonderland. We hear a statement of the "coming-of-age" theme almost seeming to battle it out with the child "Alice's theme", but now "Alice's theme" is much more sturdy with less busy strings but still a sense of wonderment, backed by choir. ****
24. Alice Reprise #5: Just as good as the first presentation of "Alice's theme" which is sure to be stuck in anyone's head by this time for weeks upon end, is less on the lyrics side, but definitely still as lyrical. A wee bit more mystical, the solo boy soprano comes in first, singing "oh how will you find your way" before the music box type effects lead into the full boy's choir taking control until the ending notes. ****1/2
Overall ScoreCrave Score: ****
Replay Value: ****
Sound Quality: ****
Length: ****
Thematic Content: *****
Originality: ****
Composition: *****
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