In the process of writing the score and one song for the
picture, Elfman comments, "I've done 60 films, but I can only think of
maybe 6 that went this smoothly." Unbothered by the rest of the film's
problems, Elfman seems to have latched on to both the emotions of the
story and its array of quirky characters and run with "stuff like Carl
Stalling" while also writing "big themes" in a "funny retro attitude."
Perhaps most telling of Elfman's score would be his statement that "the
family's so over the top and what sparked me is that their movements are
so quick and sudden." For Elfman collectors, the age of
Pee Wee
immediately comes to mind. Elfman's contribution to
Meet the
Robinsons featured a short, but robust recording with a 90-member
ensemble, as well as a chorus which gets considerable airtime in the
score. "The choral music adds more color," Elfman comments. "They can do
things that no other instrument can do." And it is indeed the group of
singers that creates the tone of the score. His employment of the choir
is similar in style to
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,
shifting them from traditional wordless performances to lyrical,
song-like incantations on a whim. When you step back from
Meet the
Robinsons and look at the all of the score's parts in sum, it's
still hard to think of it as anything other than a collection of
extremely faithful and predictable Elfmanisms, leaving the cohesiveness
of the whole somewhat in doubt. A very dry recording mix cheapens the
size of the ensemble, accentuating the choppiness of the strings'
perpetually staggered performances.
It's an "Elfman stream of consciousness" score, moving
from the rhythms of
Flubber to the instrumentation of
Mars
Attacks!, the stark gothic demeanor of
The Nightmare Before
Christmas, the brassy bombast of
Beetlejuice, the sensitive
modern emotions of
The Family Man, the sly thematic style of
Men in Black, and the outwardly explosive schizophrenia of
Pee
Wee's Big Adventure all within a minute or two. A definite return to
his roots in the 1980's is on display, not necessarily in the rock
elements, but in the pure zaniness of the conceptual constructs.
Frankly, if James Horner attracts detractors due to his self-ripoff
artistry, then Elfman deserves the same detractors here for being so
readily predictable. That doesn't mean, as usual, that the music isn't
effective. Elfman provides a theme for young Lewis in the lead, as well
as appropriately cartoonish ideas for the family and the evil bowler
hat. Aside from Lewis' primary theme, however, which brackets the film
well (especially coming around in "A Family United"), none of Elfman's
themes are presented in an easily transparent fashion. You quickly get
the impression that texture and atmosphere were primary. The future is
treated with Elfman's trademark electric organ, retro female choral
cuteness, and the theremin (which, when combined with the organ, seems
like overkill). Combining these elements together in "Pop Quiz" creates
an effect so annoyingly packaged in bright, hip retro attitude that you
almost wish some
To Die For guitars would let rip into it.
There's an aspect of
Meet the Robinsons that keeps you glued to
it, and yet you set yourself up for that sudden moment where the bubble
in your brain pops and you just have to get away from it.
If you find little value or humor in
Charlie and the
Chocolate Factory,
Flubber, and
Mars Attacks!, then
Meet the Robinsons will similarly irritate you. It's really a
procedural extension of Elfman's
Pee Wee music, but without the
suite-like format of consistency from scene to scene. Only a handful of
cues in
Meet the Robinsons last long enough to establish a mood,
and that delightful sense of wonder that Elfman often infuses into his
work is largely replaced here by a sense of crazed,
attention-deficit-induced mania. There are individual moments that stand
out as a better representation of Elfman's previous efforts, including
the lengthier choral performances in the lower ranges (as heard in
"Goob's Story" and "The Evil Plan," the latter of which will likely be
the favorite cue for those whose brains can't handle Elfman's frantic
pace). The only song written by Elfman for
Meet the Robinsons was
"The Future has Arrived," a twisted, teenie-bopper rock extension of the
retro sound heard in the "To the Future!" score track. The remainder of
the original songs were composed by Rufus Wainwright, Jamie Callum, and
Rob Thomas, as inspired by the film's story, and while none of their
light rock contributions is either spectacular or detrimental, their
differing styles (along with Elfman's own song) cause the block of songs
some consistency problems. The same wild variation plagues the final two
songs, which together don't make any sense whatsoever (outside of
commercialistic goals). Overall, the 30 minutes of Elfman score are so
wild in pacing and stylistic reinvention that the half hour will seem
like a whole one on album. It's a "best of" compilation of Elfman's
previous ideas haphazardly thrown together in a package that ranges from
highly entertaining to completely insufferable in parts. Fun? Yes.
Listenable? Good question. If you consider yourself a die-hard Elfman
nut, then this is your test.
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