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| Silvestri |
Pinocchio: (Alan Silvestri/Glen Ballard) For years,
Disney pondered how to adapt its 1940 animated classic,
Pinocchio
to the live-action digital era. The transition wasn't necessary except
for the studio's relentless push to reimagine all of its original
animated favorites, and this story presented challenges that eventually
fell to director Robert Zemeckis to solve. There have been countless
cinematic retellings of the 1883 Italian story, but 2022's
Pinocchio represented Disney's own, best attempt to modernize the
production values of the tale. Aside from some relatively minor
alterations to the plot, including diminishment of the Blue Fairy, the
2022 story remains faithful to the classic film. Elderly woodcarver
Geppetto of a small 1895 Italian town mourns the loss of this son and
wishes upon a star that the boy be brought back to life. The Blue Fairy
honors that wish to make Geppetto's puppet recreation alive, and Jiminy
Cricket, among other animal characters, try to help Pinocchio be an
honest soul and thus become a real boy permanently. Not surprisingly, he
gets caught up in trouble with a theatre group and ends up on an island
for disobedient children who, because they make jackasses of themselves,
are turned into donkeys for labor. Pinocchio must escape the island,
find Geppetto, who sought out to recover him but gets swallowed by a
whale, and reconcile their relationship. The headline appeal of this
poorly-received
Pinocchio remake is Tom Hanks in the role of
Geppetto, though some liberties were taken to modernize the soundtrack
as well. Many of the foundational decisions about the songs and score
for the film were decided by Zemeckis, who recognized the need to find a
blend of the classic songs and, for updated dramatic elements of the
story, a handful of new ones. Purists will recoil at any deviation from
the 1940 songs by Leigh Harline and the score adapted out of them by
Paul J. Smith, as that soundtrack won an Academy Award and is long
considered a true Disney classic. Its opening song, "When You Wish Upon
a Star," is so famous that the studio has used it extensively as its
official logo music.
One could argue that composer Alan Silvestri and
songwriter/lyricist Glen Ballard were dealt an impossible hand with
Pinocchio, but they managed to provide Zemeckis with the updates
he was seeking. When they arrived on the scene, the film was already
spotted with three of Harline's classic songs, and Zemeckis had
identified the position of four new ones, including a dominant entry for
the villain, the Coachman who takes the kids to Pleasure Island.
Silvestri's history with Zemeckis is extensive, of course, and Ballard
collaborated with Silvestri on the songs for
The Polar Express to
much acclaim, including a Grammy win. The 1940 soundtrack had helped to
establish the Disney musical process of taking the melodies from the
songs and extending them into the score, and since the filmmakers of the
2022 version didn't consider the movie to be a "musical," its
re-envisioning got caught in ambiguity over that definition. The three
surviving songs from 1940, "When You Wish Upon a Star,"
"Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee, An Actor's Life for Me," and "I've Got No Strings"
are dropped into this film without any connection to other material. The
Harline melodies for those songs permeated the 1940 score, but they have
absolutely no impact upon this one. In fact, the "When You Wish Upon a
Star" reprise at the finale of the film is itself completely missing, a
teased Jiminy Cricket version used over the opening logo (not on the
album) and the full song simply placed over the end credits. The
re-recording of these three songs is fine, with the "When You Wish Upon
a Star" performance by Cynthia Erivo particularly moving, but expect
these renditions to be shorter than their 1940 equivalents. Sadly, the
brief duration of all the songs in this version of
Pinocchio is a
significant problem, as it reinforces the feeling that the songs were
mandatory needle-drop inclusions rather than vital narrative
contributors. Some of the songs are so intertwined with score material
in their own confines that the mood of the vocals fails to take hold.
Without repeat enunciation of the main melody and chorus sequences for
each song, it becomes impossible for the casual listener to identify
that melody when it transitions into the score. The songs themselves are
also too short to appreciate on album.
One of the most disappointing complicating factors with
the new songs of
Pinocchio is Hanks' abysmal performance of his
two entries, making Emma Watson's head-spinning auto-tuning for the 2017
remake of
Beauty and the Beast sound somewhat reasonable. Hanks
speaks most of his lines and is out of tune the rest of the time,
further obscuring already obtuse melodies provided by Ballard and
Silvestri. Surely, he plays a broken man in his first song, but that
doesn't totally excuse the choppy performance. The tragedy of "When He
Was Here With Me" is that it provides the melody that should most impact
the score. Whereas the Harline song melodies don't carry over for
Silvestri, those in the four new songs definitely do, and that of "When
He Was Here With Me" falters in the score because Hanks doesn't make it
clear enough in the songs. This issue is exacerbated by the fact that
the instrumental backing for that song doesn't help Hanks along by
amplifying the lines of the melody, a typical technique for assisting a
spoken or otherwise poor vocal performance. With such an awful
performance, it's difficult to therefore classify "When He Was Here With
Me" as a song, and its melody gets lost as a result. What little
phrasing does shine through has the faint hallmarks of an Alan Menken
melody. Those passages do recur relatively frequently in Silvestri's
score, pretty in the middle of "You Should Have a Name of Your Own" and
at 0:26 into "Am I Real" and thereafter. It's tender in the latter half
of "Off to School," emerges on piano in the waning portions of "This
Will Be Your Home," offers brief reminders in the middle of "He Sold His
Clocks to Find Me," and shows hints early in "We're All Here," though
casual listeners may not notice any of these tangential references.
Hanks' other song is "Pinocchio, Pinocchio," a laughably exuberant entry
that fits well with Harline style of songs but is obliterated by
Ballard's embarrassingly poor lyrics and terrible Hanks singing. This
melody is highly distinctive, though, and while fragments peek through
in the bubbly start to "Off to School," they open the first half minute
of "Famous!" more clearly. Both of these songs are ineffective alongside
the Harline originals, and don't expect many listeners to gravitate
towards them on album.
The other two new songs from Ballard and Silvestri for
Pinocchio also highlight the awkwardness of these additions
overall. Starting as a decently yearning, romantic, aspirational ballad
is "I Will Always Dance," but it suddenly shifts gears to explore wild
Latin flair that represents the strangest inclusion on the soundtrack.
The script must have demanded this explosion, but it shouldn't have. The
ballad portion explores quite a good melody in its primary phrasing, but
it's badly underutilized in the song and elsewhere. This main phrase of
the song at 0:42 informs the "Sabina's Waltz" score cue and is
suppressed with tragedy about a minute into "This Will Be Your Home,"
returning only to flutter in the first minute of "I Have an Idea." The
villain's song in
Pinocchio exercises the most potential, and
it's the only idea to receive something of a reprise. The underlying
rhythmic formations of "The Coachman to Pleasure Island" are dominant
even if the melody is nebulous. The song itself is buoyed by Luke Evans'
spirited and pitch-aware performances, shifting to a secondary ditty in
its latter half. In the score, the melody is introduced at 0:26 into
"The Collection," with some nice variations throughout. The personality
of its children's choir extends to "Pleasure Island," where that
ensemble becomes more serious in quasi-Danny Elfman fantasy mode late in
the cue, and Evans' reprise of his vocals closes the cue. This material
becomes rambunctious for a moment late in "I Wonder Where Everybody Is"
and blasts at 2:37 into "Somebody Help Me." While these references to
the song in Silvestri's score are commendable, they are often
underplayed. In the 1940 score, Smith referenced both Harline's material
and offered some motifs of his own, and Silvestri took the same very
basic route here. But less heralded are the moments in 2022's
Pinocchio that supply nods in its score to Smith's work.
Stylistically, the two scores are quite similar, with orchestral colors
often matching in equivalent cues. Accordion usage persists from the
1940 score for the school and society concepts, for instance. Passages
dominated by bassoons in one score will often feature the same in the
other. In many ways, Silvestri has simply modernized the techniques used
by Smith to flesh out the 1940 score, though the 2022 alternative is
less cartoonish on the whole.
While Silvestri does provide his own set of themes not
related to the new song melodies in
Pinocchio, he does throw some
tributes to Smith's 1940 work. At times, it seems that Silvestri might
have intended to carry over the Blue Fairy theme, as heard in parts of
the first half of Smith's "The Blue Fairy" and softened for the first
minute of "He's Alive." Likewise, early parts of Smith's "Off to School"
inform Silvestri's "Famous," a descending lament in "Lesson in Lies"
previews similar phrasing from Silvestri for sadness, Smith's
"Desolation Theme" haunts first half of "He Sold His Clocks to Find Me,"
and descending brass lines from 1940's "Monstro Awakens" (a cue known
for its unique orchestrations in that score) return in "Monstro
Attacks." Despite these references, the score for 2022's
Pinocchio is totally saturated with Silvestri's own mannerisms.
Carl Stalling comparisons will inevitably result during the first half
of the soundtrack. Comedy elements from
Mouse Hunt and
Stuart
Little that were repackaged in
The Witches are more frequent
contributors, the 2020 score serving as a template for the suspense,
drama, and action of
Pinocchio. Choral usage is rare and subtle
in the mix, most impactful at the end of "He's Alive" and start of "Am I
Real." Listeners who adore Silvestri's rhythmic technique of double
snare hits for determined movement will hear it return at 0:10 into
"Here He Comes," the best percussive action cue for snare in the score.
Silvestri provides a main identity for Pinocchio and Geppetto's
relationship and secondary ideas for characters and suspense. The main
theme takes time to develop in the score, its structure beginning with
two, five-note phrases and only the final note differing. It sounds like
a typical John Debney theme and is usually performed by strings in its
clearest performances. Expect the idea to become entangled with the
"When He Was Here With Me" song melody in some cues. After being hinted
early in "I Can Talk and So Can You," its first full performance at the
forefront comes at 1:10 in that cue. It's brief at 0:44 in "Famous!" and
very slightly opens "Get Me Outta' Here" in minor mode, turning
suspenseful in the latter half. Fragments of the theme stumble in the
first minute of "A Lie Can Really Change a Person," becoming more
focused later in the cue and closing it nicely with fuller
exuberance.
Silvestri's main theme for
Pinocchio continues
to clarify as adversity increasingly defines the story, figuring
occasionally into action but more frequently sliding into duties as a
tool of redemption for the final familial reunion. It struggles against
the Coachman material in the middle of "Pleasure Island," receives
altered harmonics early in "He Sold His Clocks to Find Me," and starts
to dominate the score in "I Have an Idea," both in tender drama and
action; several major performances occupy the latter half of this cue.
The theme's interlude sequence opens "Monstro Attacks" broadly, its main
phrases shifting to pure action minor mode in massive brass and closing
with a dramatic return to major key on strings. It's fragmented
throughout "Here He Comes" and barely informs "I Have to Help Him." The
main theme figures strongly in the final few cues, opening "We're All
Here" on flute and handed off nicely to other woodwinds, celesta, and
strings before a Disney-perfect, victorious finale performance closes
out the story with noble brass counterpoint. All of "Pinocchio Main
Title" is dedicated to an extended arrangement of this theme and its
interlude in happy, key-shifting glory, and this track on the album
gives the idea some reasonable prospects as an ear worm. Even in this
title performance, however, there is a certain sense of wholesome
anonymity to this theme, its demeanor perfect but its progressions not
reaching out to grab your memory. The secondary motifs in
Pinocchio suffer the same fate, but at least they convey
mannerisms extremely familiar to Silvestri's past and will appeal to his
collectors. Listeners not paying close attention to the score will
probably miss all of them, their purely vintage Silvestri character,
often defined by two-note phrasing not unusual for him, prevailing over
their narrative purpose. A motif for Jiminy Cricket is built upon
whimsically descending two-note phrases that open "Jiminy Cricket's the
Name" and "He's Alive," recurring at 1:41 into "Get Me Outta' Here" and
0:26 into "A Lie Can Really Change a Person." A theme of wonder may
serve dual purpose for the Blue Fairy, and this motif consists of
ascending two-note phrases in call and answer form. It's first heard at
1:38 into "He's Alive" on light chorus, strings, and celesta, opens "Am
I Real," and continues at 0:53 into "A Lie Can Really Change a Person,"
0:11 and 0:48 into "I Have to Help Him," and 0:41 into "We're All
Here."
In these secondary themes of
Pinocchio, avid
Silvestri enthusiasts will hear an undeniable connection to
The
Witches. This similarity especially applies to the composer's
suspense motif, which is built upon five ascending notes on metallic
percussion and then three-note descents on strings. It's a copy and
paste job by Silvestri, but not entirely an unwelcome one, as the music
continues to appeal. This suspense motif a la
The Witches can be
heard at 1:05 into "He's Alive," 0:31 into "Famous," and more
generalized early in "This Will Be Your Home" before making later cameos
early in "The Collection" and at 0:56 into "Somebody Help Me." Because
of these reminiscing moments and the sprinkling of Harline-informed
Smith material from the 1940 score, 2022's
Pinocchio is a score
that constantly reminds you of things you've heard before. For
apologists of Silvestri who love hearing the nostalgia of a 1980's
composer still churning out a dose of orchestral magic in between
slapping labels on his vineyard's bottles of wine, such familiarity
remains a treat. Especially alluring with
Pinocchio is an
outstanding recording mix that makes the work one of the composer's most
dynamic. The spread of instrumentation, particularly in the humorous
woodwind passages early, is stellar, and the full ensemble sequences
later are resounding. Those who appreciate perfect doses of reverb will
find few Silvestri scores so wet. This characteristic carries over to
the instrumentals of the songs, too; the voices above are a little too
loud in the forefront, but that's typical for these musicals and can be
forgiven. In the end,
Pinocchio is a really superb Silvestri
score that sounds fantastic, the composer pulling all the right heart
strings for his fans. Unfortunately, he doesn't pull all of the right
strings on Pinocchio himself, for the soundtrack as a whole isn't a
great representation of the concept. The three returning Harline songs
seem forced, "When You Wish Upon a Star" doesn't fully encompass the
narrative as well as needed, and the new songs have substandard
melodies, inconsistent presentations, and Hanks' wretched performances.
You can tell that Zemeckis couldn't decide whether or not this movie was
a musical, because he seemed compelled to provide the songs but shorten
them, including the new ones, as much as possible. As such, their
effectiveness is diminished and may frustrate concept purists. Silvestri
collectors, on the other hand, will be halfway to Pleasure Island with
this barely Pinocchio-associated children's score.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
| Bias Check: |
For Alan Silvestri reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.47
(in 43 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.33
(in 40,196 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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