Filmtracks Traffic Rank: #317
Written 1/28/02, Revised 2/1/09
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Buy it... if you still have enough innocent prepubescent mentality
to find John Debney's dainty and classically-inclined (but sufficiently
contemporary) music to be a rewardingly upbeat experience.
Avoid it... if scores constructed purely out of cotton candy give
you nothing more than heartburn.
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| Debney |
The Princess Diaries: (John Debney) The story of
The Princess Diaries has been around for decades, but Walt Disney
Pictures gave it a royal makeover and aimed it at prepubescent kids and
teenagers alike in this 2001 film adaptation. The Disney version
starring Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews relies on charm and elegance to
win the hearts of the audience rather than the typical slapstick kind of
attractions being used in similarly targeted films. Energetic,
predictable, and often far-fetched, the franchise-inducing film did
modernize the story by using a selection of contemporary songs to
heighten its appeal to young girls, and many of these songs were placed
on the obligatory soundtrack compilation album. The film's genuine
heart, however, necessitated a gentle fairy tale underscore, and John
Debney was the Disney's usual man for this type of job. Attempting to
avoid corniness wherever possible, Debney's task was to score a fantasy
teen romance flick in royal settings with only a moderately sized
orchestral ensemble and a handful of extremely short cue spots in which
to do it. The score needed to fit the film in pieces that were typically
no longer than a minute, making it more difficult to produce a coherent
whole. The end result of Debney's tinkering is the score that anyone
could have easily expected all along. For a straight forward and
surprisingly un-hip approach to the The Princess Diaries story,
Debney's score is equally square and conservative. Aside from the work's
fragmented placement, the most difficult aspect of Debney's job was to
combine his modern light guitar work with the waltz rhythmed orchestral
representation of royalty (which is a stereotype that nearly anyone can
buy into since waltzes exhibit an atmosphere of snobbery that functions
perfectly for current ears). The instrumentation extends to the
extensive use of a piano for the normal family setting, light synthetic
percussion for the contemporary interactions, and even, strangely, a
harmonica for short contribution of lamentation. The drawbacks of the
score are few, but they typically involve the attempt by Debney to
"royalize" his material to suit young Mia Thermopolis' discovery that
she'll be the queen of an obscure European country.
The theme that Debney employs for the film compensates
for the score's choppy entrances and exits by going into overkill in its
application. Its statements are numerous and seemingly constant,
inserted into nearly every cue in some form or another. The most
remarkable quality of the simple, elegant theme is Debney's ability to
make it flexible enough to fit into everything from a solo piano
performance to a full blown waltz. Its prominent role in the film
translates into several enjoyable cues on the album; Debney has arranged
the cues so that you get a rotating taste of his material in a wide
range of rhythm and instrumentation. The opening and closing cues, with
the theme accompanied by an official head of state snare, are the
highlights. The light guitar music, representing the budding romance
between the princess and a friend, is also a highlight. Staying true to
the spirit of both Julie Andrews and the film's unwavering goodness,
Debney's music borders on becoming tedious in its consistently fluffy
major-key prancing. Several almost parody-level rips of techniques
common to classical music are also somewhat tiresome. The softer
performances of the theme, most often performed by piano with light
percussion, are a more enjoyable listen apart from the film than the
dramatic flights of fancy by the whole orchestra, though their merging
in "Mia's Decision" is a highlight. The pieces serving as source music,
such as "Mia Visits the Consulate" and "Harp Interlude," break up the
contemporary appeal that the score otherwise puts forth. That duality,
though, was inevitable, and Debney should be commended anyway for his
functionally light-hearted and appealing work for
The Princess
Diaries. The score was unlike Debney's numerous comedy efforts of
the era, such as the slapsticky
Cats & Dogs prior in the year,
and could be classified as a straight romance score. The album is short
in length, reflecting the concentration by Disney on the separate song
compilation album. There really isn't a reason to hear more of this
score, however, and for a plethora of reasons, it's surprising to see it
on its own album at all. While it won't appeal to the majority of film
score enthusiasts, those of you who are sappy Rachel Portman or Patrick
Doyle fans may find considerable merit in its thematic simplicity and
upbeat performances.
*** @Amazon.com: CD or
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Bias Check:
For John Debney reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.33
(in 56 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.1
(in 49,960 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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