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Danny Elfman's Epic (2013 animated movie)


Jay

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It's called "Epic", and its from Blue Sky Studios (They made Ice Age 1-4, Robots, and Rio). Here's the trailer:

The reason John Powell is not scoring it is because he is taking a sabbatical to spend time with his family

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I wish Elfman would leave for a while the animation/fantasy/comic type of scoring with the celestas/choir/small cells composition, and make something else.

Still I'm waiting to hear something like Sommersby which is among his best scores.

Why doesn't anyone hire him for a romantic drama?

or a romantic period drama? that would be new!

It's a pity that many composers are typecasted.

Same goes for Christopher Young.

Murded in the First is a masterpiece, and he's only offered thrillers to score.

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I also wish Elfman tackled more dramas and stuff like that. Judging from the few he's done, that's where he would excel most, I feel.

Karol

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It's a pity that many composers are typecasted.

Same goes for Christopher Young.

Murded in the First is a masterpiece, and he's only offered thrillers to score.

Christopher Young is that guy who gets The Dark Knight as temptrack and writes that final cue of Priest as an answer demolishing the original in the process. He's someone to take into account.

I wish Elfman would leave for a while the animation/fantasy/comic type of scoring with the celestas/choir/small cells composition, and make something else.

Still I'm waiting to hear something like Sommersby which is among his best scores.

Shit, I still have barely listened to that one.

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You should be ashamed of yourself, Chaac. If there is one essential non-obvious Elfman score one should be listening to, it would be this one. Gorgeous work!

Karol

Agreed. Along with Black Beauty Sommersby is some of Elfman's best music and it is a shame he doesn't have chances to write much music in this vein. I thought both scores as delightful surprises from the first time I heard them.

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It's a really great score, but very different from typical Elfman. In fact you wouldn't have guessed he wrote it.

Speaking of Elfman's drama score, I heard some bits of Promised Land earlier today and I must say it's rather good.

Karol

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It's a really great score, but very different from typical Elfman. In fact you wouldn't have guessed he wrote it.

Speaking of Elfman's drama score, I heard some bits of Promised Land earlier today and I must say it's rather good.

Karol

I agree on Promised Land, Good stuff from what i've heard so far. I also agree about Black Beauty. Great score that doesn't sound like the normal Danny. I'd also recommend GOOD WILL HUNTING. Also very different territory for Elfman. I think ( and someone please let me know if i'm wrong) he got an Oscar nomination for that.

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  • 4 weeks later...

It certainly sounds like Elfman but luckily he is doing something a bit different here than in his usually dark and quirky fantasy scores. The music has a nice swash and buckle feel to it. He obviously was allowed to paint in large broad strokes here.

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Elfman has really returned to form after some rough years. Can't wait to hear the whole CD!

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Iris, Hitchcock, Silver Linings Playbook, and Promised Land were great!

Dark Shadows, MIB3, and Frankenweenie not so much

Still haven't listened to OZ

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Iris, Hitchcock, Silver Linings Playbook, and Promised Land were great!

Dark Shadows, MIB3, and Frankenweenie not so much

Still haven't listened to OZ

Iris is great, Oz is very good, Hitchcock and Promised Land are good, and the rest is meh.

The last excellent Elfman score was The Wolfman.

This one sounds like it could be either of them.

Karol

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I have a problem with Alice. On one hand I absolutely adore the main theme and how it's used throughout the score. It's a true Elfman classic. But... everything else... well, I can't remember any of it. And I've been trying to love it for years now. I'd call it good because of Alice's theme.

Oz is a similar score so many people find it derivative. To an extent they're right - you can hear Elfman's ideas from different works. One of the main themes sounds like something from Charlotte's Web, one song sounds like Oompa Loompa song, stuff like that. But I just find it more impressive as a whole. And the main Oh Canada-like theme is brilliantly used. You'll think one of the two things - it's either derivative and tired, or an impressive display of much-loved Elfmanisms. I think it is among his very best fantasy scores and find myself listening to the Intrada album very often.

Karol

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It's one of those scores you don't see coming. Closer to John Powell territory somewhat. One of the themes is a close cousing to Oz theme. But other than that it remains quite fresh. I like it quite a bit. 2013 is already a better year than the previous one in terms of new music.

Karol

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About as interesting as THE CROODs by Silvestri. Very nice, non-offending, totally unsurprising. I have grown out this kind of filmmusic long time ago...i just have too many templates from this in my collection already.

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I finally listened to this on Spotify today, and I liked it a lot!

Surprised nobody has pointed out the similarities it has with the score to Brave.

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  • 1 month later...

I just can't get enough of this score - it's definitely one of the best of 2013. Elfman had a lot of fun with it. I enjoy it immensely more than Oz The Great And Powerful.

BTW, here are some pics from the recording sessions!

http://www.scoringsessions.com/news/256/

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They're both solid by my book. But, as you both say, hardly exceptional in the grand scheme of things (if there is such a thing).

Karol

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