Search - John Debney :: Elf [Original Motion Picture Score]

The divergent marketing concerns of many a modern Hollywood film have increasingly led to the issuing of individual song-scores and traditional orchestral soundtracks for the same film, releases that sometimes seem completely at artistic cross-purposes. John Debney?s effervescent score for Jon Favreau?s loopy Christmas fantasy is a happy exception. Perfectly complementing a song-score that leans on Favreau?s decidedly hipster retro-lounge affections, Debney has concocted playful orchestral cues that careen with the same buoyant sense of innocent abandon as Will Ferrell?s star-crossed title character. The composer?s swinging "Christmas Medley" here wouldn?t seem at all out of place on its song-score companion piece, while his musical portrayal of the Elves and their magic holiday world is dominated by a whistling chorus that?s just ever so-slightly off. It?s instrumental holiday music fueled by a refreshing sense of fun ? and a little contemporary, ironic sass. --Jerry McCulley