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I liked THE RUNDOWN, too. It reminded me of MIDNIGHT RUN (a classic in the genre as far as I’m concerned) in some ways.
He also wrote and directed BARNYARD. However, NOTHING TO LOSE was a fun flick, as was the first half of BRUCE ALMIGHTY.
There was a fair deal of incidental music in the original show, but who knows if any of it will make it to the screen adaptation.
Yes, I was comparing SHARK TALE to CARS. With all of its numerous problems (why does it take TWO hours to tell a story about talking cars starring in a DOC HOLLYWOOD remake? And how are these cars made? Is it some sort of post-apocalyptic warning about all that will be left once the ozone layer disentegrates?), CARS is still head and shoulders above a lot of other CG crap (not that it should be an honor to be better than BARNYARD, a film I should have put in my original post).
As for MEET THE ROBINSONS, I actually hope that it turns out to be a decent film. Disney’s last two films (HOME ON THE RANGE and CHICKEN LITTLE) were artistic embarrassments. And AMERICAN DOG (from the director of the decent but overrated LILO AND STITCH and the studio’s fall 2008 release) doesn’t look that promising. If MEET THE ROBINSONS is aggressively quirky (and it certainly looks that way given the trailers we have seen), then AMERICAN DOG is murderously so. And those two quirk-fests will be followed by TWO princess movies (RAPUNZEL and THE FROG PRINCESS). Jeez!
Better CARS than SHARK TALE, DOOGAL, HOODWINKED, FINAL FANTASY, EVERYONE’S HERO, and THE ANT BULLY. And thank God Elfman wasn’t involved in any of those atrocities.
Don’t forget David Raksin (Laura) and Michael Small (Mobsters) who died in 2004 and 2003 respectively.
This year is starting to look like a horrible repeat of 2004, the year that saw the loss of Jerry Goldsmith, Elmer Bernstein, and David Raksin. Both Walker and Basil Poledouris were incredibly talented composers whom I always thought deserved more recognition. It is sad to see them gone.
For a couple of hours yesterday, the IMDb listed Lisa Kudrow as replacing Helena Bonham Carter on Sweeney Todd. I guess the Friends fanboys need something to believe in.
It’s coming to the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2007 according to playbill:
His scores to “Conan the Barbarian” and “Robocop” are legendary. I never knew that the reason for his slowed output was anything this serious. He will be greatly missed.
Things will start getting better once Disney products greenlighted by Lasseter and Company hit the screen in a few years.
He might be referring to their working relationship. After working together to great effect for over twenty years, it would almost be kind of insulting to ask Elfman to come on to ‘supervise’ a project whose music has been already written for twenty-seven years.
What an absolute ridiculous statement! How dare these insinuations be made! I’d say more, but Bridgit’s bitching at me to change the damn kid’s diaper!
Well, at least we’ll still get “Charlotte’s Web,” “Meet the Robinson’s,” “The Visiting,” and “Serenada Schizophrenia.” Certainly not a bad haul. Maybe Elfman will perform in the movie.
“Bat Boy” is a more traditional musical in terms of structure. “Sweeney” is more like an opera/Bernard Herrmann score with lyrics. Also, I imagine that “Bat Boy” will get buried due to Burton and Depp’s involvement with “Sweeney.” Landis, a very talented man, hasn’t had a hit in ages.
It’s official, according to playbill.com:
DreamWorks Studios confirmed plans for the upcoming Tim Burton film version of Stephen Sondheim’s musical Sweeney Todd starring his constant collaborator Johnny Depp in the title role.
John Logan (“The Aviator,” “Gladiator”) penned the screenplay adaptation planned to begin work early in 2007 for a “late 2007 release,” according to the announcement. Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald will partner with Richard Zanuck and John Logan to produce the co-production with Warner Bros. Paramount will distribute for DreamWorks domestically and Warner Bros. internationally.
Sweeney Todd follows the story of a wrongfully imprisoned barber in Victorian England who sets out to seek revenge on the judge who imprisoned him. The stage work featuring a score by Sondheim and a book by Hugh Wheeler based on the play by Christopher Bond.
The original 1979 Broadway production starred Len Cariou as the barbarous barber with Angela Lansbury as his pie-making cohort in the Harold Prince-directed work. Both stars and the musical itself earned Tony Awards. In the current Broadway run, re-imagined by director John Doyle and starring Michael Cerveris and Patti LuPone, the actors play their own instruments. Other incarnations of the work include a 1989 Broadway revival featuring Bob Gunton and Beth Fowler, a Kennedy Center run as part of a Sondheim Celebration with Brian Stokes Mitchell and Christine Baranski as well as a 2001 concert presentation, directed by Lonny Price and led by George Hearn and LuPone.
The film will reunite Depp with Burton once again — the duo have previously worked together on “Edward Scissorhands,” “Ed Wood,” “Sleepy Hollow,” “Corpse Bride” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”
Personally, I can’t wait. When I saw “Sweeney” performed at Indiana University as a freshman, it completely changed my perception of what can be done in a musical. Seeing the actual Angela Lansbury-George Hearn performance on DVD only cemented my conviction. For those of you unfamiliar or suspicious, throw away any of your Andrew Lloyd Webber preconceptions concerning stage musicals and buy the DVD on Amazon. If you hate Broadway musicals, you will love Stephen Sondheim. He has a deliciously dark sense of humor that is very much in line with Tim Burton’s sensibilities. “Pacific Overtures” is a kabuki musical about Japan’s forced entrance into Western commerce from the Asian point of view. “Into the Woods” is about assorted fairy tale characters who are unable to take care of themselves once they have come past the comfortable limitations of their stories. And “Assassins” is an ironically Americana look at the lives of men and women who have either succeeded or tried to kill U.S. Presidents.
It should also be noted that one of Sondheim’s inspirations in composing “Sweeney” was Bernard Herrmann, one of Elfman’s idols. In addition to unresolved dissonances, which the composer said keeps the audience in a state of suspence, Sondheim also used motifs in the same way Herrman did. “Sweeney Todd” is a musical that plays like a film score in some ways.
Also of note: Stephen Sondheim
Judging by some of the supplemental DVD material, there have been some who have accussed Lee of being dismissive towards Elfman’s contribution. However, it should be noted that Lee was forced to throw out a score by frequent collaborator and friend Mychael Danna. In interviews, Danna has said that this hasn’t affected their relationship, but it should be noted that he was not asked to score Brokeback Mountain.
I get the feeling that we won’t get a score release. Oh, well. Fingers crossed. Then again, this could also be a very brief score.
