The media attention on the death of Michael Jackson caused THE FUTURIST! to think of the Tim Burton version of Roald Dahl's classic children's book ... but solely for the interpretation of Willy Wonka by Johnny Depp; it is very Michael Jacksonish. The movie was maligned by many and THE FUTURIST!, himself, thought why remake a flawed but fun iconic motion picture with a memorable performance by the wonderful Gene Wilder? The Burton movie is certainly a different interpretation and, maybe, more uniform to the author's original intentions and view. Whatever the reasons or whether you like it or not, THE FUTURIST! did not find it that bad ... and he especially loved the score by Danny Elfman. The removal of each nasty little Wonka Factory visitor is accompanied by a song sung by the Oompa Loompahs. The original film had a redundant melody recited by the miniature strange Wonka workers. In the new version, Elfman composes a different song each time and each song is stylized in the sound of a different music genre. THE FUTURIST! loves the Veruca Salt song. It is done in the manner of a late 60s early 70s pop tune with the hint of Indian sitar to add that Sgt. Pepper/Beatles drug period ambience along with a Harper's Bizarre feel...
THE FUTURIST! admits to watching this for the first time on DVD and playing back this musical section several times and smiling as the catchy sounds emanated from his Sony 5.1 surround system. It's a very jaunty, black humored piece of musical writing.
Listen:
VERUCA SALT
(from the film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - 2005)
composed by Danny Elfman
1 comment:
i think you make a great insight to note that depp's wonka is michael jacksonish. i thought the same thing when i saw the film in theaters, which i also tended to like more than the people i was with.
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