Composed by Harry-Gregson Williams
In the wake of Lord of the Rings’ smashing transition to the big screen, Disney and Walden Media sought to capitalize with its own adapted fantasy series. They naturally chose that other famous British fantasy series Chronicles of Narnia, written by Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien’s contemporary and friend C.S. Lewis. The Chronicles of Narnia are really children’s books, but that didn’t stop the producers and director Adam Adamson from trying to replicate the scale of Lord of the Rings. They even got the same special effects group. The series fizzled out with only three of seven books adapted, but its opener, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, is a fine and quite faithful film. The plot is that four British children are evacuated to the countryside during the London Blitz of 1940. In their temporary home they find a magical wardrobe that takes them to the realm of Narnia, a place full of mythological races and talking animals. It’s under eternal winter thanks to the rule of the White Witch (wonderfully played by Tilda Swinton), and Christmas isn’t allowed! It turns out that they have been chosen by allegorical Jesus figure and lion Aslan (Liam Neeson) to liberate the realm.
With Howard Shore having delivered a suitably epic and heavily thematic masterpiece for Lord of the Rings, film music fans wondered how Narnia would fare in the soundtrack department. Director Adam Adamson chose Harry Gregson-Williams (they previously collaborated on the Shrek franchise). The end result was underwhelming for many. Criticisms have ranged from inappropriate electronic and synthetic elements to less defined themes to sub-par sound mixing. Praise was directed towards the score’s last act where Aslan’s theme starts to take a prominent spot. The earlier tracks tend to get more criticism, especially the involvement of Lisbeth Scott. A vocalist, she has featured in numerous films and written many songs. In addition to lending her voice to “Evacuating London” and “From Western Woods to Beaversdam,” she also worked with Gregson-Williams on the song “Where,” which incorporates pieces of the score. Many criticized her involvement as it made pieces of the score sound like New Age dance music. In Gregson-Williams’ defense, the Narnia books don’t have the epic scale and depth of Lord of the Rings, so even though he could have imbued a bit more magic in places, it’s unfair to criticize him for not delivering a massive fantasy score. Still the criticisms have some merit, particularly in the definition of the themes. Continue reading
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