Fantastic Mr. Fox (Original Soundtrack) is the soundtrack to the 2009 film Fantastic Mr. Fox directed by Wes Anderson. The film's soundtrack featured a selection of songs from The Beach Boys, The Bobby Fuller Four, Burl Ives, Georges Delerue, The Rolling Stones, and other artists. An original score composed by Alexandre Desplat accompanied the remainder of the album. ABKCO Records released the soundtrack on November 10, 2009, three days ahead of the film. Desplat was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score and BAFTA Award for Best Original Music for his work in the film.
Development In 2006, Anderson's frequent collaborator Mark Mothersbaugh was announced that he was working on the soundtrack. However, during the production, Mothersbaugh was replaced by Alexandre Desplat who would later collaborate on all of Anderson's films. Desplat and Anderson met at Stephen Gaghan's wedding and thereafter, Anderson contacted the former on his involvement which he agreed. Later, Desplat was invited to the editing room in Paris and eventually started working on the film's music, which he described it as "an easy way of bonding together".
During their initial discussions, Desplat recalled that he read the original source material—the novel by Roald Dahl—instead of watching the film, hence, he was familiar with the characters. Wes demanded melodies, that would provide a childlike and had a simplicity which was an integral part of the score. Unlike, other American films which had a large orchestra, Anderson refrained from using that as it would overpower the puppet characters. He then suggested for writing a mini-symphonic orchestra having multiple baby instruments—a string quartet, brass section with only one instrument per section, and a combination of glockenspiels, triangles, little pieces forming percussion instruments—that provide an intimate sound different from the symphonic orchestra, adding that "the melodies' simplicity, the tiny instruments, all that created a very different sound that was very exciting for us".
The piece "Boggis, Bunce and Bean" featured a boys choir under the age of 8–11. Anderson eventually brought all the puppets from the film to the recording studio "to the boys so they would not be nervous and they could be relaxed and enjoy the moment", says Desplat. Besides composing Desplat further performed whistles for the score, for a mean rat and eventually insisted on composing a piece with a whistle. He described it as a part of the fun and childlike nature of the film.
The film also featured a compilation of original and pre-existing songs. Jarvis Cocker revealed that he had written nearly 3–4 songs which would be integrated into the score. However, the only song he wrote for the film was "Fantastic Mr. Fox AKA Petey's Song". Contributions from The Beach Boys, The Bobby Fuller Four, Burl Ives, Georges Delerue, The Rolling Stones, Nancy Adams, Art Tatum and The Wellingtons were included in the film as well as the album.
Reception Christian Clemmensen of Filmtracks.com wrote "[Desplat's] approach to this concept could drive a person insane, and since that was probably the intent, it's easy to get the feeling that his one is aimed exclusively at enthusiasts of the film." Rob Mitchum of Pitchfork rated 7.1 out of 10 and wrote "With Fantastic Mr. Fox, Wes Anderson, ever the obsessive soundtracker, creates another value-added souvenir in the spirit of a literally wonderful film." Gissane Sophia of Marvelous Geeks Media wrote "The entire soundtrack ultimately feels like it should be playing at a theme park, but that’s neither here nor there." A critic from Unsung Sundays wrote "The Fantastic Mr. Fox Soundtrack is a great place to start." Matt Bochenski of Little White Lies wrote "Alexandre Desplat’s score is skilfully integrated into the action".
Michael Leader of Den of Geek described it as "masterful". Sheri Linden of The Hollywood Reporter wrote "Boomer faves by the Beach Boys and the Stones punctuate the soundtrack, with Alexandre Desplat delivering an elegant gallop of a score." John Young of Entertainment Weekly wrote "composer Alexandre Desplat wrote one of the most delectable scores in quite some time". Fionnuala Halligan of Screen International wrote that Desplat's "French-influenced score is a delight". Robert Levin of Film School Rejects described it as a "jaunty soundtrack".
Track listing
Complete score A complete score album was released by 20th Century Fox as a part of the For Your Consideration (FYC) campaign for the 2009–10 film awards season. The album contains 47 cues from Desplat's score featured in the film in its entirety.
Fantastic Mr. Fox (Additional Music from the Original Score – The Abbey Road Mixes)
A second soundtrack album Fantastic Mr. Fox (Additional Music from the Original Score – The Abbey Road Mixes) was released on March 2, 2010. The album features the remainder of the film score composed by Desplat. It was released in anticipation of the 82nd Academy Awards where Desplat was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score.
Personnel Credits adapted from liner notes
Music composed and produced by – Alexandre Desplat Soundtrack producer – Randall Poster, Wes Anderson Recording – Andrew Dudman, Peter Cobbin, Sam Ockell Mixing – Andrew Dudman Mastering – Greg Calbi Score editor – Peter Clarke Supervising score editor – Gerard McCann Music co-ordinator – Jim Dunbar, Xavier Forcioli Orchestra Orchestration – Alexandre Desplat, Jean-Pascal Beintus, Marie-Christine Desplat Conductor – Alexandre Desplat Orchestra contractor – Isobel Griffiths Assistant orchestra contractor – Lucy Whalley Copyist – Claude Romano, Norbert Vergonjanne Pro-tools operator – Andy Kitchen, John Barrett, Tristan Montrocq Musicians Banjo – John Parricelli, Nigel Woodhouse Celesta – Dave Arch Double bass – Chris Laurence Drum kit – Ralph Salmins Guitar – John Parricelli, Mitch Dalton, Nigel Woodhouse Jew's Harp, spoons, toy percussion – Paul Clarvis Keyboard percussions – Frank Ricotti Mandolin – John Parricelli, Alison Stephens Recorder – Helen Keen Piccolo trumpet – Maurice Murphy Recorder – Annabel Knight, Jill Kemp, Piers Adams, Helen Keen Timpani – Tristan Fry Ukulele – John Parricelli Vocals – Felix Wareing Management Music production co-ordinator – Teri Landi Music business and legal affairs – Peter Howard Music licensing and clearance – Jessica Dolinger, Sara Matarazzo Executive in charge of marketing and promotion – Iris Keitel Executive in charge of sales – Joe Parker Executive in charge of soundtracks – Alisa Coleman Marketing and promotion – Michael Kirk, Tracey Jordan Cover artwork Packaging and design – Brian Fitzpatrick, Mike Heinzer Liner notes – Wes Anderson
Accolades Award Date of ceremony Category Recipients Result Academy AwardsMarch 7, 2010 Best Original Score Alexandre Desplat British Academy Film AwardsFebruary 15, 2010 Best Original Music Alexandre Desplat Chicago Film Critics Association December 21, 2009 Best Original Score Alexandre Desplat Houston Film Critics SocietyDecember 19, 2009 Best Original Score Alexandre Desplat Best Original Song "Fantastic Mr. Fox AKA Petey's Song" — Jarvis Cocker, Noah Baumbach and Wes Anderson International Film Music Critics AssociationDecember 14, 2009 Best Original Score for an Animated Film Alexandre Desplat Los Angeles Film Critics AssociationDecember 14, 2009 Best Music Alexandre Desplat Online Film Critics SocietyJanuary 5, 2010 Best Original Score Alexandre Desplat San Diego Film Critics SocietyDecember 15, 2009Best Original Score Alexandre Desplat World Soundtrack Awards October 23, 2010 Film Score of the Year Alexandre Desplat Soundtrack Composer of the YearAlexandre Desplat
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