Coraline (soundtrack)
Bruno Coulais' score for the stop-motion film Coraline.
Coraline (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack to the 2009 stop-motion animated dark fantasy horror film Coraline, directed by Henry Selick and produced by Laika in its maiden feature film. The album features the original score composed by Bruno Coulais, who worked on the film for over a year, and was released by Milan Records on February 3, 2009. The score won the Annie Award for Best Music in an Animated Feature Production in 2010.
Quick Facts
- Artist
- Bruno Coulais
- Released
- February 3, 2009
- Recorded
- 2008–2009
- Genre
- Film score
- Length
- 59:31
- Label
- Milan Records
- Producer
- Bruno Coulais, Bruno Letort
Facts from the source article.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | End Credits | 1:54 |
| 2 | Dreaming | 2:20 |
| 3 | Installation | 2:28 |
| 4 | Wybie | 2:07 |
| 5 | Exploration | 2:01 |
| 6 | Other Father Song | 0:28 |
| 7 | The Supper | 1:31 |
| 8 | Bobinsky | 2:23 |
| 9 | Fantastic Garden | 1:34 |
| 10 | Coraline Fly | 0:24 |
| 11 | Trap For The Mices | 1:34 |
| 12 | Mice Circus | 1:27 |
| 13 | Dreams Are Dangerous | 1:27 |
| 14 | Sirens Of The Sea | 1:38 |
| 15 | In The Bed | 1:54 |
| 16 | Spink And Forcible | 0:33 |
| 17 | It Was Fantastic | 2:10 |
| 18 | Ghost Children | 1:28 |
| 19 | Let's Go | 1:09 |
| 20 | Playing Piano | 2:48 |
| 21 | Wybie That Talks | 2:09 |
| 22 | Cocobeetles | 1:39 |
| 23 | Alone | 0:52 |
| 24 | Dangerous | 2:23 |
| 25 | Reunion | 1:10 |
| 26 | Coraline Despair | 1:27 |
| 27 | The Theater | 1:33 |
| 28 | The Famous Mister B | 2:23 |
| 29 | You Know I Love You | 4:27 |
| 30 | Mechanical Lullaby | 2:24 |
| 31 | The Hand | 3:14 |
| 32 | The Party | 2:32 |
| Total length | 59:31 | |
Track listing from the source article.
Development
Bruno Coulais provided the musical score for Coraline, his maiden American animated feature film. A year before production began, Selick tried several types of music as temp tracks and looked at Coulais' scores for Microcosmos and Winged Migration, finding that they worked well, which led to Coulais' inclusion. Coulais appreciated Selick's works such as The Nightmare Before Christmas and acknowledged that from the beginning of the film he knew the necessary sounds he wanted, but gave Coulais creative freedom. Coulais met Selick in Los Angeles and started creating themes and melodies based on the animatics provided, supervising the film's production so he could change the orchestrations to suit the narrative and visual style; he did so two or three times when he began scoring the film in Paris. According to Coulais, there is an important correspondence between the lighting and the tonalities of the orchestration. He described his approach by saying the story is not very important, and that in Coraline the music is sometimes behind the wall, like ghosts haunting the movie, evolving from quiet and realistic to quite scary by the end. Instruments he used included harp, a string quartet, ethnic instruments, synthesizers, and vocal choir, along with strange instruments such as the waterphone for sequences with the Other Mother and toys and Chinese instruments for the mice circus marching band. Coulais made his own orchestration depending on the density of the sequence, using a big string section with many glissandi and microtonalities to make the ground feel unstable, and a children's choir with contrapuntal voices to create fear and fantasy.
Songs
In addition to the original score, the film features original songs: Sirens of the Sea performed by Michele Mariana, Other Father Song performed by John Linnell of They Might Be Giants (credited as the performer), Dreaming by Teri Hatcher and The Children's Choir of Nice, and Nellie Jean by Kent Melton. They Might Be Giants created more music for the film, but their contributions were cut during production. Band member John Flansburgh said it was a strange experience, as the filmmakers wanted the music to be more creepy, and they never found a rhythm to work with them. The song Careful What You Pack was written for the film but included on the band's studio album The Else. Selick loved their contributions despite their exclusion.
Reception
Music critic Jonathan Broxton commented that Coulais' score may appeal more to admirers of the art of film music who appreciate unusual orchestration and intricate compositional techniques, and less to those who simply want something nice to listen to. Filmtracks.com wrote that in an industry plagued by stock, anonymous film scores, Coraline is a frightfully engaging pleasure, but its vast technical prowess can be surprisingly alienating and borderline nightmarish, perfect for the production. Jason Heinzel of The Holland Sentinel complimented the music as beautifully arranged and produced, creating a wonderful atmosphere and spooky tone. Mark Morton of AllMusic wrote that Coraline is like a Cirque du Soleil performance for the ears, zipping through world music, new age, classical, and bebop, drawing comparisons to Danny Elfman's frenzied musical cocktails but with an old-world elegance. Australian singer-songwriter Cody Jon complimented the music as one of his favorite soundtracks.
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