Soundtrack Snippets

From the makers of 2010's popular animated flick, Tangled; came another Disney movie, Frozen. For Tangled, the director had chosen the Disney composer standby, Alan Menken. Interestingly enough, a different composer was chosen to score this film.
Christophe Becke, had previously scored Disney's short film Paper Boy, which played adjacent to the feature film, Wreck-It-Ralph. The music for Frozen is very unique.
Being a classic Disney musical, Becke had to write music for a number of source cues that were interspersed throughout the movie. The husband-wife team, Robert and Kristen Anderson Lopez, hopped on board as the song writers for the source cues while Becke composed the orchestration for the cues.
The first source cue which starts the movie off, is Frozen Heart. The music boasts of a "classic work song" style as the scene in the movie is about ice cutters working at their job. It's an Irish flavored cue with all men's vocals and the lyrics serve as a great allegory hinting at what's to come. The music starts off with the sound of ice picks then the vocals and music take over.
The source cue, Do You Want To Build a Snowman is sung by one by the main character Anna (Kristen Bell), and Becke references it in several cues throughout the score to represent the two sisters, Anna and Elsa's relationship.
Another staple theme is heard in the cue, For the First Time In Forever, which once again relies on Anna's voice heavily. The cue is lighthearted, fast-paced, and distinct and the melody is beautiful. Becke refers to it throughout the score using it as Anna's theme.
A reggae styled cue, Love Is An Open Door, is performed by Anna and Prince Hans (Santino Fantana). The cue is an upbeat, bongo/acoustic pop song. The vocal harmonies blend perfectly making the tune really catchy.
In Summer, is a jazzy, happy-go-lucky cue with the snowman, Olaf (Josh Gad), singing what it would be like for a snowman to live in summer. The cue is reminiscent of the older classic jazz songs from the 1970's-80's.
Another funky song is the Latin flavored cue, Fixer Upper performed by a number of cast members. It's a classic Broadway styled song with fast paced lyrics, snazzy brass stings, and off-kilter percussion.
Let It Go, is the highlight of the score, performed by Elsa (Idena Menzel). It's a classic piano-laden pop song with yet, another catchy tune.
The score composed by Becke is gorgeous to the core. The opening cue, Vuelie, is a song perfromed by Cantus, an accapella band singing in old Norse. The harmonies blend melodically and the theme is heard again in the cues, Heimr Arnadalr and The Great Thaw.
In Elsa and Anna, the introduces several prominent themes including the lighthearted sister's theme which relies heavily on a full orchestra with pizzicato strings throughout. The cue then switches to Anna's standalone theme which is slower with tremolo strings as a single female vocalist creates an icy and dreamy atmosphere. The action material then surfaces, heavily relying on the brass and heavy percussion. The end result is a driving, heroic sounding theme that re-appears in later cues.
The snowman, Olaf is given a classic bumbling theme with a trombone, pizzicato strings, harp, and clarinet. Becke does perform a bit of mickey-mousing here but the cue doesn't suffer too much because of it.
In the cue Wolves, the action material resurfaces but with more intensity. Becke reverts to some of his classic acoustics to keep the cue from being overly noisy and the result is a snare-ripping, fast paced but somewhat lighthearted cue.
A glorified version of Olaf's theme is heard in the cue, Marshmallow Attack, when some giant snowmen begin to assault the heroes. The brass remains intense, but still bumbly and overbearing.
In the final cue, Epilogue, the cue refers to several of the source cue themes including two triumphant versions of, For the First Time In Forever and Do You Want To Build A Snowman?
Overall this album is a wonderful action and drama filled score that is both intense, wintry, and beautiful. Christophe Becke really went all-out and it's a blast to listen to, there's barely a dull moment! It's definitely a step up from Alan Menken's, Tangled.
If you are the kind that enjoys more dignified, boring, scores and this album has no effect, then seriously, you need to Let it Go.

Rating: *****

Best Cues:

• Frozen Heart-Song
• Vuelie-Score
• Let It Go-Song
• Fixer Upper-Song
• Elsa and Anna-Score
• Reindeer's Are Better Than People-Song
• Heimr Arnadalr- Score
• Wolves-Score
• The Great Thaw (Vuelie Reprise)-Score