Alice in Wonderland Soundtrack Review

Danny Elfman's score for Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland runs 51 minutes long and proves that Elfman is truly in his element when he is scoring fantasy films. Danny Elfman has collaborated many times with Tim Burton, and he rarely disappoints; Elfman captures the atmosphere of Burton's films quite well.

Alice in Wonderland is no exception. Each one of the 24 tracks captures the characters and events shockingly well. The soundtrack opens with Alice's Theme, a beautiful piece prominently featuring a choir. The pleasant theme is reprised and used frequently throughout the soundtrack - and to great effect. Elfman's score here balances the whimsical aspects of Wonderland (or Underland, as it is properly called in this film) and the dark ones amazingly well. "Oh, how will you find your way?" a haunting voice asks throughout the soundtrack. The use of a boys' choir and the celesta is reminiscent of Elfman's score for Edward Scissorhands, which is a favorite amongst both fans of Burton's films and Elfman's scores.

One truly fantastic thing about the score is that it covers many of the things Elfman is best at. He excels at action scores and airy fantasy themes. Listeners will find that there are plenty of both of these on Alice's soundtrack. The score is extremely effective in capturing both the wonder and horror of the world Alice finds herself in. Elfman also manages to score Alice's internal battles just as well as her external ones (Alice Decides is a track that demonstrates this quite well).

The score to Alice in Wonderland does differ slightly from the film, as most soundtracks do. For example, the recurring Alice's Theme features lyrics on the album, whereas in the film the boys' choir is wordlessly singing. It works beautifully either way, but those expecting the very same music will be disappointed. It should also be noted that this soundtrack does not feature the Avril Lavigne track featured in the end credits to Alice in Wonderland. That track can be found on the Almost Alice soundtrack, but was not included on the Elfman soundtrack, apparently due to a rushed post-production schedule.

Standout tracks include the opening Alice's Theme which, of course, sets much of the atmosphere for the rest of the soundtrack. Finding Absolem is an interesting composition that repeats itself a couple of times throughout the soundtrack and works astoundingly well both alone and in the film. Going to Battle features many of the best things about the soundtrack - the choir is used to great effect, horns and strings are featured heavily, and Alice's Theme finds its way into the track a few times. Truly, though, the soundtrack is best listened to as a whole - firstly, there isn't a single bad track, and second, each song transitions so well into the next that it's simply most enjoyable when listened to as a whole.

Five/five stars for this soundtrack. I recommend it to fans of the Edward Scissorhands soundtrack (fans of Elfman's Sleepy Hollow soundtrack may enjoy this as well).

Track listing:

1. Alice's Theme

2. Little Alice

3. Proposal/Down the Hole

4. Doors

5. Drink Me

6. Into the Garden

7. Alice Reprise #1

8. Bandersnatched

9. Finding Absolem

10. Alice Reprise #2

11. The Cheshire Cat

12. Alice and Bayard's Journey

13. Alice Reprise #3

14. Alice Escapes

15. The White Queen

16. Only a Dream

17. The Dungeon

18. Alice Decides

19. Alice Reprise #4

20. Going to Battle

21. The Final Confrontation

22. Blood of the Jabberwocky

23. Alice Returns

24. Alice Reprise #5