A feel-good Christmas movie is probably not the first place you'd look for Nicolas Cage, and it's probably about the last you'd look for Danny Elfman.  What with him scoring one action blockbuster after another, it's easy to forget the talent he used to show for lighter, more emotional fare, but one thought back to Edward Scissorhands, Black Beauty or Sommersby does bring the memories flooding back.  He was going through a slightly awkward time around The Family Man however, seemingly being as weird as possible for the sake of it, so the possibility of another Edward Scissorhands seemed someone remote.  So just what would Danny "Call Me Father Christmas" Elfman have in store for us kiddies?

Well, the score was never officially released.  An Oscar promo started floating around and the DVD had an isolated score, so inevitable bootlegs flooded the collectors' market and the score became highly sought-after.  Like most scores that become highly sought-after however, I can't help but wonder whether the main reason is that it is rare rather than anything much to do with the music - oh yes, the music - it's pleasant enough, but in a low-key, Good Will Hunting type of way rather than any all-out emotional fare.

One problem - and I can only assume that it's this that kept the score from being released - is that most of the cues are really very short.  Who could ever live without the classic 26-second masterpiece "Beautiful Day"?  And that's just one of ten cues less than a minute long.  Of course, if this had been professionally-produced then I'm sure tracks would have been combined or allowed to run together (which is what Thomas Newman always does to combat his generally short pieces) but in truth, the final four of the 25 (or 27, depending on which version of the album you have) tracks make up almost half its running time, and these tracks are by far the best.  The haunting female chorus in "Promise" brings back memories of Elfman glories of old and his subtle orchestration - the ensemble is chamber-sized at best - is touching.  The score's main theme is heard off and on throughout, but only in "Farewell" is it really developed, and when Elfman does string it out, it is revealed to be something really quite glorious.

While he has continued to write excellent scores for the various massive films he's been working on, I wish Elfman would go back and write this kind of score a little more often.  OK, so the problems of it being a bitty and not especially well-produced album do mean that until the last four tracks it's good without being great, but even so it shows a side of the composer that is little-appreciated and could certainly do with a more regular airing.  

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