Music Composed by Michael Giacchino
Rating: **** 1/2

In the summer of 2003, film music aficionados attending a screening of Finding Nemo were likely treated to a brief teaser for The Incredibles that made hilarious use of Barry’s classic theme for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. As Barry himself was signed to score the film at the time, most of us were drooling at the prospect of the composer returning to the classic James Bond sound he hadn’t touched in over a decade. Sadly, for whatever reason Barry was unable to stay on the project and director Brad Bird was forced to look elsewhere for the bold and jazzy 1960s sound he had grown so attached to. In one of the most daring moves in recent film music history, Bird hired newcomer Michael Giacchino for the job. Daring because while Giacchino was well respected within the film music community for his bold orchestral scores for various WWII videogames, he had never actually scored a film, let alone a mega-budget Disney/Pixar monster. It was an enormous leap of faith on Bird’s part, but damned if the gamble didn’t pay off. Giacchino makes his grand entrance into the world of film scoring with more style and exuberance than even his fans could possibly have hoped for, and has given us a score that stands proudly against, not only the best of the Pixar scores, but the best of the classic superhero scores.

Michael Giacchino

I imagine that looking for a start in scoring films and landing The Incredibles as your first assignment is a bit like panning for craw-daddies and finding, uh, plutonium (fine, you make an analogy). It’s a dream project for any composer, but Giacchino has managed to rise above the already lofty expectations set for this opportunity. Following Bird’s lead, Giacchino brings the spirit of John Barry’s best swinging Bond music to The Incredibles, writing as though no time has passed between 1964 and 2004. I’m not sure why nobody’s thought of bringing this sound to the superhero genre before, but Giacchino makes jazz and heroics seem like a completely natural match. With Barry’s influence driving nearly every measure and more than a few nods to the edgy jazz of Mancini and Schifrin, in lesser hands this could easily have resulted in a piece of derivative fluff. Thankfully, Giacchino invests the music with so much boundless energy that it soars with above any mere pastiche effort and emerges with an identity of its own. Despite the enormous debt it owes to its influences, The Incredibles is very much a Michael Giacchino score. The same enthusiasm and meticulous attention to detail we found in the Medal of Honor scores is manifested here, though Giacchino’s voice here is even more polished and developed.

This is not to undermine Barry’s enormous influence on the music, however. As I mentioned previously, early teasers for the film prominently featured Barry’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, and I imagine it played a pretty big role in the temp track as well. I mention this again because Giacchino’s theme for The Incredibles is clearly derived directly from this source. Appearing from the start (”The Glory Days”) as a less elaborate adaptation of Barry’s theme (the rhythm is identical, the melody only marginally altered), it would threaten to drag the score into temp-track purgatory if Giacchino weren’t so clever. Thankfully, it quickly becomes clear that this is OHMSS is only the theme’s starting point. Giacchino twists, transforms, and develops this theme into so many different shapes and forms that by the time the smashing “Incredits” roll out (a terrific big band number that is less a reprise than a thrilling and celebratory finale), you’ll be so floored that you’ll scarcely recognize any resemblance the theme once had to anything written by Barry. While easiest to spot in the big-band action licks, the theme is just as effective at romantic turns (towards the beginning of “New Babysitter”) and personal introspection (towards the end of the highly moving “Adventure Calling”). There are few other smaller motifs sprinkled throughout (including a sprightly march for the children in “A Whole Family of Supers”) but almost everything evolves out of that main theme, which gives the music a welcomed level of complexity beneath the excitement.

Speaking of excitement, if you combine James Bond with the superhero genre, you’re bound to get some thrilling action material. Giacchino does not disappoint, with cues like “Bob vs. the Omnidroid” and “Saving Metroville” combining the aforementioned swaggering Barry brass with the manic energy of Carl Stalling. But what really makes this material so exceptional is the rich level of detail in the writing. No matter how frantic the action material gets, it’s always clear that Giacchino is writing for instruments and not simply ambiguous sections of the orchestra (though credit here must also be granted to Tim Simonec and his talented team of orchestrators, including Cinemusic’s own Chris Tilton). There’s a refreshing lack of compulsion to create a wall of sound and fill in every note in every chord in every octave, which gives the music a real sense of tightness and clarity. Nowhere is this more evident than in the breathless “100 Mile Dash” a stunning chase piece that throws in every thrill imaginable without obscuring a single instrumental line.

Also refreshing is the fact that when the score is not in the midst of an action cue, the music is just as engaging. We’re given a number of lovely 60s jazz interludes, from the laidback Schifrinian (no, it’s not a word, but don’t you wish it was?) “Off to Work,” to the glamorous “Incredible Again,” a swinging piece of 60s fab that Mancini himself would have been proud of (I should mention that it’s hard not to get giddy goosebumps when the main theme struts in halfway through this piece). There’s also a notable lack of padding on the album - quieter moments that might threaten the pace as dispensable filler almost always develop into something greater and more exciting, often within the space of a very short cue. The fact that there are so many sharp shifts in energy within the short cues might sound like Mickey-Mousing on paper, but Giacchino’s music is much more fluid than that. The quieter ideas, no matter how little time they’re given, always actually lead and develop into the bigger manic ideas, sidestepping the disorienting start-stop effect that Mickey-Mousing tends to have.

Inevitably, the score also contains a few cues villainous suspense music, but even these pieces are developed into something more engaging than the typical low-key brooding that frequently weighs score albums down. Take, for example, the chilling minimalism in “Kronos Revealed”. Yes, the piece opens with quietly brooding melody, but like the dawning of a horrific revelation, it accumulates so many layers that the cue emerges as a piece of truly sobering terror. Dark suspense music is frequently the Achilles Heel of adventure score albums, which makes the effectiveness of these cues on this album that much more impressive.

But the sheer level of fun present throughout the rest of the score overshadows any darker moments. In fact, I’d even venture to say that The Incredibles is likely the most fun you’ll have with a film score this year. Picture the product that might result from a 6-year-old John Barry, Henri Mancini, Lalo Schifrin, spending the morning watching cartoons and eating bowls of chocolate-coated-glucose-balls, and you’ll get an idea of the delights this score has in store. The product is obviously far more polished than that, but the childlike exuberance is genuine. It’s rare that I’m willing to grant this much praise for what is, essentially, a popcorn score, but The Incredibles is truly something special. There have been a number of perfectly enjoyable popcorn scores in the past few years, but virtually all of them have been built on such paper-thin compositional foundations that their enjoyment has required the listener to entirely shut down intellectually. The sheer level of detail and intelligence Giacchino brings to this score makes The Incredibles that rare thing – a guilty pleasure score that leaves the listener with no reason to feel guilty. As of this writing it’s the action score to beat for 2004, and I can’t imagine there will be much time for competition in the next few months. Michael Giacchino has made the grandest entrance into the arena of film scoring that the world has seen in a very long time, and if he keeps landing projects half as rewarding as this one, he’ll be on Hollywood’s A-list faster than (insert your favorite superhero cliché). Fabulous stuff. (Originally posted November 6, 2004).

Music Composed and Produced by Michael Giacchino; Orchestrated and Conducted by Tim Simonec; Additional Orchestrations by Jack J. Hayes, Matthew Ferraro, Adam Cohen and Chris Tilton; Recorded and Mixed by Dan Wallin; Availability: In print; Label (Catalogue): Walt Disney Records, (6110-7); Release Date: November 2, 2004

01. The Glory Days (3′32)
02. Mr. Huph Will See You Now (1′35)
03. Adventure Calling (2′23)
04. Bob Vs. The Omnidroid (2′53)
05. Lava In The Afternoon (1′29)
06. Life’s Incredible Again (1′24)
07. Off To Work (1′59)
08. New And Improved (2′15)
09. Kronos Unveiled (3′16)
10. Marital Rescue (2′19)
11. Missile Lock (2′07)
12. Lithe Or Death (3′24)
13. 100 Mile Dash (3′07)
14. A Whole Family Of Supers (3′27)
15. Escaping Nomanisan (1′45)
16. Road Trip! (2′27)
17. Saving Metroville (5′03)
18. The New Babysitter (3′26)
19. The Incredits (7′21)
Arranged by Gordon Goodwin

Total Playing Time: 55′12