Mr. Magorium Wonder's Emporium (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the film score to the 2007 film Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium directed by Zach Helm starring Dustin Hoffman, Natalie Portman, Jason Bateman and Zach Mills. The original score is composed by Alexandre Desplat and Aaron Zigman and released through Varèse Sarabande on November 13, 2007.
Contents
Background
Alexandre Desplat was initially attached to write the score for Mr. Magorium Wonder's Emporium and had wrote the original themes for the film. However, due to the film's post-production delay, Desplat's commitments on The Golden Compass (2007) overlapped with this project. Hence, prioritising the former, Aaron Zigman joined the film at the last minute and wrote the rest of the themes, that combined with Desplat's music. Over 70 minutes of music had been written within a span of three weeks, which Zigman found it to be challenging. The score was released through Varèse Sarabande on November 13, 2007.
Reception
Jonathan Broxton of Movie Music UK wrote "Once again, Alexandre Desplat has proven himself to be one of the best composers working in film anywhere in the world today. More importantly, though, Aaron Zigman is gradually beginning to impress me more and more. From The Notebook (2004) and John Q (2002), Flicka (2006), and Bridge to Terabithia (2007) earlier this year, Zigman is developing into a composer of note in his own right, and is worth watching in future. The collaboration of these two men on Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium is really excellent; this score comes highly recommended."
Thomas Glorieux of Maintitles wrote "Overall, Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium is an excellent buy, a wonderful addition to a score fan's library, and one that you will return to time and time again. Do not believe your first impressions, or you will be deceived. This is a children's film, but an adults' score. This is pure, unadulterated, raw emotional intensity that is not to be found in too many of today's scores. And aside from that, it's a heck of a lot of fun. Highly recommended." Tom Hoover of Scorenotes wrote "This collaboration between Desplat and Zigman was quite a success. Their music offers a touch of imagination and fantasy and should please most film music fans."
Jason Ankeny of AllMusic wrote "the individual themes originate from such different perspectives that the score as a whole lacks cohesion—at nearly one hour in length, it's a sometimes frustrating listening experience, and much less than the sum of its myriad parts." Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter said that "Helping to set a pace is the lush score by Alexandre Desplat and Aaron Zigman". Brian Lowry of Variety wrote that the film is "buoyantly punctuated by Alexandre Desplat and Aaron Zigman’s score".
Personnel
Credits adapted from liner notes: