Elf: Music From The Major Motion Picture [SOUNDTRACK]

Various Artists (Composer)

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 4, 2003)
• Original Release Date: November 7, 2003
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: New Line Records
• ASIN: B0000DIZT4
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (64 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #38,887 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
It takes a pretty deft touch to make us believe towering Will Ferrell as a displaced human cum Santa's elf, Ed Asner as St. Nick and make a Christmas movie that's as loopy/sassy as it is seasonally sentimental. Yet that's what director Jon Favreau has done with this unlikely little holiday gem, and his hand-picked song score underscores its warm heart and comedic smarts with charm to burn. Suffused with a New York sense of traditional cool, Favreau turns his soundtrack into an upbeat secular Christmas classic, a sort of Swingers-Meet-Santa collection that convinces us that performances as diverse as Louis Prima's rousing take on "Pennies From Heaven" and the pumping soul of Billy Preston's "Nothing From Nothing" are as season-friendly as the performances of more traditional Christmas pop fare by Ella Fitzgerald, Jim Reeves, Eartha Kitt and Eddy Arnold they bookend. The edited Ferrante & Teicher/Les Baxter medley is a lounge-y inspiration, while a trio of laconic Leon Redbone crooners anchor the film's dizzy, if often bittersweet emotional foundations. Co-star Zooey Deschanel duets with Redbone on "Baby It's Cold Outside," her bluesy performance a welcome surprise that recalls nothing less than a young Peggy Lee. --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a Voice!, November 10, 2003

By	Richard Fox "Richard Rockstar" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Who knew about the best kept secret in Hollywood? Zooey Deschanel has an amazing voice and it's worth getting just for the duet of Baby, It's Cold Outside. Like a young Judy Garland/Ella. Here is to hearing more from this untapped talent. Why they just didn't use her and Will Ferrell's duet from the movie I don't know. By the way the movie is FANTASTIC!!!! I'm going to see it again. An instant Christmas Classic.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth the Price Just for Zooey Deschanel, December 28, 2005

By	Joshua Miller "Josh" (Coeur d'Alene,ID) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Zooey Deschanel, the gorgeous actress from movies like well..."Elf" "Almost Famous" "The Good Girl" and "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" is easily worth the price of this CD alone. Why she doesn't cut an entire album is beyond me, judging from the reviews of this CD a lot of people would buy it. She has a very sexy, kind of classic voice. This CD isn't that bad, as far as the other songs on it; Christmas classics you know. But, it wouldn't be the same without her.

1. Louis Prima "Pennies from Heaven"-5/5-A very jazzy/swingy song. It's really catchy though.
2. Ella Fitzgerald "Sleigh Ride"-5/5-I love this song and I love the way Ella Fitzgerald sings it.
3. Lena Home "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow"-4/5-I like this song but I'm not a big fan of how Home sings the song.
4. Ferrante and Teicher/Les Baxter "Sleigh Ride/Santa Claus Party"-5/5-The first part is an instrumental version of "Sleigh Ride". The second part is
"Santa Claus Party" which is a funny christmas song which is damn cool.
5. Zooey Deschanel & Leon Redbone "Baby It's Cold Outside"-5/5-This is a really cool song and Zooey Deschanel has a gorgeous voice. It was for Deschanel that I bought this album. Her voice is flawless and she sings this beautifully. I wish she would get into the studio and cut an album.
6. Jim Reeves "Jingle Bells"-4/5-It's Jingle Bells. Nothing more to say really.
7. Brian Setzer "Nutcracker Suite"-5/5-Very well done instrumental. Too long though.
8. Leon Redbone "Christmas Island"-5/5-I had never heard this song before, but it's pretty interesting.
9. Eartha Kitt "Santa Baby"-5/5-This song cracks me up. I've heard this song countless times, but I never bothered to check out the lyrics. Good song.
10. Leon Redbone "Winter Wonderland"-5/5-Awesome song. Redbone's voice sounds different on this song.
11. Eddy Arnold "Santa Claus is Coming to Town"-5/5-Arnold does a great cover of this song. I would've been happier if they would've put the cast of "Elf's version of it on here" (mostly due to Zooey Deschanel's voice featured on it.)
12. Billy Preston "Nothing From Nothing"-5/5-I had never heard this song before and this is not a Christmas song, per se. But, this guy Billy Preston has an interesting voice so it all works out.

A+

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A review of the CD, not Zooey, November 30, 2003

By	Anthony Ambrose Bullard "Tony Bullard Jr." (Atlanta, GA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This seems to be pretty much just reviews of Zooey's voice, I'll put down my two cents on the actual CD...not just one track.

If you're into jazz/swing style music, and you're looking for a good Christmas album, this is it. Reall good strong songs all the way through. They aren't all christmas songs, but it's still one darn good CD.

I'd suggest it to anyone who wnats a little swing in their Christmas step.