Considering how badly received Morgan Creek's animated version of
Richard Rodgers and
Oscar Hammerstein II's musical The King & I was when it hit theaters in 1999, the resulting soundtrack album is surprisingly adequate. Mind you, with its overly effusive vocal performances by principals
Christiane Noll and
David Burnham and overly busy arrangements by nine different orchestrators(!), it is by far the worst version of this music ever recorded. But at least the liberties taken with the story are less apparent on disc, even if the titles of some of the instrumental pieces are likely to surprise longtime fans: "Evil Duo"? "Balloon Rescue"? The album begins by borrowing
Barbra Streisand's medley of "I Have Dreamed," "We Kiss in a Shadow," and "Something Wonderful" from her 1985
The Broadway Album (which was played under the film's closing credits), so at least you can't say there's no good singing on it. ~ William Ruhlmann