Gnomeo & Juliet Turns 10

Like the best-tended gardens, films often take a long time to develop. From concept to release can be years, depending on the project. The general rule of thumb is that animated films take substantially longer, for a variety of reasons…not the least of which is the mechanics involved.

Gnomeo & Juliet took eight years, due to various twists and turns during production. The film was first announced in May of 2003 but was not released until February 2011.

Here is a brief summary of the film’s production path:

 

★   2003 – Elton begins writing songs for the project. He teams up once again with Sir Tim Rice, following their staggering success with The Lion King nine years earlier. Together, they write four songs.

★   2003 – Kate Winslet, Ewan McGregor, and Dame Judi Dench are cast in primary voice roles. They are eventually replaced by Emily Blunt, James McAvoy, and Dame Maggie Smith, respectively.

★   2005 – further information is released at a Walt Disney Studios Showcase.

★   March 2006 – Walt Disney Feature Animation says the movie is no longer in production, following Disney’s purchase of Pixar Animation Studios.

★   April 2006 – The project moves to Miramax Films (also owned by Disney). “I am very excited about working with Miramax,” Elton says in a statement. “‘Gnomeo’ is an edgy concept, and Miramax is the perfect home to push the envelope in animation.” The music company reveals that the soundtrack is to include new Elton tunes, along with some of his classics.

★   2006 – Director Kelly Asbury is assigned. The script is re-written and a new cast is assembled.

★   February 10-26, 2008 – Five additional songs are recorded at Silent Sound Studios in Atlanta, GA. One of them, The Sky Is Falling, is eventually tracked with Lily Allen but ultimately left off the final release.

★   February 2011 – The computer-animated film and its soundtrack are released. Gnomeo & Juliet goes on to gross $193 million worldwide (against a budget of $36M) and Hello Hello (the Lady Gaga duet version, which is only in the film) is nominated for a Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice Movie Award for Best Song.

As often happens in complex film productions, things fall by the wayside along the way; none of the seven Tim Rice songs made it to the final film.

Bernie Taupin penned the lyrics to two tracks, Hello Hello and Love Builds A Garden, which are included in the film and on the Gnomeo & Juliet soundtrack, along with seven Elton hits – including a duet with Nelly Furtado on Crocodile Rock – and some James Newton Howard orchestral pieces that incorporate assorted Elton melodies.

Elton Songs on the ‘Gnomeo & Juliet’ Soundtrack:

Hello Hello
Crocodile Rock [w/Nelly Furtado]
Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting)
Don’t Go Breaking My Heart
Love Builds A Garden
Your Song
Rocket Man (I Think It’s Gonna Be A Long, Long Time)
Tiny Dancer
Bennie And The Jets

Elton songs used in the film but not on the Soundtrack:

Empty Garden
The Bitch Is Back
I’m Still Standing
Honky Cat
Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
Hello Hello [duet with Lady Gaga]

Elton songs written but not used:

All lyrics by Tim Rice

2003
Adventure
I Could Not Miss You More
This Falling In Love
We Live And Breathe Our Garden

2008
A Love Like Yours
Diggin’ It
The Sky Is Falling [w/Lily Allen]

A full list of Elton’s Soundtracks:

• Friends (1971)
• The Lion King  (1994)
• The Muse (1999)
• Elton John’s The Road To El Dorado (2000)
• Gnomeo & Juliet (2011)
• Sherlock Gnomes (2018)
• Rocketman (2019)
• The Lion King (2019 version)

 

Other films for which Elton performs one or more unique songs:

• The Games (1970) – From Denver To L.A.
• Tommy (1975) – Pinball Wizard
• Summer Lovers (1982) – Take Me Down To The Ocean
• Rocky V (1990) – The Measure Of A Man
• Ferngully (1992) – Some Other World
• Four Weddings & A Funeral (1994) – But Not For Me, Chapel Of Love
• Women Talking Dirty (1999) – Sofa Love
• Mona Lisa Smile (2003) – The Heart Of Every Girl
• Australia (2008) – The Drover’s Ballad