Randy Newman wrote five new songs in addition to the instrumental scoring for Disney's stop-action film adaptation of the Roald Dahl children's story, borrowing the lyrics to one of the songs, the lively "Eating the Peach," from Dahl. His most characteristic efforts are "Family," which owes a lot to such earlier
Newman soundtrack songs as "You've Got a Friend in Me" from Toy Story, and the gospel-tinged end title theme, "Good News," which he sings himself. The other songs are performed by cast members including Richard Dreyfuss and Susan Sarandon, along with some ringers providing "additional vocals." The instrumental sections provided effective scoring for the film's audacious visuals, but on their own sound like the background music they are. ~ William Ruhlmann