The Illusionist: Music from the Motion Picture is the official soundtrack to the 2010 animated film The Illusionist. The album was released through Milan Records on 14 December 2010. The songs on the album were either orchestrated by the film's director, Sylvain Chomet, or performed by Malcolm Ross under the fictional band name The Britoons, with Leo Condie and Ian Stoddart. It was generally well received, with particular praise for the songs' storytelling and its "effortless" sound.
Bob Last, a co-producer of the film, introduced Chomet to Malcolm Ross, a Scottish musician who was previously a part of the band Josef K.
The soundtrackIn "Chanson Illusionist", voice impersonations of Juliette Gréco, Les Frères Jacques, Georges Brassens, Barbara, Yves Montand, ÃÂdith Piaf, Jacques Brel, and Serge Gainsbourg are performed by an ensemble of voice actors.
The soundtrack received generally positive reviews from music critics. William Ruhlmann from AllMusic claimed that the record was functional and "serve[d] the small-scale, melancholy treatment of the story" well. Tampa Bay Times Steve Persall described the album as a "small marvel of music hall tunes" and congratulated Chomet for allowing the dialogue to be freely interpreted. According to Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune, the ending result is effortless and acclaimed the track "Chanson Illusionist" for being a "gentle waltz".