Sound & Colour

You know when Letterboxd does those top 4 interviews on red carpets? Well, Little Miss Sunshine would be on mine! And I cannot believe it’s been 20 years since its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. Since it’s one of my favourite films, and soundtracks, it feels right that it’s the first blog post of the #TBT series.

Queue the playlist and let’s jump in!

Little Miss Sunshine is a tragicomedy that follows a dysfunctional family as they drive a yellow Volkswagen van from Albuquerque to Redondo Beach, California to take their 7-year-old daughter to participate in the Little Miss Sunshine Beauty Pageant. Their journey will make you laugh and cry, featuring incredible performances by the actors (who won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture) and a Grammy-nominated soundtrack by DeVotchKa and Mychael Danna.

Olive, Dwayne, and the Hoover family with their iconic yellow Volkswagen van.

While the score of Little Miss Sunshine is truly moving (I’ve added it to the Playlists page), today’s blog post is focusing on the Grammy nominated compilation soundtrack which includes the films score.

Standout Music Moments

How It Ends by DeVotchKa– I would call this song the theme of Little Miss Sunshine. It perfectly captures a feeling of melancholy while also filling you with a sense of hope, much like the plot of the film. How It Ends was originally a song by DeVotchKa, but was then reimagined as The Winner Is (as well as other parts of the score), which is the title track of the film. Both tracks are included in the soundtrack and are truly the musical center of Little Miss Sunshine.

Chicago by Sufjan Stevens– Much of the plot of Little Miss Sunshine is spent driving across the country and Chicago is the song that plays as the Hoover family starts their journey. Actually, the lyrics of this song are about driving in a van, so I really hope this was taken into consideration. Chicago has a wishful feeling with a cresendo of instruments that take you on an emotional journey; it would be the ideal song to play while you had your hand out a window, air surfing on a road trip.

Superfreak by Rick James – This was always one of my favourite parts of Little Miss Sunshine, it’s awkward, ridiculous and heartwarming and Superfreak is the cherry on top. This hilarious scene of Olive performing a dance/striptease choreographed by her dead grandpa for a children’s beauty pageant makes me laugh every time. I love that her family supports her inappropriate performance by tackling a judge and dancing with her on stage. The screenplay originally called for Prince’s song Peach to be used but I think a seven-year-old dancing to Superfreak is so much funnier. If you haven’t seen this iconic scene, check it out below!

20 years later, and Little Miss Sunshine and its soundtrack are still fan favourites. I love diving back into this soundtrack every few years; I always find it a cathartic, nostalgic listening experience.

Have you seen Little Miss Sunshine? If so, let me know your thoughts on the soundtrack in the comments below! And if you haven’t seen it, what are you waiting for?!

Featured photo credit HERE