Composers Mychael and Jeff Danna on the Prehistoric Sounds of The Good Dinosaur

Disney•Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur, (out on Blu-ray, HD Digital, and Disney Movies Anywhere February 23), is a film of immense beauty, from its photo-realistic backgrounds to the tenderness of its story. And one of the things that enriches this beauty is the lovely score by brothers Mychael and Jeff Danna. It glides gingerly between big, muscular moments to small scenes of incredible emotional poignancy. Last week we got to feel the music in a whole new way, as the brothers and several musicians put on an impromptu performance of selections of the film’s score for a few members of the press. It was amazing.

When we sat down with the duo, they told us when they got involved with the film, how the creative process at Pixar differs from other studios, and whether or not they’d be back for another Disney•Pixar film.

When did you first get involved with the film?

Mychael: We saw it a year before we recorded it … late summer, 2014. I think Pixar came to us because they knew they wanted big, rich orchestra and big melodies, but they also wanted unusual instruments and a different approach to this. They didn’t want a straight-up version of the Old West or dinosaurs, or all of the influences that are in this film. They wanted something new, using unusual instruments, and with the Pixar stamp of great melodies and a film score that stands up on its own.

What were your influences for the music?

Jeff: “In a perfect world, all the influences should be from the movie. So the western sound came in because there are cowboy T. rexes, as surreal as that sounds. I remember John Lasseter said, “Go with it.” Most of the decisions are somehow informed by the landscape or the story of Arlo and Spot or the characters they come across. That’s really what your influences should be. We tried to embrace everything as boldly as it could.

There have been some pretty amazing Disney•Pixar scores. Was it daunting to join those composers?

Mychael: It’s not daunting; it’s inspiring. It’s such a small club. They’ve worked with four composers or something. So to be brought into that very exclusive club of extraordinarily talented composers, it’s a huge honor and something that we took very seriously. We really worked hard to understand how the Pixar magic happens musically, and what we needed to do to carry out that tradition.

People always talk about the creative process at Pixar Animation Studios. What was that process like for you?

Jeff: From our end of it, it was the same thing we always do, which is that we try to figure it out amongst us, get it to a place where we like it, and then present it to the filmmakers. They’re smart and they’re lucid and a lot of the nonsense that can cloud the process is absent there. That’s why they’re great. There are all of these ways to break the music, but these guys are so sensitive to how music works and how important it is. They just support it and nurture it. It’s awesome, because composers can be at the mercy of all of these things that are beyond their control. But this was the opposite of that.

So you would do another Disney•Pixar movie?

Mychael: In a second; they’re super smart, super creative, and they have courage. They want you to take a chance. We did some crazy stuff. We played them things that were just insane. And they’d go, “That’s really cool. Don’t think it’s working. But we’re so happy you went there. We’ll learn something from you going over there.” They’re artists too. They understand our process perfectly and the idea of sketches, leading to mock-ups, leading to a final product, because that’s what they do every day. You feel understood in that way you and your creativity is nurtured. Sometimes in live action you’re terrified to do anything, because there’s not a lot of room for error.

What was it like working with director Peter Sohn?

Jeff: Peter is an awesomely enthusiastic guy. He was very good at knowing where this thing was going long before it went there, which was really important given how rough the early animation was. He never lost the horizon and he could always see where it was going.

The Good Dinosaur is available on Digital HD, Blu-ray, and Disney Movies Anywhere on February 23.