Few composers have had the kind of relationship with a studio like the one Michael Giacchino has enjoyed with Disney. The supremely talented 47-year-old composer has pretty much done it all: he’s scored television series, movies, short films, holiday specials, TV movies, even theme park attractions for Disney. In fact, his first composer credit was for a 1995 video game based on the Disney Afternoon animated series Gargoyles and his first feature film score was for Disney•Pixar’s The Incredibles. Giacchino’s relationship with Disney spans his entire creative career—and what a career it has been.
Giacchino’s success is a testament to his versatility as a performer and his ability to create memorable, melodic pieces for an art form that is becoming increasingly moody and atmospheric. And for this he’s been showered with critical praise and a whole heaping of bright shiny awards, including Emmys, Grammys, a BAFTA, a Golden Globe, and an Academy Award.
His latest score is for another Disney•Pixar masterpiece; this time it’s Pete Docter’s Inside Out, which opens everywhere June 19. To mark the occasion, we took a look back at our 10 favorite Michael Giacchino Disney-related scores.
10. Tomorrowland
One of Giacchino’s most fruitful professional relationships has been with director Brad Bird. The composer scored all of Bird’s films at Pixar, and when Bird made the leap to live action, Giacchino handled those duties as well. Tomorrowland is their latest collaboration; a bold, shiny, evocative score that is positively swelling with glittery optimism. Our favorite moment of the film, in which young inventor Casey Newton (Britt Robertson) is transported to a futuristic alternate universe, is also a standout showcase for Giacchino’s score—it pulses, shimmers, and makes your heart soar.
9. Lost
Giacchino scored all 121 episodes of Lost, the mystery series co-created by J.J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof, and one-time ABC head Jeffrey Lieber—a testament to the commitment and workmanship he has demonstrated throughout his career. Hidden within this seemingly unfathomable stretch of time is some of Giacchino’s very best work. His score shines brightest on the more emotional episodes of the series, like the unforgettable season four tearjerker “The Constant” and in the lead-up to the series’ finale. His work on Lost highlights what makes him such a special composer: He’s able to create music that inspires rousing excitement and emotional poignancy in the same hour.
8. La Luna
Sometimes Giacchino has to whittle down the scope of his ambitions, which he has done in the form of Disney and Disney•Pixar shorts, as well as a handful of television specials. One of his most precise and gorgeous short film scores is La Luna, a virtually wordless 2011 Pixar short that was attached to Brave’s original theatrical exhibition. It’s a gorgeous, simple score and is absolutely integral to the film; without it La Luna would still be an enchanting short film, but with his music it’s positively transporting.
7. Ratatouille
The premise of Ratatouille made Giacchino’s job seemingly insurmountable, yet he pulled it off effortlessly. In the movie, a small country rat named Remy (Patton Oswalt) dreams of becoming a famous chef and through a twist of fate winds up in the heart Paris. From a potentially icky scenario (rats in the kitchen), Giacchino is able to craft a soaring, romantic score that sweeps you up and takes you through Remy’s journey (both physical and emotional) with nimble whimsy.
6. The Incredibles
Giacchino’s first film score is also one of his best. Apparently Giacchino was only hired after John Barry, known for his James Bond scores, left the production in a huff. Quite frankly, it’s hard to imagine Barry would have composed a more rousing, wickedly clever score. This is Giacchino firing on all cylinders, offering jazzy interludes next to explosive, propulsive pieces, all wrapped up in the coolness and the swagger of a bygone era. But, once again, it’s in the quieter moments that Giacchino really shines. The Incredibles theme, too, is one of the more unforgettable pieces of movie music in the modern superhero era (especially since these films are largely identifiable by mood not melody). Quite frankly one of the reasons we’re so excited about The Incredibles 2 is to get more delicious Giacchino music.
5. Inside Out
After a pair of viewings, we’re more than confident in saying that Giacchino’s score for Inside Out is truly incredible. Like the film, it’s groundbreaking and subtly surreal. This is one of Giacchino’s most electronic scores, although you wouldn’t know it to listen to it. Instead of chirpy synths, Giacchino loops different parts of the score, in much the same way that the emotions “rewind” emotions. It gives off a startling, off-kilter sensation; you can feel that something is slightly askew although it’s hard to pinpoint what. There are two absolute standout pieces of music, too – the main theme, which is as touching as anything Giacchino has ever written (just thinking about it has us tearing up) and a more propulsive moment towards the end of the film that we can’t describe without giving things away. Once again, Giacchino mixes the heartfelt and the exciting in one intoxicating mixture. Like the film, the score is hard to pin down—and totally unforgettable.
4. John Carter
Criminally under-seen and awaiting a cult-y reappraisal, John Carter, a operatic space epic from Finding Nemo director Andrew Stanton, features an appropriately oversized Michael Giacchino score. This thing has it all: a full-on chorus, huge orchestration, flawlessly immaculate production and almost everything in between. One of the most amazing things about the score is how effortlessly it captures the essence of the titular character (played in the film by Taylor Kitsch), a Civil War vet who has lost his entire family and seeks redemption on the otherworldly landscapes of Mars. There’s something melancholic and mournful about his otherwise rousing theme; even after the character has achieved something close to greatness, there’s a part of him forlorn and broken. It’s an incredible showcase for the movie’s charming strangeness and for Giacchino’s gorgeous score. Both deserved more love than they got. Hopefully they will, in time. On this planet or Mars.
3. Alias
One of Giacchino’s first big gigs was creating music for J.J. Abrams’ Alias, a supernaturally tinged spy series that aired on ABC for five seasons. While the show itself faltered in later seasons, Giacchino’s score was unwaveringly awesome (the theme song is still inherently hummable). The series is about a grad student (Jennifer Garner) who masquerades as a spy and Giacchino is responsible for much of the series’ propulsive dynamism. The score was largely electronic, especially in the learner earlier seasons, and embraced those elements lovingly – instead of sounding cheap, it sounded futuristic and energetic. Giacchino would also use a pretty large orchestra, punctuating the thrills with genuine emotion and installing musicality into any sequence, no matter how mundane. In our opinion, nothing on television had ever sounded like Alias—and nothing has since.
2. Space Mountain
In 2005 Giacchino was tasked with writing new music for the Space Mountain at both Disneyland and Disneyland Paris (known as Space Mountain: Mission 2, and his score for the classic Disneyland Space Mountain, is one of our favorite things he has ever done. Thanks to nifty, hi-fi on-board audio, it is Giacchino that accompanies your zooming trip through the cosmos—and it is awesome. The build-up for the track is awesome and eerie, with a Theremin tipping its hat to Tomorrowland’s past, while the actual ride itself is a rip-roaring blast, with orchestration accompanied by a dance-y electronic beat. The fact that the track (and the ride) is over in around three minutes is just a testament to how quickly Giacchino and the Imagineers can get your blood pumping. Giacchino’s music isn’t just niftily supplementary; it’s an essential part of the illusion.
1. Up
When thinking about Up, Pete Docter’s deeply brilliant adventure (the first animated film to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar since Beauty & the Beast), your first thought probably springs to the “Married Life” sequence: the wordless portrait of coupledom that made grown men melt down into sobbing puddles. And it’s hard not to think about that sequence without also recalling Giacchino’s music. Charting the agony and ecstasy of married life, the sequence has highs and deep, depressing lows, brought to life with an almost vaudevillian flair. It’s anchored by a simple melody, but in the way that Giacchino plays with the tempo and style, it mirrors the ups and downs and of everyday existence. When the melody slows down and becomes the simply man and piano is when it really hits hardest. This is what life is all about. And the fact that this piece of music has been so universally embraced (it’s played on Main Street in the Magic Kingdom for crying out loud) speaks to its power and emotional resonance. When the same piece of music is re-appropriated later in the film, it goes from a mournful lament to a soaring triumph. The filmmaking in Up is the old man’s house; Giacchino’s music is the balloons. It makes the images take flight in bold and unexpected ways.
Hear Michael Giacchino’s latest score for Disney•Pixar’s Inside Out, in theatres June 19.
