The Good Dinosaur (soundtrack)

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"The entire process of making a music score is additive, so every little detail becomes part of the whole. And so you really learn that even the smallest shaker in the background is important."

— Mychael Danna [5]

Over 75 musicians recorded the score at Eastwood Scoring Stage at Warner Bros., with executive music producer Chris Montan and Sohn, supevising the score sessions. In addition to percussions and brass, various instruments were used. Mychael and Jeff created a combination of sound by blending string guitar instruments that are primitive and folky. Other instruments such as bouzouki, Turkish cümbüş, Iranian saz, harpolek, mandolin and recorder. Jeff stated that "We wanted a sound for Arlo’s fear. so we used an instrument called a fujara which is a Slovakian shepherd’s pipe. It’s a big, long overblown flute that we found effectively dark and evocative in representing Arlo’s frame of mind in these fearful moments." [6] A special theme was created for Arlo, that remained intact throughout the film. According to Mychael, "When he’s born, it’s delicate, plucked on a single instrument [...] As he encounters fear, loss and then confidence – that theme evolves and develops, and is ultimately played by a full orchestra as he gallops with joy across the mountaintops." [6] They further created sounds using a toy piano and an out-of-tune upright piano, which they called it as a "church basement piano", which fit well with the film.

An 85-piece orchestra also played the sessions for five days, with Hollywood's top studio players recording. Later, the team took another 10 days for initial sound mixing, followed by Mychael and Jeff's visit to Skywalker Ranch for the final mixing and editing of the score, done by Sohn. [5] In a video interview hosted by Jon Burlingame for Soundworks Collection, Mychael said that "You can feel the creativity oozing out of the walls in that place. It's really an amazing bunch of people and an amazing company and to be associated with it and to be able to work with them and see it close up, yeah, it was just unforgettable and wonderful experience." [7]

Track listing

All music is composed by Mychael Danna and Jeff Danna

The Good Dinosaur (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
The Good Dinosaur (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack).png
Film score by
Mychael and Jeff Danna
ReleasedNovember 20, 2015
Recorded2015
StudioEastwood Scoring Stage, Warner Bros., Los Angeles
Length63:23
Label Walt Disney
Producer Chris Montan
Pixar soundtrack chronology
Inside Out
(2015)		The Good Dinosaur
(2015)		 Finding Dory
(2016)
The Good Dinosaur (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Homestead"2:11
2."Hello Arlo"2:49
3."Chores"0:55
4."Make Your Mark"2:07
5."Fireflies"2:16
6."Critter Problem"1:04
7."You're Me and More"3:05
8."Family Struggle"1:23
9."Swept Away"1:33
10."Mountain Top"0:51
11."Lost in the Wild"3:35
12."Offerings"1:32
13."Unexpected Friend"2:56
14."Pet Collector"2:24
15."Swimming Lessons"2:29
16."Orphans"4:39
17."The Storm"1:17
18."I'm Never Getting Home"0:44
19."Storm Chasers"1:22
20."Bloodhound"1:37
21."Fight Them Rustlers"1:46
22."Run with the Herd"3:51
23."Returned Call"1:25
24."Sky Sharks"1:47
25."Arlo's Vision"1:35
26."Rescue"2:31
27."Over the Falls"2:41
28."Goodbye Spot"4:12
29."Homecoming"1:24
30."Arlo Makes His Mark"1:22
Total length:63:23

Reception

The score received mixed response from critics. A review from Laughing Place said that "Like the somber tone of the film, the soundtrack to The Good Dinosaur isn’t particularly lively. Most of the melodies are slow and sad, with the occasional happy, up-tempo moment. But more often than not, it’s either sad or frantic, depicting the same emotions as the story." [8] James Southall of Movie Wave, reviewed "There’s more action material, some of it with a darker flavour, and while it’s competently done it is a bit on the generic side and doesn’t stick around in the memory at all.  This mixes not entirely seamlessly with some comic material which is – except when returning to the delightful style of the early tracks – frankly a bit irritating [...] The Good Dinosaur has a number of moments of great quality but is an unusually uneven listening experience as an album which makes it a bit less than the sum of its parts.  Still, there’s more than enough here to make it worth returning to." [9] Pixar Post wrote "One can't help but make comparisons of a new film score to prior scores while listening and in our opinion, this feels much more like a John Powell live action score than any of the more common composers utilized by Pixar (Randy Newman, Michael Giacchino or Thomas Newman). Whether this type of feel for a Pixar film will be well received by critics en masse is yet to be seen, but one thing we can guarantee is that it's definitely worthy of adding to your Pixar score collection." [10]

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References

  1. 1 2 Burlingame, Jon (November 3, 2015). "'Good Dinosaur' Score Breaks Pixar Mold". Variety . Archived from the original on November 13, 2015. Retrieved November 12, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Walt Disney Records Releases "The Good Dinosaur" Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Score Composed By Mychael And Jeff Danna". PR Newswire (Press release). Burbank, California. November 20, 2015. Archived from the original on November 23, 2015. Retrieved December 7, 2015.
  3. ↑ Fischer, Russ (March 18, 2013). "Thomas Newman Scoring Pixar's 'The Good Dinosaur'". /Film. Retrieved May 1, 2022.
  4. ↑ "Jeff Danna Co-Scoring Pixar's 'The Good Dinosaur'". Film Music Reporter. Retrieved May 1, 2022.
  5. 1 2 3 "The Good Dino-Score: Behind The Music Of Pixar's Latest". NPR.org. Retrieved May 1, 2022.
  6. 1 2 "Composers Mychael Danna And Jeff Danna Utilize Alternative World Music Instruments For THE GOOD DINOSAUR Score". We Are Movie Geeks. November 23, 2015. Retrieved May 1, 2022.
  7. ↑ "The Music of The Good Dinosaur with Composers Mychael and Jeff Danna". soundworkscollection.com. Retrieved May 1, 2022.
  8. ↑ Reif, Alex (November 24, 2015). "The Good Dinosaur Soundtrack Review". LaughingPlace.com. Retrieved May 1, 2022.
  9. ↑ Southall, James (January 15, 2016). "The Good Dinosaur Soundtrack Review". Movie Wave. Retrieved May 1, 2022.
  10. ↑ Post, Pixar (November 20, 2015). "Western and World Music: 'The Good Dinosaur' Soundtrack Review". Pixar Post. Retrieved May 1, 2022.
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