Collin Willis

Pixar doesn’t have much in the way of original songs. Though Disney was adamant on their inclusion in Toy Story, Pixar will usually only have one original song per movie, if even they have one at all. However, in the absence of characters singing, Pixar develops some incredibly moving scores. Here are the Top Ten Pixar Scores.

10. Coco (Michael Giacchino)

Coco is an interesting member of this list because it is designed around a particular genre of music. Rooting the film firmly in the folkish style of traditional Mexican music from the early 1900s, the score for Coco is tasked with making the film musically relatable to modern audience while sending tribute to the intended style. Giacchino does this beautifully, build a wonderful score around the vibrant land of the dead and Miguel’s emotional journey. Not to mention that Coco is the rare Pixar film with original songs.

9. Ratatouille (Michael Giacchino)

There’s a pattern starting to form here. Michael Giacchino is Pixar’s musical golden goose, and a personal favorite composer of mine. In Ratatouille, Giacchino blends vocal music and strings to build the atmosphere of Paris and its favorite rat-infested restaurant. Giacchino’s score is lovely, building deep romance for the city and in between the leading characters. Above all things, the score for Ratatouille is always sweet.

8. Soul (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross)

Another film tasked with adhering to a specific genre and time, Soul is entrenched in the free flowing jazz atmosphere of New York city. At the same time, the score also takes large diversions into the still world of the Great Before/Beyond. It’s a film that is both Pixar’s most grounded and yet its most unrealistic at times. Reznor and Ross’ score matches those tonal shifts with ease, creating a jazzy and inventive score that’s quiet but still profound.

7. Toy Story (Randy Newman)

The film that started it all. Composed by Hollywood and Composer Royalty, Randy Newman, the score to Toy Story sets the tone for Pixar moving forward. For Toy Story, Newman packs the emotion into the film’s three original songs and uses the instrumental score to highlight the fun and fantasy of the toy’s world. He delivers original songs that are catchy and emotionally weighted with a score that inspires and carries the imagination to infinity and beyond.

6. Up (Michael Giacchino)

In a single measure, Michael Giacchino’s score for Up can reduce nearly anyone to a blubbering, crying mess. This is Pixar’s greatest example of storytelling through music, relying on Giacchino’s at times flighty and at times somber score to carry you through the entirety of the relationship between Carl and Elli. Coming from a place of sheer emotion, the score for Up contends on a level with few comparable opponents.

5. Toy Story 4 (Randy Newman)

The culmination (maybe?) of the Toy Story saga, Toy Story 4 operates as a coda; an epilogue into the final arc of Woody away from the main story. In it Randy Newman utilizes motifs created in the first three Toy Story’s and brings them into a heartfelt culmination. Though the film itself is up for debate, Newman’s score is an undeniable strength. Every Toy Story film is a gut punch, but Toy Story 4‘s score helps it pack some extra weight.

4. Inside Out (Michael Giacchino)

Inside Out often feels like Pixar’s simplest score. Utilizing slow piano riffs and drawn out toots of various horns, Inside Out musically jogs where other films in the Pixar canon might run. Yet the simple repetition of these motifs and measures help reinforce the personalities of this large cast of characters.

3. Monsters Inc. (Randy Newman)

The score to Monsters Inc. is loud. Immediately into the film, Randy Newman’s score locks you into the wild, wacky world of Monstropolis. With quick saxophone blasts, a sweet reedy riff, and a fair amount of strings, the score to this movie often feels improvisational. Much like Mike Wazowski, the films score feels like it can (and will) turn on a dime, mixing up rhythms and environmental feels to match the fast-paced world of Mike and Sully.

2. Finding Nemo (Thomas Newman)

Pixar’s quietest and most somber of scores. Thomas Newman’s score for Finding Nemo utilizes big, sweeping movements, to pull you into the vastness of the ocean blue and resonate further with the constant spin of emotions that plagues Marlin and Nemo. Newman creates a tender score that has its moments of fast movements and epic-sounding motifs, but it mostly comes at you softly and quietly, caressing your heart like water tenderly lapping the shore.

1.The Incredibles (Michael Giacchino)

Epic. Michael Giacchino’s score for The Incredibles riffs off of the Golden Age of superheroes and the spy genres of the 60’s. It creates a plethora of motifs for Mr. Incredible, Syndrome, Elastigirl, and all the rest of the Incredible family. Yet the score still has plenty of tender moments, whether its Mr. Incredible remembering the glory days or Dash racing across the water for the first time, the epicness of this score in no way diminishes its emotional impact. Michael Giacchino’s score packs quite the punch.