A Review of the Music and Career of Michael Giacchino
- Nathaniel Wiley
- Jun 19, 2023
- 6 min read
There have been some composers who have composed exceptionally great movie scores, like John Williams (Star Wars, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park), Randy Newman (Toy Story, Monsters, Inc., The Natural, Awakenings), or Hans Zimmer (Pirates of the Caribbean, The Lion King, Gladiator). One of those extremely accomplished composers is Michael Giacchino ("juh-key-no"), pictured to the left. Giacchino has composed scores for a variety of movies, from Star Trek (2009), to Pixar's Up, even composing for some of the Planet of the Apes movies. He began as a composer for primarily video games, and eventually began branching out to movies and TV beginning in the early 2000s. Giacchino has created countless recognizable movie scores, creating a distinctive musical experience for the audience. His work is, at times, breathtaking. In this article, you'll find an overview of what Giacchino does extremely well as a composer - including features that set him apart from some of the other great movie composers.
Diversity
Michael Giacchino has composed for many movies, and has won and been nominated for countless awards, including BAFTAs, Oscars, Grammys, Primetime Emmys, and many more. But his awards don't truly show how diverse his repertoire of compositions is. He has composed music for so many different movies and styles, and whether that's the cultural music from Pixar's Coco, to the intense and action packed symphonic suite from Star Trek, he has created the score for so many unique and different projects.
One of his more recent projects was Jojo Rabbit, pictured above. Jojo Rabbit is a film about, according to Rotten Tomatoes, "...a lonely German boy who discovers that his single mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their attic. Aided only by his imaginary friend -- Adolf Hitler -- Jojo must confront his blind nationalism as World War II continues to rage on."
The music in the film adopts a war-like feel, featuring snare drums, whistles, as well as emotional piano riffs.
This music is much different than the music of, say, Inside Out, a movie about the emotions inside of a girl's head. Inside Out has more of a playful and experimental feel to the music in it, as it adds to the characters in the story.
And if that's not enough to convince you that Giacchino's work is diverse, he has composed for many video games, as well as composing the music for the 2005 version of Space Mountain in Disneyland Paris.
Character Building
The music in this video clip fully exhibits how Giacchino is able to express emotions through his music. But in case you couldn't hear the music in the clip, an audio-only version of the music is included here.
The beginning of the clip is hyper and energetic, as well as silly, and perfectly represents the sugar rush that Reilly, the kid at the beginning of the clip, is clearly having. After that, the music transitions to a more business-like sound, and, while still being playful, embraces the rush of school mornings with running eighth notes and staccato notes plucked on string instruments.
As each character talks to Joy, the music changes slightly. The most noticeable example is when Anger is given the task of "unloading the daydreams," where bass instruments play a separated counter-melody that gives off vibes of someone in the morning without their coffee... just plain angry.
Later in the music, when Joy is talking to Sadness, the music transitions to an almost lullaby-like feel, and then gives way to a bass clarinet solo that shows how down Sadness is, almost like the music that plays for Eeyore in Winnie the Pooh (2011).
The way Giacchino represents each character with different musical styles adds so much to the movie, and doesn't just communicate the emotions being laid out on screen, but communicates what the character is feeling on a deeper level.
Borrows from Different Styles
Giacchino says, "I think my writing has an old-fashioned feel to it, for whatever reason. I'm just so influenced by the music that I listened to growing up, a lot of it out of the 60's, so it has a natural tendency to feel like it's from another era."
Giacchino's music does borrow from many different styles, and that is made clear by the similarities of his movie compositions and songs from various time periods that sound similar.
A great example of this is found in his Academy Award-winning score for Pixar's Up. The main theme from Up, "Married Life," is similar to the 1924 song "Memory Lane," composed by Con Conrad and Larry Spier. Both songs are below for your comparison. The first song is "Memory Lane" credit the Library of Congress, the second "Married Life," by Michael Giacchino.
Both of those songs have a similar, waltz-like feel, even featuring some of the same instruments, like a muted trumpet in both songs. "Married Life" has a vintage feel, much like the sound of "Memory Lane." Some of the tempo changes in Giacchino's song also add to the feeling of the movie, and the emotions of the characters.
Other songs composed by Giacchino also are alike to songs that have a similar feeling. Take another song he composed for Pixar, "The Incredits," which is a medley of multiple songs from the movie The Incredibles.
The song features a 60s-like big band sound, and also incorporates ideas from classic crime TV shows. Some of the TV themes that are similar to "The Incredits" are themes from Get Smart, Police Squad, and the original theme song from Mission Impossible. Coincidentally, Giacchino went on to compose the music for the newer Mission Impossible movies.
Paying Homage to the Originals
Speaking of Giacchino's work on the Mission Impossible movies, Giacchino has a unique ability to incorporate the original theme songs of movies and TV shows into the music of their remakes or reboots.
Giacchino has composed the music for many movie remakes, including the 2009 version of Star Trek, the Jurassic World movies, and, as mentioned earlier, the latest Mission Impossible movies. All of these movies he works to incorporate the theme songs from the original movies or TV shows into his new compositions. This gives off a nostalgic feeling for those who saw the original show or movie, but also gives the original music a fresh twist when he creates his own compositions to mesh with the original themes.
Giacchino also pays homage to cultural music in the movies that he composes that feature elements of culture. A prime example of this is Pixar's Coco, which Giacchino composed.
Giacchino stated in a quote that he wanted the music to help express the emotions of the characters, but also wanted an authentic feel to it. Giacchino went on to do research on Mexican music, the instruments used in that music, and worked with Encanto composer Germaine Franco, as well as Camilo Lara, a music producer based in Mexico City, to create more authentic-feeling music.
Musical Genius
Michael Giacchino should be considered one of the best composers, because his music conveys meaning beyond what is said in the film. It is music that expresses emotions in itself. And whether that emotion is expressed through choices of instruments, dynamics, or otherwise, it creates an impressive soundtrack and a musical experience different than any other.
Overall, all of Giacchino's soundtracks have variety. For instance, compare Coco and Jojo Rabbit, or Lost and Thor: Love and Thunder. It just goes to show that many of his soundtracks differ in style and approach to music, which is what makes his soundtracks so unique.
He also pays homage to cultural music and original theme songs, depending on what project he is working on. Giacchino also borrows from different styles of music, which helps vary the music in his compositions.
Pete Docter, chief creative officer at Pixar, said on the CD for Inside Out, "In some weird way it feels as though Michael’s music always existed and that he just found it — that’s how well his music fits. It’s as if the music and picture always belonged together."
Works Cited “Biography» Michael Giacchino.” Michael Giacchino, michaelgiacchino.com/biography/. “Camilo Lara.” IMDb, www.imdb.com/name/nm1469550/. “Coco» Michael Giacchino.” Michael Giacchino, michaelgiacchino.com/projects/coco/. Franco, Germaine. “Credits - Germaine Franco,, Composer, Songwriter, Orchestrator, Percussionist.” Germaine Franco, 19 Jan. 2016, www.germainefranco.com/credits/. Accessed 20 June 2023. “Hans Zimmer.” IMDb, www.imdb.com/name/nm0001877/. https://www.latimes.com/la-bio-susan-king-staff.html. ““Inside Out” Composer Michael Giacchino Is on a Roll.” Los Angeles Times, 18 July 2015, www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-ca-mn-conversation-michael-giacchino-inside-out-20150719-story.html. Accessed 20 June 2023. “Jojo Rabbit (2019).” Www.rottentomatoes.com, www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jojo_rabbit. “Michael Giacchino.” IMDb, www.imdb.com/name/nm0315974/?ref_=nmawd_ov_i. Accessed 20 June 2023. “Michael Giacchino Awards.” IMDb, www.imdb.com/name/nm0315974/awards/. “Michael Giacchino on Making the Music of “inside Out” & “Jurassic World.”” ScreenRant, 17 June 2015, screenrant.com/jurassic-world-inside-out-music-soundtrack-michael-giacchino/. Accessed 20 June 2023. “Michael Giacchino Quotes.” IMDb, www.imdb.com/name/nm0315974/quotes/?ref_=nm_dyk_qu. Accessed 20 June 2023. “Michael Giacchino Trivia.” IMDb, www.imdb.com/name/nm0315974/trivia/?ref_=nm_dyk_trv. Accessed 20 June 2023. “Randy Newman.” IMDb, www.imdb.com/name/nm0005271/. T.J, Pixar Post-. “Review: “inside Out” Soundtrack Is Michael Giacchino’s Most Emotional Score.” Pixar Post, 19 June 2015, pixarpost.com/2015/06/inside-out-soundtrack-reivew.html. Accessed 20 June 2023. “WINNIE the POOH - Eeyore - YouTube.” Www.youtube.com, www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMDAY8H5yIw. Accessed 20 June 2023.
Cover image for this article is by Karen Roe (CC BY 2.0). All other image credits are listed below the images in the article, with their corresponding Creative Commons licenses.
NWP is not affiliated with Pixar, Disney, or any other companies or entities referenced or mentioned in this piece of writing. For questions and concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.
We do not own the rights to any of the music or film footage/images in the article above, and they are embedded via YouTube, or the Library of Congress, or have been attributed to the person who took the image.
I enjoyed the article very much and look forward to returning to the piece when time allows me to make the comparisons and listen to the selections. Of course, I knew the music, but I never attended to the composer. Now I have a name to investigate.