Pixar's Musical Minds

Today we’ve got a special musical double feature for you guys!

Let’s start off with TS3 — For the last two days, Lee Unkrich has been tweeting about the first sessions of Toy Story 3 soundtrack recording led by legendary composer Randy Newman. Alongside the tweets came some really great pictures from "behind the music" at Sony Studios.

During off time away from the orchestra, TS3’s director recorded some lines with Tom Hanks… and look who dropped by for a visit! The crew will be back in a month to lay down other new tracks. For more, definitely check out Lee’s tweets (follow him too!) and "Twitpics" (like the one above featuring a still from the film) if you haven’t already.

Also in Pixar music news — The Los Angeles Times recently sat down with celebrated composer Michael Giacchino. His work is familiar to us Pixar fans; from The Incredibles, to Ratatouille and beyond, he’s tackled it all! But in his latest interview Giacchino focuses on his Grammy nominated track, Married Life, from Up. 

He explains his approach towards that specific piece of music by asking the question, "what would I say to [Carl and Ellie]?" For the soundtrack, "[he] would… be as quiet and gentle…as possible" as exemplified by the subliminal arrangement from Up’s heartfelt take-off. Read the full article, packed with insightful quotes that let us in on the accomplished composer’s way of thinking, right here.

Hopefully we’re all looking forward to Grammy results and the Toy Story 3 soundtrack — both coming promptly in 2010.

Any thoughts on Pixar’s music and the minds behind it?