Disney Told Michael Giacchino to ‘Make the Score Dumber’ — He Wrote His Wildest, Most Cartoony Soundtrack Yet

Michael Giacchino composed the score for Zootopia 2 after Disney’s chief creative officer Jared Bush and co-director Byron Howard asked him to push the music into a more overtly cartoony place — even asking, “Can it be dumber?” The film opens in theaters on Nov. 26.

1. What directors asked
2. Giacchino’s approach and key quotes
3. Instruments and unusual sounds
4. Making music “dumber” — the composer’s take
5. Sequels and musical continuity
6. Release info

What directors asked

Jared Bush and Byron Howard asked Michael Giacchino to take a looser, more cartoony approach to the Zootopia 2 score. Specifically, they asked, “Can it be dumber?” Giacchino has an Oscar for his score for Pixar’s Up and previously scored the first Zootopia, as well as films like Coco, Ratatouille, and Inside Out.

Giacchino’s approach and key quotes

Giacchino described the score as a test of extremes and variety. He said, “This might be the most insane score I’ve ever written in my entire life.” He added that cues shift quickly across styles — from banjo to ’70s cop-show vibes, to a French bistro, then to heavy metal — and that when watching the film it “never feels wrong.”

Instruments and unusual sounds

For the soundtrack, the team used conventional and unconventional percussion. Giacchino said, “We went to the rental house and just pretty much took everything they had in the percussion warehouse.” He mentioned using a flapamba and family-made items: “My son, in high school, he made this crazy brass gong that was really cool, and it just sat in the house forever. I was like, ‘I’m going to take that with me.’”

Giacchino also said, “There is no such thing as ‘No’ on this score. It was always, ‘Yes, use that!’ Or if someone did something weird, Jared would just go [demonic voice] ‘Yesssss.’”

More on the flapamba can be found on this page.

Making music “dumber” — the composer’s take

Giacchino explained how abstract direction helps composers. He said, “It’s all about how silly we can go.” He described using cartoon-style sounds and experimental instrument techniques, and noted: “Dumber gives us permission to go into areas that are the eighth-grade version of what we do.”

He gave an example: “What would you do with a trombone if you were in eighth grade? ‘Well, I’d make these weird noises!’ It’s finding those kinds of things. Or it’s about in the middle of a tense action scene, putting in a real rippin’ fiddle solo.”

Sequels and musical continuity

Giacchino discussed how he approaches scoring a sequel, citing John Williams’ work on Empire Strikes Back as a model: “One of my favorite sequels is Empire Strikes Back, and one of the reasons is because what John did with that score was not just rehash what he had.” He said new characters and locations in a sequel warrant new musical material and that he aimed to let Zootopia 2’s new elements become part of the franchise’s musical fabric.

Release info

Zootopia 2 is scheduled to be in theaters on Nov. 26. The sequel stars Ginnifer Goodwin as Judy Hopps and Jason Bateman as Nick Wilde, and features Ke Huy Quan as a snake character who infiltrates the city of Zootopia.

For context, Giacchino has scored many Disney and Pixar films since 2004, and he won an Academy Award for his score for Up.