PROFILE: Michael Giacchino
For this profile, we switch gears and profile an actual person rather than a character. Today, we look at Michael Giacchino, one of the most prolific composers to work for Disney.
Giacchino began his career with Disney in 2001 by composing the music for the ABC spy drama Alias featuring Jennifer Garner. In 2004, he started composing for another ABC supernatural sci-fi drama - Lost starring Matthew Fox and Evangeline Lilly. It was shortly after that that Giacchino began working for Pixar with The Incredibles, creating a wonderfully retro sounding superhero score.
In 2005, he worked on Sky High as well as The Muppet Wizard of Oz. He also scored Jack-Jack Attack and One Man Band for Pixar. It was also this year that he was asked to write a new soundtrack for the Space Mountain attractions at Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland as well as Space Mountain: Mission 2 at Disneyland Paris. In 2006, we worked on the ABC drama Six Degrees which only lasted one season due to ratings and the Pixar short Lifted.
In 2007, he went back to Pixar to compose the French-inspired music for Ratatouille. He also scored the Goofy short How To Hook Up Your Home Theater for Walt Disney Animation Studios.
In 2009, Giacchino scored one of his finest scores of his career. It was the score for Pixar's Up. That year, he also scored two Pixar shorts - Partly Cloudy and Dug's Special Mission - and the ABC Disney Christmas animated special Prep & Landing. In 2010, he was asked to score Space Mountain at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World. And, he worked on the Pixar short Day & Night as well as returning to Walt Disney Animation Studios for the second Prep & Landing special Operation: Secret Santa.
In 2011, he went back to Pixar to score Cars 2. He was also asked music for Star Tours: The Adventures Continue for Disney Parks around the world. And, he scored the Pixar short La Luna, the Disney short The Ballad of Nessie and then returned for the third Prep & Landing special Naughty vs. Nice. In 2012, Giacchino scored the live action Disney science fiction drama John Carter as well as a Minnie Mouse animated short entitled Electric Holiday. And, in 2013, he scored Pixar's ABC Halloween special Toy Story of Terror!
In 2014, he was asked to score the attraction Ratatouille: L’Aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémy for Walt Disney Studios Park at Disneyland Paris. The soundtrack will also be used at Epcot once it opens there. He also scored Pixar's ABC Special Toy Story That Time Forgot. In 2015, Giacchino scored Disney's live action science fiction drama Tomorrowland and Pixar's Inside Out. He would also score the Pixar short Riley's First Date?
In 2016, he was all over Disney scoring Disney's Zootopia, Marvel Studios's Doctor Strange and Lucasfilm's Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. In 2017, he went back to Marvel Studios for Spider-Man: Homecoming as well as to Pixar for Coco. In 2018, he returned to The Incredibles franchise for The Incredibles 2 and also went on to write music for the Incredicoaster at Disney California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort.
In 2019, he scored Marvel's Spider-Man: Far From Home as well as the 20th Century movie Jojo Rabbit. And, he is set to score Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness when it comes out in 2021. Past that, we are sure that Michael Giacchino will continue to write music across the board from Disney and we all here at Castles, Capes & Clones can't wait for whatever comes out.