Michael Giacchino on Watching John Carter and Speed Racer Gain Fans

Michael Giacchino’s scored seven movies for Pixar — The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Up, Cars 2, Inside Out, Coco, and Incredibles 2 — but none would prepare him for the unique challenge he faced on his eighth Pixar film, Lightyear. Lightyear is the in-world movie that would have inspired Toy Story’s Andy to want a Buzz Lightyear toy. In the film, Buzz (voiced by Chris Evans) makes a devastating decision that leaves his crew of more than 1,000 scientists and technicians stranded on a hostile planet called T’Kani Prime. While most come to accept their fate and try to build lives in this new world, Buzz refuses. He’s determined to fix his mistake and get everyone back to Earth, even if it means giving his whole life to the mission. With Lightyear playing in theaters nationwide, I got the chance to chat with Giacchino about his experience creating a score for his eighth Pixar movie. While he did insist much of the creative process stays the same from film to film, whether it’s live-action or animation