Lightyear Composer Michael Giacchino Reveals The One Movie Genre He Still Wants To Make Music For - Exclusive
We've known and loved Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) since "Toy Story" was released in 1995. But while Buzz was modeled on Star Command's favorite Space Ranger, the toy was never an intergalactic adventurer like the man who inspired his creation. In fact, Buzz never really knew the full story of the character whose likeness he shared, and neither did "Toy Story" fans — that is, until now.
Pixar's latest film, "Lightyear," reveals the story of the space traveler (Chris Evans) behind the toy, a thrilling sci-fi adventure that's full of action, humor, and heart. But without a rousing score backing up the story, the movie wouldn't stir viewers' emotions nearly as much. Luckily, the music is provided by accomplished composer Michael Giacchino, and the instrumentals he's created punctuate and add resonance to every scene of the film.
It's a feat Giacchino has accomplished repeatedly in movies and TV shows from "Alias" to "Lost" and from "Star Trek" to "Jurassic World," from "This Is Where I Leave You" to "An American Pickle" and from "Spider-Man: No Way Home" to "The Batman." Given his long and varied list of credits, it's hard to imagine there's anything Giacchino, who won an Oscar for his score of "Up," hasn't done. However, in an interview with Looper, he shared the one genre he's still hoping to compose music for.
Giacchino wants to create a score for a quintessentially American genre
Michael Giacchino has created scores for action movies, sci-fi and fantasy stories, superhero extravaganzas, comedies, and dramas. But it turns out that there's one quintessentially American genre he's still itching to tackle. "I probably would love to do an old-fashioned Western of some sort," Giacchino revealed. "[That] would be great."
Although they're only made periodically today, it seems Giacchino would love to have the opportunity to score a movie set in the Old West, along the lines of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," "Unforgiven," or "The Power of the Dog," complete with horses, cowboys, and dusty frontier towns. While Giacchino hasn't had his shot at a Western set in the 1800s, he's come close. "I just did a Western with [writer and director] Tom Bezucha called 'Let Him Go.' Kevin Costner was in it. It took place in the '60s, and I love that movie. It's great. It's a dark, dark tale, and that's about as close to a Western as I have gotten, in terms of a feature film."
We have our fingers crossed that we'll be enjoying an old-fashioned, big-screen Western with music composed by Giacchino soon.
"Lightyear" is currently playing in theaters.