John Lasseter and the filmmakers had a very clear directive for the score from the first meeting: they wanted memorable, emotional ,and clearly-stated melodic themes from the score to The Good Dinosaur and that’s what we set out to give them.

Pixar sets the bar for animation, and they set the bar for imagination, so we wanted to do something different for this score, blending traditional instrumentation and traditional film scoring techniques with alternative world music instruments. We draw from everywhere – historically speaking and geographically speaking – to help tell this story.

We used pre-Colombian instruments that reflected the ancient landscape that surrounds the characters, as well as numerous unusual stringed instruments that sound primitive or folky: a bouzouki, a long-necked Greek instrument that’s like a mandolin; the Turkish Cumbus; the Iranian saz; a cuatro from Puerto Rico, a Nordic instrument called a Harpolek, and something quite dramatic called a Paleo Box. These instruments are particularly interesting when placed into the refined world of the orchestra, and they give The Good Dinosaur it’s own epic and unique musical setting.