Pixar Animation Studios is known for its clean, bright and fun animation that is seen in classics like The Incredibles, A Bug’s Life, and Cars, as well as Pixar shorts like Mike’s New Car and For the Birds.
Pixar movies are also notorious for having original songs in their movies that become award-winning mega hits, like “Remember Me” from Coco. However, the studio isn’t known just for its singular hits. It has also released incredible movie scores that have also been nominated - and have even won - awards at the Academy Awards and other smaller award ceremonies.
From the light, airy French sounds of Ratatouille to the Latin rhythm of Coco, Pixar Studios knows how to create a cohesive, well-blended movie score that maintains popularity over the years and is certainly playlist-worthy.
Most recently, Pixar released Turning Red, a story about a 13-year-old girl who turns into a big red panda when she gets too excited. In the future, Pixar has confirmed the release of Lightyear, a spin-off movie about a young Buzz Lightyear, which is scheduled for a June 17, 2022, theatrical release.
There are also several other untitled Pixar projects in the works that should arrive in the next few years, according to Screen Rant. This could mean more original movie scores to fall in love with. In the meantime though, here are 10 of the best musical scores from Pixar movies, ranked.
10 Toy Story (1995)
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Released in 1995, Toy Story was - and still remains - one of Pixar's most successful movies and a massive classic. It's all about toys coming to life and getting into all kinds of hijinks. Randy Newman was the composer for the movie, and his name is one that comes up a lot when talking about Pixar movie soundtracks. When you think of Toy Story, it's pretty easy to imagine his voice in your head. Toy Story was nominated for Best Original Score at the Academy Awards and Best Original Song for "You've Got a Friend in Me."
The Toy Story score feels like rolling around in a child's toy chest. It's bright and fun and colorful and seems to just radiate smiles. Every composition in every scene fits perfectly and furthers the story and the character's emotions.
9 Brave (2012)
Brave is a tale about a Scottish girl named Merida (Kelly Macdonald) who confronts tradition head-on when she decides she wants to become an archer, a skill she's really quite good at. At it's core it's a story about breaking outside the norms and carving your own path. Released in 2012, Brave is story with a strong female lead that feels similar to its predecessors like Mulan and Pocahontas.
The score for Brave was composed by Patrick Doyle (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Thor) and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. It also featured original songs performed by Scottish singer Julie Fowlis, English singer-songwriter Birdy and the band Mumford & Sons. Brave was also the first Disney-Pixar movie to feature lyrics in Scottish Gaelic. The entire soundtrack feels very medieval and creates an immersive experience into the movie and the Scottish setting it's aiming to drop you in.
8 WALL-E (2008)
WALL-E (Ben Burtt) thinks he's the last robot on Earth, until he meets EVE (Elissa Knight), falls in love, and joins her on an adventure throughout the galaxy. WALL-E is one of those movies that has a bit of everything. It's sci-fi, comedy, and romance all in one.
This 2008 movie was composed by Thomas Newman (Finding Nemo). The movie features songs from the Hello, Dolly! soundtrack including "Put On Your Sunday Clothes" and "It Only Takes a Moment", and classical pieces like "The Blue Danube" by Johann Strauss II. The WALL-E score also won a Grammy for Best Song Written for Visual Media for "Down to Earth," by musician Peter Gabriel.
The rest of the music in the movie is very sci-fi and mechanical. Without knowing what the movie is about, you can easily infer it's something space-age or robotic just from listening to the composition. The score is also successful in using music to enhance scenes, like with the track "EVE" that plays when she appears. It's very light, and airy, seemingly breathing life into WALL-E's otherwise lifeless world.
7 Up (2009)
Up is a tale about love and adventure that pulls at your heartstrings from beginning to end. The movie's musical score, which was composed by Pixar go-to Michael Giacchino (The Incredibles, Ratatouille), is a large part of what makes 2009's Up so successful at being such an evocative movie.
From the popular track "Married Life" that plays when the young newlyweds, Carl and Ellie, are building their life together to the grandiose "Paradise Found" that plays when Carl finally reaches the South American jungle. Each song ties very closely to the scene it's composed for, and the result is a refreshing and well-executed audiovisual experience.
6 Ratatouille (2007)
Ratatouille is a masterpiece that, at its heart, is about chasing your dreams. It tells the story of Remy (Patton Oswalt) a rat who dreams of becoming a chef in Paris. The score was composed by Michael Giacchino and is an immaculate composition that feels like walking the streets of Paris on a starlit evening. It's romantic and charming and has just the right amount of whimsy to allow the audience to get fully immersed in Remy's world.
The Ratatouille score was nominated for several awards at various annual award shows. It won a Grammy for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media and an Annie Award for Best Music in an Animated Feature Production.
While Ratatouille premiered several years ago in 2007, the movie's popularity is unwavering. Thanks to TikTok, it became the inspiration for a creator-driven, Broadway-esque musical, "Ratouille: The Musical" otherwise called the "Ratatouiscal." It also recently inspired a new 4D ride at Walt Disney World's Epcot park called Remy's Ratatouille Adventure.
5 Finding Nemo (2003)
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Just about everyone is familiar with Finding Nemo and the beachy, underwater feeling of the movie and its score, which was composed by Thomas Newman. It features tracks like "Nemo's Egg," used as the main title song, that manages to be both somber, yet hopeful. Later, it progresses into "Journey to School," which feels explorative as Nemo is making his way to his first day of school and seeing the underwater world for the first time. The score becomes even more captivating when Nemo meets the tank fish for the first time and Newman composes a piece specific to each fish. The depth of the score showcases Newman's attention to detail and ability to compose pieces that add another layer to the story.
While it's not something Newman composed himself, the cover of Bobby Darin's "Beyond the Sea," that plays during the end credits is one of the most memorable pieces of music from Finding Nemo. The cover, which was performed by Robbie Williams specifically for the movie, is perfectly jazzy and nautical and ends the movie on a happy note with a catchy song that's bound to get stuck in your head.
4 The Incredibles (2004)
The Incredibles, which tells the story of a family of superheroes, is another score credited to Michael Giacchino. It's a perfect blend of jazz, rock, and ultimate spy or action movie vibes. The most notable tracks from the score are "Life's Incredible Again" and "The Incredits."
"Life's Incredible Again" plays during a montage of Mr. Incredble (Craig T. Nelson) getting back into the superhero lifestyle. He's happy, hopeful and has a newfound lust for life that was missing earlier in the movie, and the song illustrates that. It's a short track, just barely over a minute long, but it's punchy and one of those songs that you could play on repeat and never grow tired of.
"The Incredits" just radiates superhero energy. It's action-packed and larger than life. When the end credits roll during the movie and "The Incredits" track plays, there's a comic book-style animation that plays, showcasing all the characters and their powers. The song fits perfectly and even though the animation is rather simple, and it's just the end credits, it's so energetic that you'll want to stick around until the screen goes black.
3 Coco (2017)
Coco is a beautiful movie about life and death that channels inspiration from the Mexican holiday Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. The bulk of the score is composed by Michael Giacchino, but also features several original songs by other composers and songwriters. The score heavily features Latin elements that were really never heard before in a Pixar movie, so it's a very refreshing soundtrack. It's a blend of both upbeat and sorrowful sounds that create a sort of emotional rollercoaster, especially when paired with the movie's plot and striking visuals.
Most notably from Coco is the original song "Remember Me," written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and her husband Robert, who have worked on past hits like Frozen's "Let it Go." It's a somber song with massive thematic importance in the movie, and it's performed by several characters, each time with heart and purpose. "Remember Me" won the Oscar for Best Original Song at the 2018 Academy Awards
2 Monsters Inc.
Monsters Inc. is another one of Randy Newman's compositions. The lively, rhythmic swing of the movie's soundtrack has a contagious energy that forces you to move. The main theme for the movie is pure jazz with an insanely catchy brass section. Arguably, it's one of Newman's best works for a Pixar movie.
Newman also wrote "If I Didn't Have You," an original song that John Goodman (Sully) and Billy Crystal (Mike) perform together - in character - during the end credits. It's a song about the pair's friendship and the fact that it's performed in character makes for a unique listening experience. The song actually went on to win the Oscar for Best Original Song in 2002 after the movie premiered in 2001.
Monsters Inc. and its incredible, stand-out characters were so well-loved that it had a prequel release, Monsters University, in 2013. Recently, Disney+ released Monsters at Work, a sequel series that picks up where the original Monsters Inc. ended.
1 Inside Out (2015)
Inside Out is a story about an 11-year-old girl named Riley (Kaitlyn Dias) who suddenly has her life turned upside down when she has to move across the country with her family. The movie takes an inside look at how Riley's emotions - Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Disgust (Mindy Kaling), Anger (Lewis Black) and Fear (Bill Hader) - handle the move and every other event in Riley's life.
Inside Out was composed by, once again, Michael Giacchino. The score for Inside Out is very emotionally heavy. As Riley experiences different emotions throughout the movie, the score follows that and really enhances whatever she's feeling. There's immense joy and happiness, deep melancholy and unbridled rage - all of which Giacchino manages to find a fitting melody for. In a way, Inside Out's score is similar to Up in that it's very emotionally driven, which is a talent of Giacchino's.
While the Inside Out score didn't go on to win well-known awards, like Oscars (although it did win at the Annie and World Soundtrack awards), it's still one of the most emotionally compelling scores from a Pixar movie. If you allow yourself to be truly enveloped in the plot, when Giacchino's compositions play to accompany different emotions and memories Riley has, you can't help but feel something spark in you, too. That's the beauty of Pixar movies and their very intentional musical compositions.