Disney For Scores

Legendary composer John Williams talks with host Jon Burlingame about his latest film score for Disney's Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. The two discuss an amusing story shared by Harrison Ford about the oddest place he ever heard Williams' iconic march, to the particulars of writing music for Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s mysterious character, Helena. Williams also reveals how he has successfully collaborated with some of the foremost filmmakers of the last two centuries to create many of the most recognized film scores of all time— with no signs of slowing down after nearly seven decades in the studio.

Host Jon Burlingame sits down with Thomas Newman, the iconic composer whose latest work can be heard in Pixar’s new film Elemental. They talk about how Newman went about creating music and introducing vocal elements for the imaginary world of the film, as well as reveal the helpful advice Thomas’ cousin, the legendary Randy Newman, once gave him.

Host Jon Burlingame sits down to talk about the collaboration between Oscar®-nominated director Rob Marshall and eight-time Academy Award®-winning composer Alan Menken on The Little Mermaid. They reveal exclusive, behind-the-scenes stories about recording with stars, including Halle Bailey, Awkwafina and Melissa McCarthy, as well as the excitement of working alongside Lin-Manuel Miranda to reimagine the original animated version of the film.

Host Jon Burlingame sits down with composer John Murphy to talk about his film score for “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” and collaboration with director James Gunn. They discussed the use of opera, the influence of Renaissance music and the reveal where the best percussion sound came from, as well as the challenge of writing music to the tonal shifts of the story.

In this episode of The Big Score Grammy Award winner and composer, Simon Franglen, takes listeners behind the music of Avatar: The Way of Water, with water being one of the main inspirations for how Simon deftly created an ambient piece of music matching the stunning visuals of the film. But, creating unique water sounds was just one part of the process, tune in to hear how Simon created a new instrument, printed from his sketch on a 3D printer, and perfect for a character 10 feet tall with three fingers. A longtime collaborator with director, James Cameron, Simon also reveals in the episode how he came to work with Cameron initially on Titanic, winning a Grammy for “My Heart Will Go On” and which lead to them collaborating again on the original Avatar, alongside James Horner, and Avatar: The Way of Water. Follow The Big Score podcast here: https://www.instagram.com/bigscoreoff... https://www.facebook.com/TheBigScoreO... https://www.tiktok.com/@bigscoreofficial https://twitter.com/thebigscore

Host Jon Burlingame sits down with composer Joseph Shirley to talk about his work on Season 3 of the Disney+ series, The Mandalorian, and the overall soundscape of the series, the Star Wars legacy and his longtime collaboration with Ludwig Göransson.

Host Jon Burlingame sits down with Grammy-winning composer Simon Franglen to discuss his epic score for Avatar: The Way of Water. Simon recalls the singular experience of working with director James Cameron and the tight-knit Avatar family, how sounds of Earth inspired him in the creation of music for another planet, and what the return to Pandora means to him.

Legendary Oscar-winning composer and songwriter Alan Menken joins host Jon Burlingame to discuss his songs for Disney’s Disenchanted, the long-awaited sequel to Enchanted. Alan reflects on his enduring partnership with Disney, how he created the ‘magical’ sound so many associate with animated classics, and why he’s enjoying revisiting and reinventing that magic in this new film.

Host Jon Burlingame sits down with long time musical partners Alan Silvestri and Glen Ballard to discuss their work on Disney’s new live action Pinocchio. The composers reveal how the new film honors the original while spinning its own magic with additional songs they wrote for new and original characters. They also share stories of their years working closely with director Robert Zemeckis.

Host Jon Burlingame visits the studio of Emmy-winning composer Laura Karpman for a conversation about her latest work for Marvel, including Ms. Marvel, What If…?, and the upcoming film The Marvels. Laura speaks on the importance of representation in music and film, and how she blended Pakistani folk music, traditional super hero sounds, and hip hop to create an authentic score for the MCU’s first South Asian and Muslim super hero.

“Award winning composer Natalie Holt joins host Jon Burlingame to describe her process of creating the otherworldly soundscapes of both Loki and Obi-Wan Kenobi. They discuss her unique approach to composing for heritage characters, working with her idol John Williams, and her passion for equity in the film music world."

Host Jon Burlingame speaks with conductor and Academy Award® nominated film composer David Newman about his role in translating Leonard Bernstein’s original music to Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story.” Newman explains how the team’s respect for the classical music canon and Broadway traditions led them to preserve as much original score as possible, with changes mostly confined to arrangement and placement.

Grammy® nominated music producer and supervisor Matt Sullivan sits down with host Jon Burlingame to discuss his role as executive music producer on Steven Spielberg’s newest film, “West Side Story.” Sullivan explains how he worked with legends like John Williams and Stephen Sondheim to coordinate music’s unique role in the rehearsal and filming process, and how he felt seeing his work translated to the screen.

In this special episode, Host Jon Burlingame sits down first with award-winning composer, lyricist and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda to discuss how his large family, The Little Mermaid and Colombian musician Carlos Vives influenced his work on Disney’s latest animated film, Encanto. After Lin reveals the inspirations behind his songs, Jon talks with composer Germaine Franco about how she integrated them into her score, along with the sounds of Colombia and magical realism.

Iron Man and Game of Thrones composer Ramin Djawadi joins host Jon Burlingame to talk about his most recent partnership with Marvel Studios on Eternals. Djawadi reveals what it was like to work with Academy Award® winning director Chloe Zhao to create the timeless backdrop for a narrative that spans centuries and cultures. He also explains how a lucky coincidence changed the course of his career when he was offered the opportunity to work under Hans Zimmer.

Host Jon Burlingame sits down with legendary composer Danny Elfman to talk about his scoring of “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and his decades-long collaboration with Tim Burton. Danny also reveals to Jon the fascinating behind-the-scenes story of how the music for this cult classic film got made, why Halloween has been a special night for him since childhood and how intertwined he and Jack Skellington truly are.

In the second episode of a two part series, legendary eight-time Oscar-winning composer and songwriter Alan Menken continues his conversation with host Jon Burlingame. Together, they discuss Alan's transition to new writing partners after Howard Ashman’s early death with films like Aladdin and Tangled, Disney’s Broadway takeover, and other favorite projects such as The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Alan looks back on his impressive Disney legacy and reveals information about upcoming new classics including Disenchanted, and the live action The Little Mermaid.

In the first episode of a two part series, legendary eight-time Oscar winning composer and songwriter Alan Menken sits down with host Jon Burlingame to discuss his career. Alan takes the audience back to his beginnings as a musician in a family of dentists, his love of Fantasia, and his life-changing writing partnership with Howard Ashman; which would skyrocket them both to Off-Broadway success with Little Shop of Horrors, and eventually to Disney royalty with The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin.

Host Jon Burlingame talks to Lorne Balfe, composer of the score for Marvel Studios' new film, Black Widow. Lorne reveals how he immersed himself in Russian music and culture in order to create a memorable sound for Natasha Romanoff’s long awaited origin story. He also recounts his own musical origins, including his early beginnings as a composer and his training with Hans Zimmer.

Emmy winning composer Nicholas Britell sits down with host Jon Burlingame to discuss his process combining orchestra and classic rock in the score for Disney’s Cruella. Britell talks about his musical history and how his philosophy of constant learning helped him navigate an ambitious project in the midst of the pandemic.