Dream Productionsfurther expands the world of the hit Disney PixarInside Outuniverse by filling some of the gap between the first movie and its hit sequel,Inside Out 2. Also notable as Pixar’s first animated series,Dream Productionstakes audiences once again inside the mind ofInside Outsubject Riley, this time exploring how dreams are made. The series centers on Paula Persimmon (Paula Pell), a dream director who teams up with daydream director Xeni (Richard Ayoade) to save her flagging career.
ScreenRant’s Dream Productionsreviewpraised the way the series maintains the standard of creativity set by theInside Outfilms, and one way the show does that is through its music. Composer Nami Melumad, who has long worked withInside Outcomposer Michael Giacchino, gave the series its own musical identity by pulling from a variety of musical eras and genres. Melumad is also known for her work onThor: Love and ThunderandStar Trek: Strange New Worlds.
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Nami Melumad spoke withScreenRantabout joining the team ofDream Productionsand what she hoped to bring to the show with her musical score. She discussed how the format of the series offered for exciting musical opportunities and shared the inspiration behind the sound of the score. Plus, Melumad gave a hint about what fans might be able to expect from the upcomingStar Trek: Strange New Worldsseason 3.
“It Feels Like An Great Honor To Continue A Legacy”
ScreenRant: You’ve worked with Michael Giacchino on a bunch of projects, includingThor: Love and Thunder.How was it to step into a musical world he established without him there? Did it feel like taking on a lot?
Nami Melumad: Not really. It feels like a great honor to continue a legacy, obviously, and to try to do good by it, but I do feel that Dream Productions is its own thing. The showrunner, Mike Jones, wanted it to have a completely different feel from Inside Out in terms of the score because the show takes place in a Hollywood studio—or what would be a Hollywood studio in Riley’s mind—and the idea was to do a fun, Hollywood, exciting [score] to reflect that in a way that’s not necessarily connected to the score of Inside Out. There was one time where we actually tried to do the Inside Out theme in our own way—in the genre of the late ‘60s, early ‘70s, soul/funk/jazz/rock mix that the score ended up being, but it didn’t work as well, so we let it go.
I may know your answer based on that, but this show leads up toInside Out 2and was made at the same time.
Nami Melumad: Yeah, it’s interesting. This is not a musical fact, but when I stepped into the project, I found out that some ideas were borrowed by Inside Out and ended up being in Inside Out 2. The brainstorm, for example—that was originally an idea for Dream Productions, and they loved it so much that it went into Inside Out 2.
I love that. Because of all of that, did you talk to (Inside Out 2composer) Andrea Datzman at all about her work on that movie?
Nami Melumad: We did share our experiences and stuff, but we didn’t attempt to tie anything together musically or anything like that. It was just more of a friends thing.
How did you land on the fusion of ‘60s and ‘70s music styles that you have in the score?
Nami Melumad: So, the feel of a Hollywood studio sometimes calls for this jazzy, grand thing, but we also wanted to make it fun and exciting and rhythmic with a lot of pace and a lot of energy, and there are so many colors for each character. There are a lot of little stories. We have Riley, we have the emotions, there are so many perspectives, and the show is a mockumentary. It blended many genres together that it called for a very large range of instrumentation and styles. So, there is this blend of this rock band with jazz horns and orchestra, with a B3 (organ) that is very, very prominent.
The B3 is in the front and the center of the score, and because it’s so versatile, I really liked that color for our show. It’s also pretty unique. I have not heard many scores that use that instrument and the flexibility of it. It can be very spunky, it can have a lot of attitude, and it can be very emotional and very warm. The versatility of it made it a very inviting instrument to use and to feature, and it’s featured a lot in the score.
Mike had a lot of references and ideas too. He actually was the first one who thought of the B3, and I was just like, “Yes, let’s do that.” I don’t think he thought of it in the emotional way that I did. I had imagined how the last episode would work with the lucid dream because you have this amazing moment for the B3 to lead the way. With most scores, you would expect it to go super orchestral and super sweeping, but the intimate feel of the B3 shapes the scene to be something we’ve never seen before, and something Riley has never seen before.
How was the mockumentary side of it all? Did that affect how you wanted to write and where you came in and out as a composer?
Nami Melumad: It’s a scoring challenge that one does not expect because shows like Parks and Rec are pretty dry. There’s not a lot of music in there, and on this one you have comedy moments, you have nightmare moments, you have drama, you have romance, and it’s animation and for a very wide audience. You have to strike a balance and also be very timely with your choices. And what I mean is really in terms of time—on which frame would you stop your music or start your music, and how would you shape your transitions? It took a lot of thinking, planning ahead, trying, failing, trying again, and finding the sweet spot. There was a lot of back and forth to find the right blend to make all the jokes and emotions hit well, and to have it feel cohesive because you have such a crazy adventure.
You have nightmare music, you have an old-style TV theme, and then you have a rock song that is supposed to sound bad and like it’s from the ‘80s. We used the best guitar player in town, George Doering. He cannot play a bad solo, so we needed about four takes to get it. Then, we ended up changing some notes and adding effects to make it bad—he just can’t play a bad solo. Then you have these chases and even dance music, which has EDM stuff. It was a very challenging and unique thing for a composer, which I am all for.
In terms of themes, how did you want to approach this compared to other work that you’ve done?
Nami Melumad: This is very colorful. I love working with themes and motifs. On many of my other projects, you hear leitmotifs and a little theme that is introduced in the first act or the first episode of the show, and by the last act or the last episode, it would grow with the characters. I often do that, and I did that here as well with Jean’s character and with Janelle and Paula.
The main theme also reoccurs in so many variations. You have the main title, but then you have that same theme when, at the very end of episode 1, Riley is being chased by Mermaid Unicorn, and the bass is under celli and the trombones are playing that. It’s really fun to play with thematic material. I’ve done that on Thor, Star Trek, and other projects, but it’s also very unique here because of the variety of instruments.
In terms of instruments for characters, for example, this was the first time I’m writing for two baritone saxophones. That’s the instrumentation for Jean, the studio head. It’s jazz flute for Janelle. These little things really add a lot because it sometimes helps to capture the personality of the character. It brings out certain elements or nuances in the animation that maybe you didn’t see before. It’s already great, so that’s the part where you’re like, “How can I make it even better?”
Dream Productions Felt Like A Feature Film, And Might Have Been One
“I Really Love That They Chose To Keep It As A Show”
This is only four episodes, so it’s about as long as the actualInside Outmovies. As a composer, did it feel more like the TV work you’ve done, or did it feel more like a feature? And how did that affect what you did?
Nami Melumad: That’s such a great question. It did feel a little bit like a feature film. We also scored it in a way that felt more like a feature film. For example, on other shows I work on, we record each episode separately, or maybe two episodes together. On this one we had a full week, so we prepared everything in advance and then we recorded everything. We had five days of just recording for the show, from morning till late at night. In that way, it felt like a feature film.
The other thing is there’s only, I think, one cue that repeats twice, and that was an edit because we were like, “Oh, we need to add music there,” and it was already after we finished. We borrowed one cue from episode 2, I think, and it ended up also in episode 4. Other than that, there are no repeating cues at all. There are recurring themes and variations, but there’s no repeating thing, which is something you do in feature films a lot.
I think they also, at some point, were thinking to try it as a feature, but I do think that the structure feels more like TV. A lot of those jokes at the opening land really well with the main title and the ending also lands well with the end credits. I really love that they chose to keep it as a show.
There Will Not Be A Musical Episode In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3
But “There Will Be Surprises”
You also do the music forStar Trek: Strange New Worlds. Season 3 is coming up next year. Is there anything you can say about what people can expect? Is there going to be another musical episode?
Nami Melumad: There’s not another musical episode, but it’s my favorite season. I have a very high bar for Star Trek, and I really enjoyed it. There are very different genres in there. There will be surprises. It’s not a musical, but there are surprises. Musically, it was also very challenging. Sometimes, we used a different ensemble, so maybe that’s a hint for what’s coming.
About Dream Productions
Set between the events of Inside Out and Inside Out 2, Dream Productions further explores another area of Riley’s mind. Pixar’s first-ever TV series tells the story of Paul Persimmon, a dream director who teams up with daydream director Xeni to reinvigorate her lagging career. The series’ cast includes Paula Pell, Richard Ayoade, Maya Rudolph, Ally Maki, and Kensington Tallman.
Dream Productionsis streaming now on Disney+.
Dream Productions
Set in the whimsical world of Riley’s mind, this Inside Out spin-off series follows the crew at Dream Productions, the studio responsible for creating Riley’s dreams and nightmares. As they craft cinematic experiences each night, the team faces unexpected challenges, blending humor and creativity in a vivid exploration of the subconscious.
