Making Hip Tunes for Toons
Today’s top composers bring a variety of cutting-edge influences and eclectic instrumentations to today’s animation soundtracks.
It practically goes without saying that children’s animated shows today don’t look like they used to. But neither do they sound the way they used to. Gone are the days of generic themes repeated over and over to underscore the action. Today’s kidvid producers are calling upon contemporary composers and songwriters to provide hipper and more flavorful scores that not only enhance the stories, but on occasion help contribute to them.
“I don’t want to write Baby Shark,” says Rob Cantor, who provides the music for Disney Junior’s soon-to-premier series T.O.T.S. “I want the music to be accessible for kids, but also something that parents will really enjoy listening to as much as their kids.”
Created by Travis Braun (Vampirina), the show is set against a baby-delivering operation called “Tiny Ones Transport Service” (T.O.T.S.) and follows non-stork delivery agents Pip and Freddy, a penguin and a flamingo, as they convey all manner of animal infants across the globe. Much of the music on T.O.T.S. comes by way of songs. “In addition to the theme song there’s a recurring song that happens in each episode, and an original song or two specific to that storyline,” Cantor says.
“The writers do a great job of setting up why and where and how the song needs to happen in terms of the story.”
While working within television budgets and schedules (which for hard-working composers is about two weeks) means that most TV toon scores are created through sample libraries, songs are a different proposition. Cantor uses a mix of live instruments and sampled instruments, with a preference for live recording whenever possible.
Organic Vibes
“I think a big part of the show is that organ
ic feel,” Cantor says. “Generally, every song contains drums, guitar, bass and some keyboards, and then depending on what’s going on in the story, adding some musical flavors into a song might make sense. If they’re delivering a baby in the savanna, it might make sense to use African drums. They’ve been super-welcoming to my creative contributions from a sense of humor standpoint, and within the songs they give me a lot of lee
way to contribute ideas that may not necessarily be musical in nature. I really appreciate that.”
Songs also feature prominently in the scores for Nick Jr.’s Abby Hatcher, which is produced by the Toronto-based toy and entertainment juggernaut Spin Master, and animated by Guru Studio. In this case the songs are known as “ditties” and are performed by the “Squeaky Peepers,” an octet of little creatures known as Fuzzlies who are adventure-mates of the show’s seven-year-old protagonist. “A lot of the ditties would be composed off the script,
“Your instinct is to score every little moment and joke, but sometimes it’s best to let the dialogue and the sound effects do their own thing.” — Ryan Carlson, composer, Abby Hatcher, Hilda