Pixar’s “Onward” takes audiences along on a quest to restore magic to a fantasy world. Along the way two brothers discover the magic they’ve been searching for was there all along. The music for the movie plays on a lot of familiar tropes with fantasy adventure films, but manages to elevate the story providing a touching backdrop at just the right moments. If you want to add the soundtrack for Pixar’s “Onward” do your digital library you can do so today.
The motion picture soundtrack is composed by brothers Mychael and Jeff Dana, who share a parallel with the story of the movie itself. The soundtrack features an end-credit song “Carried Me with You” performed by five-time Grammy award-winning singer Brandi Carlile.
“‘Carried Me With You’ is a song about not taking love for granted—accepting love even when you don’t feel like you deserve it,” said Carlile. “It’s absolutely wonderful to be a part of a Pixar film! I can’t wait for my little girls to see it! It’ll no doubt have all the wonder, imagination and creative life lessons our family has come to love about Pixar films.”
The official lyric video for “Carried Me With You” is here to enjoy:
Composers Mychael Danna (Oscar winner for “Life of Pi”) and Jeff Danna were excited to work on this new project from director Dan Scanlon. When they arrived at Pixar studios, they had no idea what to expect——and what they heard astonished them. “It’s weirdly and uncannily personal for us,” said Mychael Danna. “As soon as Dan started talking about it, the hairs went up on the back of my neck. The whole story: father is an accountant and dies when the brothers are young, and how the relationship of the brothers is affected. In our case we were 19 and 13.”
“As a composer,” continued Mychael, “you have to understand and relate to the emotion of the characters. You have to empathize with them and go to your own experiences. Sometimes that can take some effort, but in this case, there was no problem accessing all the personal emotion we have about this story.”
The Danna brothers’ score really hones in on the fantasy aspect of the film, featuring folk and early music instruments, including folk guitars, the plucked-string psaltery, and a crumhorn. Magic is also a key component of the story, so the composers also created music to complement the spells and effects.
“Musically, the magic is big and out of control—trumpets flying around,” said Jeff Danna. “But at the heart of it, there are four notes. Even in the first scene when the magic is out of control—this whirling cyclone of a cue—there are these four notes that hang through it. That’s the thing you can just barely put your finger on. As the film progresses, we present that more and more clearly. Amongst all of the craziness, these four notes tell the story of the magic.”
The score, which features 44 cues, was recorded with a 92-piece orchestra, conducted by Nicholas Dodd.
Tracklisting
1 Carried Me with You – Brandi Carlile
2 Quests of Yore
3 The World Was Full of Wonder
4 A Little Magic
5 Bad Dragon
6 New Ian
7 My Mighty Steed
8 My Birthday Is Cancelled
9 Wish I Could Spend the Day with You
10 The Visitation Spell
11 The Spell
12 The Spell Only Lasts One Day
13 Find Another Phoenix Gem
14 Going on a Quest
15 Laurel in Pursuit
16 The Manticore’s Tavern
17 Tavern Remodeling
18 The Map to Raven’s Point
19 Two Teenage Elves
20 Magnora Gantuan!
21 Baby Legs
22 Pixie Dusters
23 The Guardian Curse
24 Driving Test
25 Dance Fight
26 Path of Peril
27 Pawn Shop
28 Tracking Guinevere
29 Bottomless Pit
30 The Trust Bridge
31 Follow Your Gut
32 Running from the Cops
33 Sacrifice
34 Just a Beat Up Old Van
35 The Cave
36 Accelior!
37 Boom Bastia!
38 Barley’s Last Memory of Dad
39 Led Us to Our Victory!
40 The Truth Comes Out
41 Share My Life with Him
42 Battling the Dragon
43 Voltar Thunderseer!
44 Dad
45 Magic Returns
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Set in a suburban fantasy world, Disney and Pixar’s “Onward” introduces two teenage elf brothers who embark on an extraordinary quest to discover if there is still a little magic left out there. Pixar Animation Studios’ all-new original feature film is directed by Dan Scanlon and produced by Kori Rae—the team behind “Monsters University.” “Onward” releases in theaters on March 6, 2020.