sound

sound effects

Gary Roger Rydstrom and Michael Silvers have worked on sound effects in many Pixar movies. Sound effects are often created with everyday materials used in creative ways, such as hitting slinkies with a stick for laser shots, flapping a pair of gloves for bird wings, shaking a box full of wood and metal scraps for a car crash, and opening and closing an umbrella while crackling cellophane for fire. This technique is called foley artistry after Jack Foley, the first to use pre-recorded sound effects to mix into a film.

Pixar sometimes enlists the help of experts from previous films for genre specific sound effects. For example, Ben Burtt, who worked on the Star Wars series, developed sound effects and robot voices for WALL-E.

scores

Brothers Randy and Thomas Newman have scored several Pixar films. However, Michael Giacchino has scored more recent films such as The Incredibles, Ratatouille, and Up. Randy Newman is returned to score Toy Story 3 and Cars 2.

soundtracks

Soundtracks for early films were composed and performed entirely by Randy Newman, although Pixar has included more and more third party music over time, starting with Cars. Pixar movies have also inspired separate compilations, such as "Lightning McQueen's Fast Tracks" which feature songs that match the theme of the film but are not actually played.