In December, Pixar released its first limited series on Disney+ called “Dream Productions”, which takes place in between the events of “Inside Out” and “Inside Out 2”.  This all-new series is about the studio inside Riley’s mind where dreams really do come true—every night, on time and on budget. Riley is growing up, and when her memories need some extra processing, Joy and the rest of the Core Emotions send them to Dream Productions. Acclaimed director Paula Persimmon (voice of Paula Pell) faces a nightmare of her own: Trying to create the next hit dream after being paired up with Xeni (voice of Richard Ayoade), a smug daydream director looking to step up into the big leagues of night dreams.

This past Friday, Disney released the soundtrack to the show on digital platforms and I got to speak with the show’s composer, Nami Melumad about her work on the Disney+ Original series.

You’ve worked on many films and shows over the years, including “Thor: Love & Thunder” and “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.” How did you get involved in making music for TV and movies?

Oh, it was a long dream of mine since I was 14. I was very much in love with films like “Home Alone” and the score from the film. I can still sing it, and I remember really every note. I watched it way too many times. And then also films like the “Lord of the Rings”. That was a huge influence as well. And I would play the score on the piano. I tried to find the melody and the chords, and when I realized that it is possible, I was like, wait, maybe I can do that too. And that’s what sparked that whole journey and Crazy Ride, which I enjoy every moment of

How did you come up with the sound of “Dream Productions”?

So we were looking for something a little different than the movies. We wanted it to be more of a Hollywood thing because you’re, the show takes place in a studio that looks exactly like a Hollywood studio, lot like Paramount or Warner Brothers or Disney, and it needed to feel big and cool and exciting, but also old school Hollywood. And so the sound kind of also came from the idea of Mike to do something with a B three, sorry, Mike is the showrunner and the amazing brain behind all of this. So he was like, what about a B three? How about we feature a B three, which is kind of like a Hammond organ that was used a lot in the late sixties and seventies, and it goes across many genres, and so it has such rich color. It could be very funky and fun and it could have a lot of attitude, it really helps with the mockumentary.

And then it could be very delicate and warm. We used it in the Lucid Dream at the end, and I really love that idea. I thought this is a great opportunity to play around with those sounds. And yeah, the score shaped to be very colorful, like the show with a lot of those jazz, rock, soul, and funk influences, which I thought was really cool to add the band to, the jazz horns to the orchestra. And on top of it, we also recorded a really cool song called It’s Mermaid Unicorn.

How long did it take you to create the music for “Dream Productions”?

We started in October of 2023, and we finished around March of 2024. So I would say a few good months, but it was very, very intense. I think the approach felt more like a feature film in that sense because we worked on the music, and then we recorded all of it together, which is a similar process as a feature film. I work on other shows where we finish an episode, we record it, we dub it, and then we move to the next episode. That’s very often with Star Trek, for example. And so this one felt very unique in that sense that it, it’s such a great, it would also work well as a film if you just started from one episode to finish.

How does creating music for a series differ from a movie?

Well, it’s very different in the style, and I did work on an animated show for Star Trek. So I would say that would be the “Star Trek Prodigy” would be the compassion here. So as I said, there was a difference in technicality, but also there’s a bit of a difference in the scoring approach because Star Trek, you want to honor the legacy of all the shows and movies that came before. There’s more use of the main motif, the main theme of Star Trek. And then there’s very, you have an orchestral pilot really, that you begin with and you add on it.

And I felt like with Dream Productions, and it’s part of the world of Inside Out, but it’s not like it didn’t have that orchestral palette to begin with. And so I felt like in terms of working in this completely different sound, that was really cool and really exciting to most of the work was with the band. I tried instruments I never worked with before, the B three, and a lot of Latin percussion and vibraphone in so many variations of how you can play it. And we experimented a lot too. And I feel like In Star Trek, which I love. I am a Trekkie as well, and it was very fun. And also on the bigger shows, you can do, you start a theme in episode one and then in episode 40. So it’s on a bigger scale. I feel like it’s a big difference between four episodes to 40.

What was the biggest challenge working on “Dream Productions”?

I think the biggest challenge was scoring the genre documentary because it’s like the show genre from drama to comedy to this sort of documentary documentary feel. And it’s all animated. And has a lot of music in it. It’s almost like a supporting character. And so I think one of the challenges was to find the right tone, the right blend and the right amount of music and where it would stop and where it would continue and where it starts and what is it trying to say.

And so, in professional terms, that it would be spotting. So there was a lot of back and forth about whether we wanted music in the scene or not. And so a lot of times I would try something, and then we’ll go back and forth, and maybe we don’t need music here at all, or maybe this section needs to be longer or start earlier.

And so a lot of these timing things really helped accentuate the jokes and the emotions. And there are a lot of transitions and oftentimes in animation it’s very quick. You have to transition from a certain feel and within two seconds to be in another completely different tone, but feel cohesive. And then the show presented a lot of different musical styles. You had eighties rock song that’s supposed to be bad in that bad dream. And then I’m using the best guitar player in the world. He played on everything. He’s amazing and he just can’t play a bad solo. So that took four takes just to make him do something we could use. He can’t play a bad solo. But so all these genres combined together and writing a television, older television theme that feels like the good Old American shows and then the Mermaid Unicorn song. And so it just required so many hats to wear. So I enjoy it, but it was a challenging project for sure.

What was your biggest highlight working on the series?

Oh man. I think recording Mermaid Unicorn, and I brought these little balloons for the scoring stage, and so every kid got a balloon of a unicorn with a rainbow and little stickers, and I think they really had a good time. So it was a really beautiful day. We had six kids and three women who are able to sound a little bit like kids too. So it was a really fun day, and I think that was one of the biggest highlights.

Have you checked out “Dream Productions” on Disney+? Let me know on social media!

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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