Earlier this week, Sony PlayStation 3 released brand new downloadable content for its popular LITTLEBIGPLANET 2 game. Gaming fans can now plunge Sackboy into the fun and imaginative world of Disney/Pixar’s TOY STORY franchise, complete with nine new levels of gameplay, decorations, stickers, and TOY STORY-themed costumes!
Along with the new material is a new suite of music, composed by 2010 Hollywood Music in Media Award winner Winifred Phillips. No stranger to the realm of video game music, whose credits include games as diverse as SPORE HERO, SIMANIMALS, CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, LEGEND OF THE GUARDIANS, and GOD OF WAR, Phillips has also provided the "Victoria's Lab" and "Eve's Asylum" music for the critically-acclaimed LITTLEBIGPLANET 2 game proper!
Read on, as we dive into Andy’s toy box and have some fun with Winifred Phillips!
It seems like the worlds of LittleBigPlanet (LBP) and Toy Story are a match made in heaven, as both have frolicking sensibilities, but they also have heart. Did you find any difficulty meshing the worlds musically, or was it easy, given your previous experience with LBP?
I think you’re absolutely right about that – LittleBigPlanet and Toy Story fit together perfectly. They both share a strong theme of imaginative play. Playing LittleBigPlanet feels to me like having fun with a wonderful toy box, with all the tools you need to create every dramatically silly adventure you could possibly dream of. That feeling is also a big part of what makes Toy Story so heartwarming, I think. In terms of music, LittleBigPlanet is about as eclectic as you can imagine. Every style of music can find a home there, from classical to disco to metal.
Randy Newman gave a very distinct sound to Toy Story, having scored all three films. How were you able to retain his sense of character and atmosphere without actually plagiarizing it? I was amazed by how genuine the music sounds.
Thank you! I have tremendous respect for what Randy Newman achieved with the Toy Story films. There is an inherent musical tradition to the films, which bind them together and establish a mood for the Toy Story world and characters. I did my very best to remain true to that musical style, while still contributing my own musical approaches and techniques.
The actual genres of music in Toy Story have a long tradition, with origins that precede the Toy Story films. Big band jazz, country bluegrass, and symphonic science fiction form the foundation of the music I wrote for the LittleBigPlanet 2 Toy Story content. These are genres that have yielded wonderful creativity from a vast array of artists, so I had plenty of resources to inspire me! Writing the music was a lot of fun.
Do you have a personal connection with Toy Story that makes this music seem so effortless for you?
I just love Woody, Buzz and the gang. It’s a love that I share with an enormous community of fans. Also, I’ve always tried to approach my work as a composer with a sense of play and imagination, and I think the Toy Story world has extra appeal for people who are creative every day.
As different genres are employed in the LBP2 Toy Story music, did you have to research any of these styles, or were you already adept at them?
Jazz has always held a special place in my heart. I’d already had a chance to create jazz music for previous projects, including the “Eve’s Asylum” track for LittleBigPlanet 2, which featured a scatting vocal trio and a back-up band with lots of jazzy swagger. This project gave me my first opportunity to expand the scope of the instrumentation to encompass a full big band sound. That was exciting!
I’d created symphonic orchestral tracks for past projects – the Legend of the Guardians game was my most recent project to take a symphonic approach – so I had some experience under my belt in that style. For the bluegrass music that characterized Woody’s cowboy world, I did plenty of research. While I’d created some music in that style for previous projects, the bluegrass music for this game needed to be thoroughly rootin’ tootin’ western fun! I had a great time writing the music for Woody.
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