Hot-off the success of Inside Out 2 (the biggest movie of 2024) comes a new show set in-between Pixar’s two films about Riley and her emotions. Dream Productions explores the operations of the movie studio in Riley’s mind that makes her cinematic dreams. The four-episode event series is available starting today on Disney+. Composer Nami Melumad shares what went into creating the plethora of music that celebrates so many genres. (This Animation Scoop Q&A was edited for length and clarity.)

Jackson Murphy: Congratulations on being a part of a Pixar series, coming off the heels of this gigantic success [of “Inside Out 2”]. How did you first get involved with Pixar and getting in the “Inside Out” universe?

Nami Melumad: First I worked on a Disney short [“Far from the Tree”], and since Disney and Pixar Animation share the same music department, I already knew some of the people who were working there. They asked to hear some of my music. I created a few reels. The show is so unique and different in terms of… it’s not just a comedy. It’s a mockumentary. With the music, you really want to punch at the jokes and hit the emotions, but also in a very mockumentary way, which a lot of times is more dry. They were looking to find a very good balance and a very punky and funky and fun and energetic score. And I was lucky and fortunate enough to join the team and work on it. I am still amazed that it happened. It has always been my dream to work with Pixar and with Disney. In a way it’s funny it’s called “Dream Productions”, ’cause they really produced my dream to come true. So I’m very grateful for that.

JM: There you go! Disney and Pixar… are so known for powerful music. So that must have been a great collaboration that you had with the team on exactly what to go for with this mockumentary show.

NM: Yeah, and the unique thing about Pixar, I feel, is that it feels like a family. And also you work on the show for so long that you have these weekly meetings and bi-weekly meetings and you fly out there and they come here, and it’s not just friendly, but a family feel. The collaboration was really fantastic. Our showrunner, Mike [Jones], who is just an incredible human and also extremely talented and funny, was very helpful with music, with ideas. He already came in sort of knowing what he’s looking for, but not exactly. And it’s also the first show that he’s showrunning. I think it was a really good collaboration to work together and also have Jaclyn [Simon], our producer and our editor, Katie [Schaefer Bishop] and Matt Walker, our music executive. Everyone has been very helpful with refining the ideas that I brought up. In terms of collaboration, it was probably one of the best, if not the best.

JM: That’s terrific. And this is four episodes, but it’s almost the length of a feature, right? I heard it’s about 80 minutes long. So that’s cool for Pixar fans to basically get another feature in this world.

NM: It feels like a feature in a way. I think literally every cue that we did in the show is different than the other. Sometimes on TV shows or TV music… I work on a lot of other shows, and a lot of times you kind of go back to the same material, if not sometimes exactly the same material… in a show that is 40 episodes or however long. What’s very special with this is that it really feels like a movie just cut into episodes. It’s such a unique structure and I loved every minute of it.

JM: So we go into Riley’s mind. And this actually takes place in between the two “Inside Out” movies. And it is her dreams. It’s the movie studio. We’ve seen it referenced [before]. But now it’s all different kinds of genres of movies, right? So how was it playing in a lot of different sandboxes?

NM: Oh my God, yes. There were a lot of sandboxes because her dreams, and our dreams in life, are so different every time. It’s so wacky and crazy. From a music perspective, sometimes I had to write dance music and sometimes I had to write nightmare music and sometimes I had to write a children’s song and an ’80s rock song. There was an older TV style show that we had to do. The score of the show itself is more kind of early ’70s funk, rock, jazz. It’s a mixture of a lot of things. We featured a B3 instrument ’cause it’s very spunky and it has a lot of attitude and it fits the feel for a lot of spots and a lot of character jokes.

NM:We also featured two baritone saxophones, which are a very unique choice and a very cool choice. There was a lot of room and a lot of playground to do so many things. Of course, there’s romantic sweeping themes and the more emotional stuff that feel more intimate. And also we kind of see one of [Riley’s] older dreams too (when she was younger). It was very fun to play with all these colors. And the idea was to still create something very cohesive that feels like one movie, one show, one score. That was a really welcome challenge. I really enjoyed that.

JM: I had the chance to listen to some of your music. What I noticed from the different kinds of music that we get… you’re right, we have some softer music, we have comedic, bouncy, kind of attack, some more dramatic, it’s all different kinds… and the word that kept coming to my mind is ‘confident’. It’s all very confident music. You really go all in on all those different genres and create something confident. I think you succeed with that very well.

NM: Well, yeah, it’s Hollywood. You gotta be… (laughs) I mean, it’s Hollywood in the show. (laughs) You’re in a film studio. You gotta have confidence. You gotta go big. This is Hollywood. They are in a studio that really resembles the studios in town, to every little detail, to the professionals that work there, to the little intriguing conversations. And there are little politics that happen. It’s so very real that the music had to show that it feels real. So I’m glad it translates.

JM: How for you as a composer do your dreams impact the music that you create and the music specifically for this show?

NM: I feel very influenced by this show. In terms of dreaming as a composer, a lot of times I’ll hear a melody in my head and by the morning… and I would love it in the dream; sometimes I’ll even write it on paper in the dream or play it on piano… and then by the time I get up, it’s gone. And that is a very hard reality to deal with. You remember the feeling of the dream and you remember how you felt, but it’s so hard to remember what exactly were the tones. And then sometimes I dream that I work and then I get up and I realize I haven’t done any work. (laughs) That’s the other side of dreaming when you’re on a schedule and a production schedule.

JM: “Inside Out”, of course, it’s all about emotions. We saw that in the two movies. We’ll get that here with this show. Which emotions spoke to you the most as you were creating the music for “Dream Productions”?

NM: I would say joy, but that’s the easy answer because joy is how you feel when people are playing your music, when it fits you, when you find the right piece in the puzzle. I look at film scores and television scores, and especially this one because it was so unique and so challenging, that it was [about] finding the right piece in the puzzle to make it better. When you find that sweet spot, it makes the show better. And so you feel a great amount of joy, but while you’re making it, there’s also a bit of anxiety. Because the music has so much power to influence how the audience will react and how you shape the show, it’s almost like a character. So you really want to do a good job. And obviously, you know they’re expecting you to do a good job. So there is a little bit of that. And I think if you handle it correctly with the amount of confidence that is needed, then it works out completely.

JM: You got to go to the premiere of this, right?

NM: I did! Oh my God, it was so fun. And I met the actors. I was so thrilled. Maya Rudolph and Paula Pell were there. It was really wonderful. It’s one of those core memories that will go with me now.

JM: Alright, I don’t want to get you in trouble [but] what have you heard around the office at Pixar about “Inside Out 3”?

NM: I actually have not heard anything yet, but I heard that they really want this to go well. (laughs) They track the numbers. They see how much it’s popular. And I think the studio really listens to its viewers and the audience. So they really value the input and the love that the audience puts out. The fans are really incredible for the “Inside Out” world.

JM: I think this show was supposed to come out at some point next year and it got moved up because of the success…

NM: Exactly. Exactly. Pixar knew that this was going to be a hit, and it will be a hit. It was going to be in March. We had to rush the soundtrack actually, because of that. We had to rush to finish the soundtrack album. And now it comes out on December 20th [from Hollywood Records]. It was kind of running against time because I thought we had until March. (laughs)

JM: So that must have been a surprise then, but a good surprise.

NM: Happy surprise. Really happy.

JM: What do you love about animation music, specifically? And what dreams do you have for what you want to incorporate into animation music in the future?

NM: I would love to do something like this again because it provided something so unique for me as a musician — to be able to work not just with an orchestra, but with a full band. We had a jazz band and we had kind of a rock feel to it as well. And B3 and a choir and a kids choir too. A very unique combination of sound. And I feel like I want to explore more of that. So not just the orchestra. But more elements of instruments around the orchestra. I would love to do that again. I do a lot of animation. I did a whole animated show for Star Trek. There’s 40 episodes available on Netflix — “Star Trek: Prodigy”.

JM: Yes — big hit.

NM: I just love animation because there’s so much room for music. And also, again, it’s such a sweet feel of family when you work with animation people. You spend so much time with the showrunners, with the directors, with everyone. And everyone is so passionate and so caring for the show or the movie. I would love to continue to work with Disney and Pixar and do shows, movies, anything they throw at me. I am very much welcoming that.