Minions (soundtrack)

Lore & Background

Pereira compared the music for the Minions to that of the Three Stooges, with the difference being that Minions cannot speak English. He stated, 'Their language is not language, but the cumulative aspect of the repetition of those words is like creating a language in itself.' He decided to 'back off, give them space, and let their phonetic sounds be very clear,' creating a dictionary of their sounds and letting the music follow similar repetition. For the character Scarlet Overkill (Sandra Bullock), Pereira wrote a new theme, describing her as 'powerful and mean but with a groove.' The score was recorded at Los Angeles locations including Newman Scoring Stage, 20th Century Fox Studios, and EastWest Studios. The Los Angeles Orchestra performed with 24 violins, 12 violas, eight cellos, five basses, five saxophones, five trumpets, two trombones, tuba, a choir of nearly 40–50 members, a rhythm section, and a drummer. To create a British jazz sound resembling 1960s UK music, Pereira invited a jazz ensemble of woodwinds, clarinets, piccolos, drums, and brass to record in the same room.

Reader's Guide

The *Minions* soundtrack marks a shift in the *Despicable Me* franchise, as Heitor Pereira assumed sole composing duties after previously collaborating with Pharrell Williams. The score's deliberate use of vintage recording equipment and orchestral arrangements aimed to evoke 1960s action films, reflecting the film's setting. Pereira's approach to the Minions' non-verbal language—creating a phonetic dictionary and letting music mirror their repetitive sounds—was a distinctive compositional strategy. The soundtrack received positive critical response; Filmtracks.com noted that the original score portion clocks in at over 45 minutes, calling it 'a nice treat for fans of Pereira's wild and gregarious approach.' Unger the Radar described it as 'one of the best scores of the year so far and certainly one of the best animated scores of his career.' The album's integration of period songs and original score, recorded with a large orchestra and choir, demonstrates Pereira's effort to balance homage to the 1960s with the film's comedic, action-oriented tone.

Did You Know?

• The score was recorded using vintage microphones previously used by The Beach Boys and Frank Sinatra.
• Pereira created a dictionary of the Minions' phonetic sounds to guide the music's repetition.
• The Los Angeles Orchestra performed with a choir of nearly 40–50 members.
• The original score portion of the album runs over 45 minutes.