Vibe to the catchy music of ‘Despicable Me 4’

CEBU, Philippines — Whether it’s a catchy upbeat tune like “Happy” or a positively mellow song like “Just A Cloud Away,” the “Despicable Me” franchise has produced some of the most beloved music for animated films. The musical themes for the different characters are just as memorable, because in the world of “Despicable Me,” the music plays a vital role in interweaving the narrative with equal parts mischief and heart.

Grammy Award-winning composer Heitor Pereira, the creative force behind the “Despicable Me” films’ iconic musical scores, adopts a character-centric approach to his compositions. “Believe it or not, I wait until every new character sings their melodies to me,” Pereira says.

“I hear their music through the tones of their voices, the rhythm of their dialogue, their extreme personalities and how they interact with all the other characters in the story. When you write for one character, you have to think about all the others – it is how this melody can coexist and interact with the melodies of everybody else. Animation can be very intricate. My job is still to make it sound like the music was born along with it!”

Pereira’s collaboration with Grammy Award-winner and Oscar® nominee Pharrell Williams has been instrumental in shaping the musical identity of the franchise. Williams’s original songs, including “Despicable Me,” “Happy,” and “Just A Cloud Away,” among many others, have become emblematic of the “Despicable Me” brand.

“In the first movie, we worked very closely together,” Pereira says. “Hans Zimmer introduced me to him and asked me if I would do an arrangement of the girls’ theme. I put my heart into it, showed it to them the next morning and I got a gig and a new musical friend! He came to my studio many, many times, and we had a lot of fun. Since then, he writes his great songs and I write the score.”

“Even though I write the new themes for the new characters, Pharrell’s original themes are still there – as I pointed out, the girls’ theme, or Gru’s theme, which we ended up collaborating on, and I wrote the Minions’ theme. But, like him, I come from pop music, so my love for songs never goes away. I just see the score as a massive song! In doing that, Pharrell is ever-present.”

Now in cinemas, “Despicable Me 4” features a new original song from Williams, which reflects the double life that Gru leads in the film. “Gru is trying to live in peace in American suburbia, yet has to uproot his family to go on the run from his new enemies,” Williams says. “His family starts to catch on despite his efforts to hide the danger. The song is about struggling with keeping his identity as a secret agent despite wanting to be honest with his family.”

Williams’s partnership with Illumination and Pereira has enriched the “Despicable Me” franchise’s musical landscape. “Our goal is to connect with humans, building on themes and situations that resonate with most people,” Williams says. “We try to do it vividly and harmoniously. I remain a student and learn so much from Heitor every time we collaborate. He is a genius composer, a creatively articulate guitar player, a shining Brazilian talent.”