Kris Bowers is scoring Disney’s Hexed. He says the sound starts with air
Variety reports that Kris Bowers is set to score the animated film, using bird calls, wind instruments and orchestral textures for its mother-daughter story.
Kris Bowers is set to compose the score for Walt Disney Animation Studios’ upcoming film Hexed, Variety reported on October 19. The film follows a teenage girl into a hidden world of witches, and Bowers says its mother-daughter story shaped the music.
His starting point was air. Bowers said he tried bird-call whistles, a wind wand, nose flutes, bottles, kazoos and air sirens, then turned recordings of real birds into instruments, according to Variety. He said the approach grew from the young heroine’s dream of flying, both literally and metaphorically.
What Kris Bowers says the Hexed score sounds like
Bowers described a blend of orchestra, an effected chamber woodwind ensemble, synthesizers and natural sounds. He said he wanted to blur acoustic and electronic textures while capturing the film’s intimacy, wonder and adventure. His comments describe the musical approach to the score Variety says he is set to compose.
At the story’s centre is the relationship between Billie and her mother, Alice. Disney says Billie discovers magical abilities and is transported to Hexe, a realm where the two uncover family mysteries. Bowers called the film an emotional mother-daughter journey when explaining what he wanted its music to convey.
Who is in Disney’s Hexed?
Hailee Steinfeld voices Billie and Rashida Jones voices Alice, according to Disney. Variety also names Jodie Foster and Walton Goggins among the stars, with Piper Curda and Bobby Moynihan in the cast. The characters’ journey gives Bowers’s experiments with air a place in a story about a girl entering an unfamiliar magical world.
Variety describes Hexed as a coming-of-age story: an unconventional teenager’s newly discovered powers send her into a concealed realm of witches. Disney’s account puts names to that journey and identifies the bond between Billie and Alice as central to the film. Bowers’s comments connect that relationship to the sounds he explored for the score.
Variety says the film is set to reach theatres on November 25. It also reports that Bowers composed music for Netflix’s animated film Steps and scored the upcoming sports drama Mr. Irrelevant: The John Tuggle Story, which is scheduled to premiere on December 25.
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Sources and context
- Kris Bowers Set to Compose Original Score For Disney’s Animated Feature ‘Hexed’ (EXCLUSIVE)Variety
- Inside ‘Disney’s Hexed,’ a Mother-Daughter Adventure in a World of WitchesThe Walt Disney Company
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.