Who composed the musical score for Pixar’s Cars 2?

Michael Giacchino composed the musical score for Pixar’s Cars 2.

Cars 2 marked Giacchino’s first original score for a Pixar feature after his work on other major animated and live-action films. His music supports the movie’s globe-spanning spy-adventure tone, moving beyond the rural Americana atmosphere associated with the first Cars.

The film’s story takes Lightning McQueen and Mater to international races in locations including Tokyo, Porto Corsa, and London. Giacchino’s score uses energetic orchestral writing and spy-film colors to match Mater’s accidental involvement in an espionage plot.

Randy Newman is the composer most closely associated with the original Cars, making him a frequent mix-up. Newman wrote the score and songs for Cars, while Giacchino scored Cars 2. Thomas Newman, another well-known film composer, is also unrelated to the Cars 2 score.