Episode 253 Dolby Creator Talks

The Music of Elio with Composer Rob Simonsen

June 26, 2025

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Composer Rob Simonsen joins guest host Jon Burlingame to discuss his sweeping and emotionally rich score for Pixar’s “Elio.” The composer shares how he approached scoring the story of a young boy making first contact with aliens, weaving together emotional warmth, cosmic wonder, and a sense of fun. He also discusses how Dolby Atmos® helped shape the immersive quality of the soundtrack, after being a bit of a skeptic of the technology at first.

Scott Michael Smith, who recorded and mixed the score, said early on that we were going to record in Atmos, and that's really the way to do it… I have to admit, I was a little like, ‘eh, do we need to do Atmos? I don't know.’ And then Scott played me some Atmos files… and again, I am not being paid to say this. I was literally blown away… It gave me chills. I mean, I'm not sure what witchcraft is going on to make it as kind of amazing as it is, but I was really sold.

Rob Simonsen, Composer, “Elio”

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