Billie Eilish and Finneas, it would seem, are on a mission to get involved with as many iconic film institutions as possible: The pair penned a well-received James Bond theme for No Time To Die, and now they’ve worked on songs for Disney and Pixar’s latest movie, Turning Red.
Aside from 13-year-old Mei transforming into a giant red panda when her emotions get too intense, a core element of the movie seems to be a fictional boyband called 4*Town. That’s where Eilish and Finneas come in, as they wrote songs for the band and Finneas even voices one of the members. Now, in a couple of short videos from Pixar, Eilish and Finneas discuss their experience working on the movie.
This afternoon, Pixar shared a brief two-minute “featurette” titled “Panda Power,” in which Finneas and Eilish pop up for a few seconds to drop some quick quotes. Finneas says, “When we got approached about this project, we leapt at the opportunity.” Eilish added, “It’s literally been the most fun we’ve had writing.”
The movie is set in 2002 and 4*Town sounds very much like a boyband of the era (the asterisk in the band name is as obvious an *NSYNC reference as it gets). Eilish turned a year old at the end of 2002 and Finneas was five that year, so the two likely have fond childhood memories of the music of the era… even if Eilish’s are barely-formed baby memories.
Last week, Pixar shared a different “featurette” video focused just on 4*Town. Eilish and Finneas get more face-time in that one, with Finneas describing his and Eilish’s work on the movie as “songs in the style of [an] early ’00s boyband.” He continued, “It’s the really catchy melody and harmonies and claps and choreography. […] The main ingredient in these boybands is these young, hearthrob-y teens that kids fall in love with.”
Eilish also noted, “Mei and her friends’ passion for 4*Town, it really resonated with me just because I was the same. So accurate of how it feels when you’re that kind of fan. […] There’s this bond that you have people that feel the same. I just… I love the film.”
Elsewhere, director Domee Shi describes 4*Town as “the glue that holds these characters together.”
Watch the Turning Red “featurettes” above and below.
