August 5, 2022
Daniele Luppi Scores Marvel Short Film Series I AM GROOT
I AM GROOT is a of short films created by Kirsten Lepore for the streaming service Disney+, based on the Marvel Comics character Groot. It features characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) following Baby Groot going on various adventures that get him into trouble, and is set between the ending of the film GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY Vol. 2 (2017) and one of its mid-credits scenes. Vin Diesel reprises his role as the voice of Baby Groot from the MCU films, with Bradley Cooper also starring.
The series is scored by Daniele Luppi (THE WOMAN CHASER, SHOWBOY, BAD HABITS MONA LISA AND THE BLOOD MOON, the main theme for Netflix’s MARCO POLO and Starz’s MAGIC CITY – the latter two both earned him Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music). “I knew that we didn’t want a normal orchestral score,” said Lepore in Marvel’s production brief. “Daniele Luppi was the perfect choice as our composer. He has done so much work with that early electronic sound He’s able to do music that sounds like it came out of a spaghetti western with the same kind of patina on it from that era. He’s using old microphones and keyboards—analog instruments that really give it an authentic, more organic sound.”
“The music is incredible,” executive producer Brad Winderbaum. “I think it has a really special quality. The score lends to the uniqueness of these shorts. It’s like no other sound we’ve had in the MCU before, and it’s 100 percent Baby Groot.”
“We licensed a couple songs,” says Lepore. “For example, the piece you hear in the first short, ‘Groot’s First Steps,’ is In the Hall of the Mountain Queen, very early electronic music by Raymond Scott. I think it gives the short this really weird flavor, this spacey, early electro feel that was our palette from the beginning.”
“Groot is a fan-favorite character,” added Winderbaum.” In the GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY series, we see him grow up because of the way the story unfolds. We wanted to revisit the character and tell stories about the period in his life when he was a little kid. This idea of self discovery, of a little kid learning their world, felt like exciting new territory for us.”
The series is set to premiere with five shorts on Disney+ on August 10, 2022, as part of Phase Four of the MCU. An additional five shorts are in development.
