Kevin Kiner Discusses Star Wars Animation & What His Music Has Done For The Universe
Many people might think of John Williams when it comes to Star Wars’ scores, but Kevin Kiner is the newest legend who brings Star Wars Animation to the next level.
Composing scores for ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars’, ‘Star Wars: Rebels’, and of course the newly announced ‘Star Wars: The Bad Batch’, Composer Kevin Kiner has not just forged a record number of scores for Star Wars in general, but has created some of the most breathtaking music for a science-fiction lexicon that spans decades. For his work, Kiner has been recognized not only by fans, but critically as well, as he has been nominated for countless awards over the past decade. Kiner recently won an Annie Award (which recognizes excellence in animation in cinema and television) for Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Season 7 Episode 12 “ Victory and Death”.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 7 final arc was truly some of the best Star Wars content fans have received since the original trilogy back in 1977. This series filled in plot holes that were left open, and that fans feared would remain open once the show had seemingly been canceled. This came after Disney had purchased Lucasfilm, and there was an air of uncertainty with how future Star Wars properties would continue. With all the major returning players returning to helm this season, it was like homecoming for Kiner who looks at producer and showrunner, Dave Filoni as “A Dream Boss”. Kilner compares Filoni taking over these Star Wars properties as akin to George Lucas’ energy in the birth of this franchise. Filoni is able to dive into insane backstories that helped Kiner and his crew completely understand what all of the characters and moments were going through, and the music ended up with a much stronger connection to the material.
Kiner did not create his most recent work on Bad Batch alone, but brought in his sons to help bring this entire vision to life. This family collaboration, and his collaboration with Filoni is arguably why Kiner’s score comes off in such an incredible way. When he is given such specificity in history, mythos and direction, he was able to come up with the forceful magic that we hear inside each of the Star Wars’ animated properties he was able to work on.
Continuing on the legacy, not only within this beloved franchise, but within his own family, one can see how much love he pours into his Star Wars related work. It seems the Kiner family, for a very long time will be a force to reckon with.