How Netflix’s She-Ra found a specific sound for its kick-ass princess

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Netflix’s reimagining of the ’80s He-Man spinoff, trades in the campy villains for ones with more depth and motivation; revamps the original character design for more modern takes; and brings the oh-so ’80s theme and background music into the modern age of epic action scores.

She-Ra’s music doesn’t shy away from sweeping, almost cinematic orchestral notes, but it’s infused with a touch of modernity that makes it distinct. It meant finding a sound that communicated both fierceness and “sparkly,” as She-Ra composer Sunna Wehrmeijer tells Polygon. Wehrmeijer previously worked on films like Prometheus and Nightcrawler, TV’s Emerald City, and boasts vocal credits on The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Pt. 1 and 2.

When it came to She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, the sound of the show was imagined by the creators from the get-go, and shaped during the years of the show’s development, Wehrmeijer told Polygon. “A contemporary ’80s synth-sound combined with orchestral adventure score,” she described. “That’s what they communicated to me.”

She-Ra’s score never shies away from the grand, and boldly blends the orchestral with the more electronic sounds. Wehrmeijer says she was inspired by the nature of the show, which itself contains heavier themes and depths than just a 13-episode first season.

“[The show] is just very cinematic ... the depth of the characters, the relationships between the people. Even though it is episodic, it just feels bigger than that,” explained Wehrmeijer. “So I never really held back in going big in the music and often when I thought I went as big as I could, they requested “Can we just make this a bit bigger?”

One of the most captivating tracks is the transformation sequence. It’s an important piece, not just because of its pivotal place in the show itself, but also because of the expected comparisons to the original. The transformation track blends orchestral and synth, like Wehrmeijer referenced before, but what’s really notable is the soaring bells that lead the sequence.

Getting that scene just right was important; it sets up this version of She-Ra and from its first appearance onwards ends up cements the tone of the series. Naturally the creators had a lot of input, envisioning it to be “big and epic” — but also “sparkly.” It’s that key word that inspired the core of that theme.

“Sparkly is often a word that will direct me to the use of bells, chimes or celeste or stuff like that,” said Wehrmeijer. “And it really suits the show really well because it does have magical mythical elements to it, which translates really well to those types of instruments.”

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is streaming now on Netflix.