'How to Train Your Dragon' music composer John Powell recalls making the music during the Palisades fire; escapes with two poodles and a backup drive

‘How to Train Your Dragon’ music composer John Powell took his job way too seriously, to the extent that his life was in danger during the savage Palisades fire in January. But when he did, the 61-year-old ran out of the house with two poodles and a 12 terabyte backup drive containing every single piece of music he had ever written.

John Powell and the Palisades disaster

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, John Powell revealed that he was working on the music for ‘How to Train Your Dragon.’ However, during the initial warnings, Powell paid no attention to the inferno, solely because he had been living in Palisades for over 20 years, and the fire hazards were part of his life.This time, it was different. The updates about the risk were escalating by the hour, and later by the minute.

Covering the vents and holes, and spraying with the pool pumps, he was exhausted and panicked about the situation, but the score did not leave his mind.

Two poodles and a backup drive

“When I’m writing, it’s very hard to get me out of that brain set,” Powell said, adding that he thinks he is neurodivergent. After persistent announcements and calls from his son, he decided to escape with two poodles and a 12 terabyte backup drive containing every single piece of music he had ever written.

While John’s house did not burn down, it was affected after 30 of the 60 houses on his street suffered a great loss. However, his former home, where he used to live on rent, was damaged. He went from Airbnb to Airbnb and contacted his fellow composer, Hans Zimmer. “It wasn’t like I could call Universal and say, can we move the recording dates and the mixing dates and the release date? I have a responsibility to make sure that I get the music done on time,” John said, adding that he only had a month before he had to record with the orchestra. “You’ve just got the work in front of you, and that becomes the most important thing at that moment, which is slightly sad to say, but it’s a useful thing under those sort of circumstances,” the composer stated.