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Dave Metzger

Dave Metzger

Composer · Born December 12, 1961 (64) · Corvallis, Oregon, USA

David Metzger (born December 12, 1960) is an American composer, conductor, arranger, and orchestrator who has worked on many Disney Animation films, including Wish, Frozen, Frozen 2, Moana, Planes, Wreck-It Ralph, Tarzan, and Brother Bear. In addition to his work for Disney, he has done orchestrations for over 50 major films, composed the musical scores for Tarzan 2, Brother Bear 2, and Tarzan and Jane, and has numerous video game, theme park, television, and commercial credits, as well as co-arranging and orchestrating "When You Wish Upon a Star" for the 2006 Walt Disney Pictures logo with Mark Mancina and co-composing the 2013 DisneyToon Studios logo with Mancina. He was nominated for a Grammy Award for his producing work on Frozen 2. Metzger received a Tony and a Drama Desk nomination in 1998 for his orchestration of the Broadway musical The Lion King. He won a DVDX award for best original score in a DVD premiere movie for Tarzan 2 in 2006. He has orchestrated the Broadway musical Frozen and is also orchestrating the musical August Rush. Metzger grew up in Corvallis, Oregon. He received his Bachelor of Music degree from California State University, Long Beach. He also did graduate work at UCLA. He began composing for choir and jazz band in junior high school. In his young adult years, he wrote many jazz band charts that are still played today. He was the arranger for jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson in the late 1980s. From 1992 to 1997, he was the arranger for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He was a long-time collaborator with film composer Mark Mancina. Beginning in 2008, he has also worked with other notable Hollywood and Broadway composers, including Robert Lopez, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, Julia Michaels, Benjamin Rice, Alan Menken, John Powell, Alan Silvestri, Christophe Beck, and others. He currently lives in Oregon with his wife. He has two grown sons. Description above from the Wikipedia article David Metzger, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

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Biography from TMDB.

Born
December 12, 1961 (64)
From
Corvallis, Oregon, USA
Works as
Composer
Titles
23 on MovieCove
Links
IMDb (opens in a new tab)TMDB (opens in a new tab)Wikidata (opens in a new tab)

Known for

TMDB popularity, last 157 days to Oct 28Down 41% in 30 days

What are Dave Metzger's films like?

Across their 6 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Bonds and Society.

Themes

share of theme weight
Bonds
48%
Society
20%
Self
18%
Power
10%
Morality
5%
Family bonds3 titles, browse their movies with this themeCommunity2 titles, browse their movies with this themeIdentity2 titles, browse their movies with this theme

What they feel like to watch

their average across 6 films
ToneFeelDemandtheir average · filled zone: the category
Light: How heavy the subject matter and outlook get. Browse their light movies.
Tone · Weight
lightdark

Light 6 · Serious 0 · Dark 0

Heightened: How far its world departs from everyday reality. Browse their heightened movies.
Tone · Style
naturalisticheightened

Grounded 0 · Stylized 2 · Heightened 4

Charged: How hard the emotional peaks hit while you watch. Browse their charged movies.
Feel · Intensity
gentleintense

Gentle 3 · Charged 3 · Intense 0

Steady: How much it swings between very different feelings. Browse their steady movies.
Feel · Swings
steadyswings

Steady 5 · Shifting 1 · Whiplash 0

Some laughs: How much of the runtime is played for laughs. Browse their some laughs movies.
Feel · Humor
noneconstant

Straight-faced 0 · Some laughs 5 · Funny 1

Slow burn: How fast it moves from scene to scene. Browse their slow burn movies.
Demand · Pace
slowrelentless

Slow burn 4 · Even-paced 2 · Relentless 0

Casual: How much focus it asks of you — look away and lose the thread? Browse their casual movies.
Demand · Attention
casualfull focus

Casual 5 · Engaged 1 · Full focus 0

Resolved: How much is left for you to interpret. Browse their resolved movies.
Demand · Resolution
resolvedambiguous

Resolved 6 · Open-ended 0 · Ambiguous 0

Moods and endings

endings are an aggregate; no title is named

Dominant moods · mentions across their titles

Hopeful
4
Joyful
4
Warm
4
Thrilling
2
Romantic
1
Other
3

How their films linger

Feel-good4 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteHopeful4 titles, browse their movies with this aftertaste

How their films end

  • Happy6

AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.

Where can I watch Dave Metzger's films?

As of October 24, 2026, all 23 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Disney+ (18).

Also on these channels

Subscription and free streaming for Dave Metzger's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.

Filmography

23 credits, 23 with a MovieCove page.

  • Snow White(2025)

    Music Producer · Orchestrator

    Midcredits score: 1st percentile of all films

  • Mufasa: The Lion King(2024)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 66th percentile of all films

  • Wish(2023)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 23rd percentile of all films

  • Once Upon a Studio(2023)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all films

  • WandaVision(2021)

    Show 6 episodes · Orchestrator

    Midcredits score: 89th percentile of all shows

  • Olaf's Frozen Adventure(2017)

    Music Score Producer

    Midcredits score: 47th percentile of all films

  • Moana(2016)

    Orchestrator

    Midcredits score: 96th percentile of all films

  • Ant-Man(2015)

    Orchestrator

    Midcredits score: 86th percentile of all films

  • How to Train Your Dragon 2(2014)

    Orchestrator

    Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films

  • Rio 2(2014)

    Orchestrator

    Midcredits score: 53rd percentile of all films

  • Frozen(2013)

    Orchestrator

    Midcredits score: 90th percentile of all films

  • Wreck-It Ralph(2012)

    Orchestrator

    Midcredits score: 96th percentile of all films

  • The Raven(2012)

    Orchestrator

    Midcredits score: 51st percentile of all films

  • Rio(2011)

    Orchestrator

    Midcredits score: 79th percentile of all films

  • Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs(2009)

    Orchestrator

    Midcredits score: 76th percentile of all films

  • Bolt(2008)

    Orchestrator

    Midcredits score: 72nd percentile of all films

  • Brother Bear 2(2006)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 51st percentile of all films

  • Tarzan 2: The Legend Begins(2005)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 27th percentile of all films

  • Brother Bear(2003)

    Orchestrator

    Midcredits score: 81st percentile of all films

  • Bad Boys II(2003)

    Orchestrator

    Midcredits score: 66th percentile of all films

  • Tarzan & Jane(2002)

    Composer

    Midcredits score: 20th percentile of all films

  • Domestic Disturbance(2001)

    Orchestrator

    Midcredits score: 24th percentile of all films

  • The Magnificent Seven(1998)

    Show 13 episodes · Composer

    Midcredits score: 67th percentile of all shows

Career shape

A full career of 23 titles from 1998 to 2025.

Biggest box office

Mufasa: The Lion King (2024)

$723M worldwide

Highest rated

Once Upon a Studio (2023)

Midcredits 99th

Most popular right now

Mufasa: The Lion King (2024)

By role

only this rolewith another role
Music9 of 23: 8 only music, 1 with another role · typical Midcredits score47thOther crew15 of 23: 14 only other crew, 1 with another role · typical Midcredits score79th

By decade

1990s1 · crew2000s8 · crew2010s9 · crew2020s5 · crew

Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.

How do Dave Metzger's films land?

Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 66th percentile, the median of all 21; across their 6 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 46th percentile for acclaim.

Acclaim · how much people like their films

46thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 6

Approval · how many liked their films

35thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 6

Reach · how many have seen their films

93rdpercentile
Typical film, the median of 6

Midcredits score across 23 titles, by percentile

  • 75th and up10
  • 50th to 74th7
  • 25th to 49th2
  • Below 25th4

Shape of the crowd

12 of their 23 titles are Crowd Pleasers.

  • Universally Loved5
  • Universally Panned1
  • Crowd Pleaser12
  • Broadly Agreed2
  • Mixed3

Most divisive · composer

Olaf's Frozen Adventure (2017)

65th percentile spread · 25% rated it 4 or lower

Most loved · composer

Once Upon a Studio (2023)

Midcredits 99th · 88% liked

Reviewers score the sound and music 55/100 in their films, across 6 reviewed titles; fans 67, detractors 32. The element that speaks to their work as a composer.

Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.

Who does Dave Metzger work with?

People who share at least 2 of Dave Metzger's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Bob Tzudiker shares the most, 2.

Writers

Actors

Editors

Producers