Jack Johnson Recording Curious George Soundtrack

Surfer, filmmaker and musician Jack Johnson can now add soundtrack composer to his lengthy resume. Johnson is in the midst of writing music for the animated film, Curious George.

The movie features the voice of Will Ferrell as "the man in the yellow hat" and is due out in February. Johnson believes that the accompanying album should appeal to both children and adults.

"It's funny, because some of the songs are kidlike, and some I kind of question whether or not they should be on there," Johnson told MTV.com from his Hawaii home, where he's been recording most of the tracks. "They touch on more normal, adult subjects like relationships." Tracks like "The Sharing Song" and "The Three R's," which was inspired by Johnson's environmentally friendly attitude, are straight-forward kids songs. But heartfelt numbers like "Wrong Turn" can be compared to the relationship songs you'd find on Johnson's normal albums. Since Curious George doesn't speak in the movie, the character's voice can be heard through Johnson's songs. This required Johnson to do a bit of homework to understand the perspective of an inquisitive monkey. After reading the screenplay, he studied sketches of the simian star until the music came to him. "He's supposed to be a real loving guy who's basically trying to help," says Johnson. "Every time he gets in trouble, it's because he's trying to do something really good, but he's just misguided." Johnson has written and recorded six of the 12 songs that are expected on the soundtrack. They include "Wrong Turn," "Lullaby" and George's theme song, "Upside Down."

After completing the soundtrack, Johnson has planned a short European tour for March, followed by a break. He says it will be at least two years until he works on the follow-up album to this year's In Between Dreams, so keep an eye out for him whenever you're near a shoreline with large waves.