Here’s why you know that song from Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig’s hilarious Golden Globes bit
Composer Kevin MacLeod’s royalty-free music, including “Fluffing A Duck,” is everywhere, yet few people know his name
Film Features Golden Globes
Whether you know it or not, you’ve most likely heard a piece of music written by Kevin MacLeod. If you were watching the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday night, you’ve definitely heard it. During their presentation of the award for best actor in a comedy, Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig tried to play it straight, only to be distracted by a snippet of a bouncy song called “Fluffing A Duck” that brought out their goofiest dance moves. The bit also got some of the best reactions of the night from the audience, including Golden Globe nominee Andrew Scott and Jennifer Lopez. Even watching at home you could feel the release of tension in the crowd after a night of awkwardness and jokes that didn’t land.
If the music sounded familiar but you just couldn’t place it, there’s a reason for that. Despite Wiig’s claim that the song has had the same effect on them for decades, “Fluffing A Duck” has only been around for one. Originally released in 2014, it’s been used in a number of apps and video games since then, including Racing Penguin. The song is just one of thousands of royalty free recordings that MacLeod has made available to the public. Most of it can be accessed via YouTube or on his personal website, where he offers a Creative Commons Attribution copyright license, which means you can use it for free as long as you credit him. You can also buy a license that doesn’t require credit for $30 per song.
MacLeod composes pieces for a wide variety of different moods and tones. They’re designed to be atmospheric background scores for all kinds of visual content and have been dropped into everything from cooking demonstrations to scenic travelogs to instructional tutorials and more. Take this jaunty number called “Carefree,” for example. If you’ve spent any time on the internet at all there’s a pretty good chance you’ve heard it before.
[pm_embed_youtube id=’PLx53r85FKaLxelizE-sI_ep4W39Ak3Z_U’ type=’playlist’]Or maybe you’ve encountered this playful track called “Monkeys Spinning Monkeys.” It was also written by MacLeod.
MacLeod has become a sort of modern folk hero in online spaces due to his philosophy that art should belong to everyone. He was even the subject of a 2022 documentary called Royalty Free: The Music of Kevin MacLeod. In interviews MacLeod comes across as earnest and surprisingly humble for a guy whose music has been used in literally millions of videos, commercials, trailers, video games, podcasts, and other media. His work is played more frequently than any big pop star you could name, yet he remains relatively unknown.
Perhaps the surprise appearance of “Fluffing A Duck” during the Globes will bring MacLeod more attention within the entertainment industry, although at least one of the biggest names in the room has already featured MacLeod’s music in a film. When he was working on Hugo, Martin Scorsese used some of MacLeod’s compositions as temporary music before the score was complete. After the final cut was locked, the producers discovered that some of the temp music was inadvertently left in and had to call MacLeod to secure the rights to it. He charged Paramount Pictures the same $30 fee as everyone else.
51 Comments
I wouldn’t have recognized Kristen Wiig if her name wasn’t in the story. She looks like she’s morphing into Jennifer Connelly.
Jennifer Connelly’s favorite song is also “Fluffing a Duck.”
I would have said Rachel Brosnahan.
I was thinking Kathryn Hahn.
Exactly what I was thinking – Jennifer Connelly. The last few years, every time I see Wiig her face looks different each time.
I thought I was losing my mind. THAT’S Kristen Wiig?If that’s plastic surgery, it’s some of the best I’ve seen in a while.
Wiig’s appearance was noticeably…noticeable when I saw her SNL hosting episode during the Wonder Woman 84 press/marketing period. Immediately wondered if it was the intense superhero movie physical maintenance/makeover process or if she decided on some chemical/surgical enhancements.
I recognized her but with the dark hair and tan she does look different. Will Ferrell is always game for being a goofball at these things. Wasn’t it the Emmys he showed up in shorts and with his sons because they called at the last minute for him to present an award.
Don’t underestimate the impact of someone dying their eyebrows on their overall face. She may have some botox going on as well, but to me she looks the most different because she has much darker hair that is often slicked down and extremely dark and pronounced eyebrows that are either dyed or badly penciled in. That’s what’s giving Jennifer Connelly vibes.
Yeah, setting aside whatever other work she had done, the darker hair was the first thing I noticed. And for one, I think it looks really good on her.
Yep. Reminds me of how different Zoey Deschanel has looked in photos without her signature bangs. Different color and different ‘do can really make someone look like a totally different person.
Zoey Deschanel in Elf is a good example. She looks like a different person.
Dang! Your Jennifer Connelly comparison is on the money. I have to clarify that I’m not critical of Wiig’s look! Just a noticeable change from what I was used to from the SNL/comedy film era. I might need to land a superhero movie role just for the nutritionist/personal trainer/financial motivation.
I also didn’t think you were being overly critical. I honestly just think it’s less substantial changes and more how different hair/eyebrows/contouring can make a person look.
I’m still not sure it wasn’t JenCo. She is very versatile. So is KWiig though.
I’m getting Cheryl Tunt vibes.
Exactly what I thought from the still! That or Maria Hill.
I was thinking an AI attempt at Cobie Smulders.
I was thinking more Groucho Marx.
Katherine O’Hara
How dare you get her name wrong. Blasphemer.
Sorry, Catherine.
Finally, a song to knock “The Night Begins to Shine” off its pedestal!
Hey, The Night Begins To Shine is a gift to the world! It’s like someone time-traveled back to the 80s, took all the best bits of music from it, and returned with a masterpiece!
“The Night Begins to Shine” is a masterful song, but its reign must come to an end lest its greatness cause all other music to wither in its shadow.
I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is The Night Begins To Shine, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
Jo Koy should host from now on so that tepid bits like this can shine in comparison.
They were presenting Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy, not Drama. It’s right there in the caption! They say it in the clip!
Also, seconded on Kristen Wiig having a lot of work done. Nothing wrong with that if that’s what you want, but probably makes it harder to do comedy if you can’t move your face properly.
Comedy isn’t just pulling faces, nerd.
I’ve totally used Kevin MacLeod music for projects, what a great resource for the world.
Am I the only one that noticed that Kristen Wiig’s nipples are clearly visible?Like, I’m not offended, but I haven’t seen any discussion about this important subject.
Seemed a little odd to me too, considering the Florence Pugh kerfuffle a few months ago during an event that wasn’t nationally televised like this one.
Online idiots felt they could bully Florence Pugh and not Kristen Wiig. Why? Only their damaged minds can tell.
For sciences sake, ive re-watched this 10 times now, and I’m having a real hard time seeing any sort of nipple. Can you please time stamp said visual ?
It is very hard to see on a computer monitor. I was watching it live on an 86″ TV and it was very obvious.
There should be an award for Kevin MacLeod. Too. And the Relentless Earworm Award goes to….
MacLeod’s website also has graph paper generators which are super cool. There are dozens of types graph paper that you customize and print out. My favorites are hexagonal (for TTRPG mapping) and iso-dots (for 3D perspective drawings). It was a great resource back when I was teaching high school math.https://incompetech.com/graphpaper/
I use their graph paper generator all the time when prepping RPG sessions! I’m thrilled to know graph paper MacLeod and music MacLeod are the same MacLeod. They’re the real MacLeod, so to speak.
There Can Be Only One!
I understood that reference!
Nerd!
Maybe I’m just getting old – although I’m younger than Ferrell and Wiig – But am I the only one who has no clue what this music is?I guess I didn’t play the game or use the apps that it is apparently in? It just seems like a moment where either there’s some weird echo-chamber of people that think this song is ubiquitous, or… I’m officially out of touch.
Thank you (genuinely) for a fun and interesting article. Among other things, I learned the name of the song Google put to a video I took on my phone of a dog birthday party (Carefree).
Todd Glass getting some screen time at the Globes!
Is this an episode of Staind glass?
I love “Monkeys Spinning Monkeys” It makes me smile.
Who the hell is that cuz that sure ain’t Kristen Wiig 🤣
The intro and outro music of my radio show on KNYO-LP changes depending on where I’m doing it from, but I’ve been using Kevin MacLeod’s /Scheming Weasel/ on and off for almost twelve years. As I recall, I had just seen Martin Scorsese’s /Hugo/, which has one of Kevin’s compositions (Friendly Day, silent film piano music) from his website. Here’s Kevin MacLeod talking about how that happened, and it’s a perfect example of his philosophy: they’d been using it as temporary music for editing, and they were about to release the film, and— well, let him explain:
“If the music sounded familiar but you just couldn’t place it”
It says right there in the headline that I know it. Why qualify this statement?(but actually no, I have no idea why you’d assume I know this music).
I hope AI doesn’t take away the jobs of these royalty-free musicians.
Cindy thank you so much for this article. I know Kevin back when i did improv in Green Bay. Great guy and you are 100% on his humbleness. I was kinda bummed as i checked the show credits at the end of the show and they didn’t give Kevin a credit. He given so much music royalty free and only asks to be given credit. Ive been in LA now 17 years and i cant tell you how many filmmakers have used his music in their shorts, what he has done is nothing short of amazing.