Biography
George Edward Bruns (July 3, 1914 – May 23, 1983) was an American composer of music for film and television. His accolades include four Academy Award nominations and three Grammy Award nominations. He is mainly known for his compositions for numerous Disney films from the 1950s to the 1970s, among them Sleeping Beauty (1959), One Hundred and One Dalmatians, The Absent-Minded Professor (both 1961), The Sword in the Stone (1963), The Jungle Book (1967), The Love Bug (1968), The Aristocats (1970), and Robin Hood (1973). In the 1930s he worked as a musician with various groups in the Portland, Oregon area. In 1946 he was appointed musical director at radio station KEX in Portland, Oregon, and also was the bandleader for the Rose Bowl room of the Multnomah Hotel. From 1947 to 1949 he performed and recorded on trombone with Portland's Castle Jazz Band, led by banjoist Monte Ballou. In the late 1940s he moved to Los Angeles, where he did studio work, and performed and recorded with trombonist Turk Murphy's Jazz Band. In 1953 he was hired by Walt Disney as an arranger, eventually becoming Disney's musical director, a position he held until his retirement in 1976. Despite his retirement he continued to work on Disney projects. Among his work is the song "Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me)" (which he co-wrote with Xavier Atencio), used in the Disney theme park attraction Pirates of the Caribbean and the movies based on that ride. He also co-wrote "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" with Tom W. Blackburn, as well as the song "Love" for the Disney animated film Robin Hood. During the mid-1950s, he adapted the music from Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty ballet for use as background score in the 1959 Disney film version. He also composed the score for The Jungle Book, and provided Herbie the Love Bug with his sprightly theme song, featured prominently throughout the series. During his tenure with Disney Studios, Bruns continued to play dixieland jazz, leading his Wonderland Jazz Band on two recording sessions, and playing and recording occasionally with the Disney "house" band, the Firehouse Five Plus Two. Bruns retired from Disney in 1976 and moved back to Sandy, Oregon.He taught part-time at Lewis & Clark College and continued to play and compose music, including recording at least one locally distributed album of jazz.-Wikipedia
Sound 85
2020s
- 2024
1990s
- 1999
Michelle Kwan Skates to Disney's Greatest Hits
Music
1970s
- 1974
Man, Monsters & Mysteries
Original Music Composer
- 1973
I'm No Fool with Electricity
Original Music Composer
VD Attack Plan
Original Music Composer
- 1972
Michael O'Hara the Fourth
Original Music Composer
The City Fox
Original Music Composer
- 1971
The Strange Monster of Strawberry Cove
Original Music Composer
Three Without Fear
Music
- 1970
The Wacky Zoo of Morgan City
Music
Dad... Can I Borrow the Car?
Original Music Composer
Cristobalito, the Calypso Colt
Original Music Composer
New Girl
Original Music Composer
1960s
- 1969
It's Tough to Be a Bird
Music
Inky, the Crow
Music
The Social Side of Health
Original Music Composer
Ride a Northbound Horse
Original Music Composer
- 1968
The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit
Original Music Composer
The Young Loner
Original Music Composer
My Family Is a Menagerie
Music
Pablo and the Dancing Chihuahua
Original Music Composer
- 1967
A Salute to Alaska
Music
Mosby's Marauders
Original Music Composer
EPCOT
Music
Island of the Lost
Original Music Composer
- 1966
Follow Me, Boys!
Original Music Composer
The Fighting Prince of Donegal
Original Music Composer
Donald's Fire Survival Plan
Music
The Tenderfoot
Music
- 1965
Goofy's Freeway Troubles
Original Music Composer
Steel and America
Original Music Composer
An Otter in the Family
Music
Freewayphobia
Original Music Composer
A Country Coyote Goes Hollywood
Songs, Music
Disneyland 10th Anniversary
Music
- 1964
The Tenderfoot
Original Music Composer
The Legend of Two Gypsy Dogs
Music, Songs
Bristle Face
Music
- 1963
Son of Flubber
Original Music Composer
- 1962
Mooncussers
Original Music Composer, Music
- 1961
The Saga of Windwagon Smith
Original Music Composer
- 1960
Goliath II
Original Music Composer
1950s
- 1959
Noah's Ark
Original Music Composer
Disneyland '59
Music
- 1958
Paul Bunyan
Original Music Composer
- 1957
The Truth About Mother Goose
Original Music Composer
Johnny Tremain
Original Music Composer
- 1956
Westward Ho, The Wagons!
Original Music Composer
A Cowboy Needs a Horse
Original Music Composer
In the Bag
Music
Jack and Old Mac
Original Music Composer
- 1955
Man and the Moon
Music
Davy Crockett's Keelboat Race
Music
Davy Crockett at the Alamo
Music
Davy Crockett Goes to Congress
Music
- 1954
Davy Crockett, Indian Fighter
Music
Operation Undersea
Music Director
The Donald Duck Story
Music
The Disneyland Story
Music
How Now Boing Boing
Music
Kangaroo Courting
Music
Ballet-Oop
Music
- 1953
Christopher Crumpet
Music
Little Boy with a Big Horn
Music
No release date
Monsters of the Deep
Music
Wrote 1
1970s
- 1973
Other crew 1
1960s
- 1961
The Coyote's Lament
Compositor
Appearances1
1960s
- 1961