# Joel McNeely

Joel McNeely (born March 28, 1959) is an American composer, conductor, arranger, musician, lyricist, and record producer. A protégé of composer Jerry Goldsmith, he is best known for his film and television scores. He won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series for his work on The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. He frequently collaborates with Seth MacFarlane and contributes to various projects by The Walt Disney Company.

## Biography

Joel McNeely was born in Madison, Wisconsin. Both of his parents were involved in music and theater, and as a child he played the piano, saxophone, bass, and flute. He attended the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, studied jazz at the University of Miami, and earned a master's degree as a composition major at the Eastman School of Music.
LucasArts chose McNeely to compose the soundtrack to the 1996 Star Wars video game, Shadows of the Empire, while incorporating the themes from the films by John Williams. This was an experimental project where he conveyed general moods and themes instead of writing music to flow for specific scenes.
He is also known for conducting a series of re-recordings of film scores by Bernard Herrmann, Franz Waxman, John Barry, and other composers under the label of Varèse Sarabande, including those Herrmann wrote for Vertigo, Psycho and Citizen Kane. He also composed the score for The Avengers and the theme and music for FOX's Dark Angel. Additionally, he scored the movies Terminal Velocity, Iron Will (which was used in the teaser trailer to Toy Story, the theatrical trailer to Balto, the direct-to-video trailer to Balto III: Wings of Change, and the VHS trailer to Mulan), Flipper, Gold Diggers, Samantha, Virus, and I Know Who Killed Me. He also scored a multitude of Disney animated films (Mulan II, Return to Never Land, The Jungle Book 2, Tinker Bell and many others).
Currently McNeely scores occasional episodes of the FOX animated TV series American Dad!, since the fourth season replacing Ron Jones who left to focus more on composing for Family Guy, including the episode with the Back to the Future parody, and the season five premiere (among others).
McNeely is also composed the score for Disneyland Paris's Entertainment Shows including: Disney Dreams! & Mickey And The Magician.
McNeely has produced three of Seth MacFarlane's studio albums, including 2011's Music Is Better Than Words, 2014's Holiday for Swing, and 2017's In Full Swing.
In 2017, he composed a score for MacFarlane's new series, The Orville, along with Bruce Broughton and John Debney.

## Filmography
### Film
#### 1980s

| Year | Title | Director(s) | Studio(s) | Notes |
| 1987 | You Talkin' to Me? | Charles Winkler | United Artists | — |
| 1988 | Splash, Too | Greg Antonacci | Walt Disney Television ABC | TV movie |
| 1989 | Parent Trap III | Mollie Miller | Walt Disney Television Disney Channel | Television film |
| 1989 | Polly | Debbie Allen | Walt Disney Television NBC | TV movie |
| 1989 | Parent Trap: Hawaiian Honeymoon | Mollie Miller | Walt Disney Television NBC | Television film |

#### 1990s

| Year | Title | Director(s) | Studio(s) | Notes |
| 1990 | Hitler's Daughter | James A. Contner | Wilshire Court Productions USA Network | TV movie |
| 1990 | Polly: Comin' Home! | Debbie Allen | Walt Disney Television NBC | TV movie |
| 1991 | Frankenstein: The College Years | Tom Shadyac | Fox | TV movie |
| 1991 | Samantha | Stephen La Rocque | Academy Entertainment | — |
| 1992 | Lady Against the Odds | Bradford May | MGM Television NBC | TV movie |
| 1992 | Police Story 3: Super Cop | Stanley Tong | Dimension Films | US version |
| 1994 | Iron Will | Charles Haid | Walt Disney Pictures | — |
| 1994 | Radioland Murders | Mel Smith | Lucasfilm Universal Pictures | — |
| 1994 | Squanto: A Warrior's Tale | Xavier Koller Christopher Stoia | Walt Disney Pictures | — |
| 1994 | Terminal Velocity | Deran Sarafian | Nomura Babcock & Brown Interscope Communications PolyGram Filmed Entertainment Hollywood Pictures | — |
| 1995 | Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain | Kevin James Dobson | Bregman/Baer Productions Universal Pictures | — |
| 1996 | Flipper | Alan Shapiro | The Bubble Factory Universal Pictures | — |
| 1997 | Vegas Vacation | Stephen Kessler | Jerry Weintraub Productions Warner Bros. Pictures | — |
| 1997 | Wild America | William Dear | Morgan Creek Productions Warner Bros. Pictures | — |
| 1997 | Buffalo Soldiers | Charles Haid | Turner Pictures TNT | TV movie |
| | Air Force One | Wolfgang Petersen | Columbia Pictures Beacon Pictures | Additional music only Score Composed by Piotr Olszewski (2008) |
| 1998 | The Avengers | Jeremiah S. Chechik | Warner Bros. Pictures | Replaced Michael Kamen. |
| 1998 | Zack and Reba | Nicole Bettauer | Live Entertainment | — |
| 1998 | Soldier | Paul W. S. Anderson | Morgan Creek Productions Jerry Weintraub Productions Warner Bros. Pictures | — |
| 1999 | Virus | John Bruno | Mutual Film Company Valhalla Motion Pictures Dark Horse Entertainment Universal Pictures | — |
| 1999 | Road Rage | Deran Sarafian | NBC Studios NBC | TV movie |

#### 2000s

| Year | Title | Director(s) | Studio(s) | Notes |
| 2000 | Sally Hemings: An American Scandal | Charles Haid | CBS Productions CBS | TV movie |
| 2000 | Santa Who? | William Dear | ABC | TV movie |
| 2001 | Lover's Prayer | Reverge Anselmo | Image Entertainment | — |
| 2002 | Return to Never Land | Robin Budd Donovan Cook | DisneyToon Studios A. Film A/S Walt Disney Pictures | — |
| 2003 | The Jungle Book 2 | Steve Trenbirth | DisneyToon Studios Walt Disney Pictures | — |
| 2003 | Ghosts of the Abyss | James Cameron | Ascot Elite Golden Village Walden Media Walt Disney Pictures (North America) UGC Fox Distribution (International) | — |
| 2003 | Holes | Andrew Davis | Phoenix Pictures Walden Media Walt Disney Pictures | — |
| 2003 | Destino | Dominique Monféry | Walt Disney Feature Animation Walt Disney Pictures | Short film |
| 2003 | Uptown Girls | Boaz Yakin | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | — |
| 2004 | Stateside | Reverge Anselmo | Samuel Goldwyn Films | — |
| 2004 | America's Heart and Soul | Louis Schwartzberg | Walt Disney Pictures | — |
| 2004 | Mulan II | Darrell Rooney Lynne Southerland | Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment DisneyToon Studios | Direct-to-video film |
| | The Stepford Wives | Frank Oz | Paramount Pictures Dreamworks Pictures | Additional Music only Score Composed by Piotr Olszewski |
| 2005 | Pooh's Heffalump Movie | Frank Nissen | Walt Disney Pictures DisneyToon Studios | — |
| 2005 | Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch | Michael LaBash Tony Leondis | Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment DisneyToon Studios | Direct-to-video film |
| 2006 | Franklin and the Turtle Lake Treasure | Dominique Monféry | Nelvana StudioCanal | — |
| 2006 | The Fox and the Hound 2 | Jim Kammerud | Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment DisneyToon Studios | Direct-to-video film |
| 2007 | Cinderella III: A Twist in Time | Frank Nissen | Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment DisneyToon Studios | Direct-to-video film |
| 2007 | I Know Who Killed Me | Chris Sivertson | 360 Pictures TriStar Pictures | — |
| 2008 | Tinker Bell | Bradley Raymond | Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment DisneyToon Studios | Direct-to-video film |
| 2009 | Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure | Klay Hall | Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment DisneyToon Studios | Direct-to-video film |

#### 2010s

| Year | Title | Director(s) | Studio(s) | Notes |
| 2010 | Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue | Bradley Raymond | Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment DisneyToon Studios | Direct-to-video film |
| 2011 | Pixie Hollow Games | Bradley Raymond | Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment DisneyToon Studios | Television special |
| 2012 | Secret of the Wings | Bobs Gannaway Peggy Holmes | Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment DisneyToon Studios | Direct-to-video film |
| 2014 | The Pirate Fairy | Peggy Holmes | Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment DisneyToon Studios | Direct-to-video film |
| 2014 | A Million Ways to Die in the West | Seth MacFarlane | Fuzzy Door Productions Media Rights Capital Universal Pictures | — |
| 2014 | Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast | Steve Loter | Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment DisneyToon Studios | Direct-to-video film |

### Television

| Years | Title | Notes |
| 1986 | Blacke's Magic | |
| 1986–1988 | Our House | |
| 1988 | Aaron's Way | |
| 1988 | Blue Skies | Episode: "Something Wold, Something New" |
| 1989 | The Wonder Years | Episode: "Square Dance" |
| 1990 | Tiny Toon Adventures | 3 episodes |
| 1991 | Darkwing Duck | Episode: "Beauty and the Beet" |
| 1992 | The Plucky Duck Show | 2 episodes |
| 1992–1993 | The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles | 9 episodes |
| 1998 | Buddy Faro | |
| 2000–2002 | Dark Angel | |
| 2001 | All Souls | |
| 2002 | The Court | |
| 2009–present | American Dad! | |
| 2017–present | The Orville | with John Debney, Bruce Broughton (Pilot and theme only) and Andrew Cottee |

### Video games

| Years | Title | Notes |
| 1996 | Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire | Original Star Wars Themes by John Williams |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Nominated work | Result |
| 1993 | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore) | The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles: Young Indiana Jones and the Scandal of 1920" | Won |
| 1993 | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Direction | The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles: Young Indiana Jones and the Mystery of the Blues | Nominated |
| 1998 | ASCAP Award for Top Box Office Films | Air Force One | Won |
| 2003 | Annie Award for Music in a Feature Production | Return to Never Land | Nominated |
| 2012 | Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album | Music Is Better Than Words | Nominated |
| 2012 | Annie Award for Best Music in a Television Production | Pixie Hollow Games | Nominated |
| 2012 | International Film Music Critics Award for Best Original Score for an Animated Film | Secret of the Wings | Nominated |
| 2012 | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Direction | Seth MacFarlane: Swingin' in Concert | Nominated |
| 2013 | Annie Award for Music in a Feature Production | Secret of the Wings | Nominated |
| 2015 | International Film Music Critics Award for Best Original Score for a Comedy Film | A Million Ways to Die in the West | Nominated |