Oliver Wallace

Oliver Wallace
Oliver George Wallace (August 6, 1887 – September 15, 1963) was an English composer and conductor. He was especially known for his film music compositions, which were written for many animation, documentary, and feature films from Walt Disney Studios.
Biography
Wallace was born on August 6, 1887, in London. After completing his musical training, he went to the United States in 1904, becoming a US citizen ten years later. He initially worked primarily on the West Coast in Seattle as a conductor of theater orchestras and as an organist accompanying silent films. At the same time, he also made a name as a songwriter, writing tunes such as the popular "Hindustan". With the advent of the talking film era, he worked increasingly for Hollywood film studios in the 1930s.
In 1936 he joined Disney Studios and quickly became one of the most important composers in the studio for animated short films. He provided the music for 139 of these shorts. One of his best-known pieces is the song "Der Fuehrer's Face" from the 1942 Donald Duck propaganda cartoon, though he was uncredited. This parody of a Horst Wessel song was, mainly through the version by Spike Jones and His City Slickers, one of the biggest hits during the Second World War. Other shorts he scored included Ben and Me (1953), about Benjamin Franklin and a mouse, and the Oscar-winning Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom (1953), the first cartoon to use the new CinemaScope process. He also appeared in live action reference footage for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), posing as a live action model for two of the seven dwarfs that were stacked on top of each other, Dopey and Sneezy. He also did the whistling voice for Ichabod Crane as he’s riding home on his horse in The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949).
Walt Disney also had Wallace score full-length films for the studios for over 27 years. He started writing the score for Dumbo (1941), for which he, together with Frank Churchill, won his first and only Oscar in 1942. He went on to score Victory Through Air Power (1943), The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949), Cinderella (1950) along with Paul J. Smith, Alice in Wonderland (1951), Peter Pan (1953), and White Wilderness (1958). His last work for a Disney animated feature was Lady and the Tramp (1955). He received four other Oscar nominations for the music to Victory Through Air Power with Edward H. Plumb and Paul J. Smith (losing to Alfred Newman for The Song of Bernadette), Cinderella with Paul J. Smith (losing to Adolph Deutsch and Roger Edens for Annie Get Your Gun), Alice in Wonderland (losing to Johnny Green and Saul Chaplin for An American in Paris), and White Wilderness (losing to Dimitri Tiomkin for The Old Man and the Sea). A common characteristic of all these productions was the cooperation of several composers in the creation of the music. Wallace understood this and integrated leitmotiv-like elements from the individual songs into the film scores.
When the Disney studios began to increasingly produce full-length feature films, Wallace also wrote scores for these. In Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959), Wallace wrote not only the score but also set the Lawrence Edward Watkin-penned popular songs "Pretty Irish Girl" and "The Wishing Song". In Toby Tyler, or Ten Weeks with a Circus (1959), he appeared as an actor, playing the conductor of the circus band.
Starting with Seal Island (1948), Wallace also specialized in musical accompaniments for Disney documentaries, including nearly all the films for the "People and Places" series and some of the True-Life Adventures. The music of White Wilderness (1958) was even nominated for an Oscar in 1959, a rare feat for a documentary film.
Overall, Wallace contributed music to almost over 150 Walt Disney productions. He worked for Disney studios for 27 years. He remained active in the studio in Los Angeles until shortly before his death at a Burbank, California hospital on September 15, 1963, at the age of 76. In 2008, he was posthumously honored with a Disney Legends award.
Filmography
Most of the films were scored in collaboration with other composers.
Film scores
1934 – Girl in the Case – Music
1941 – Dumbo – Score and some songs
1943 – Victory Through Air Power – Score
1944 – The Three Caballeros – Score
1946 – Make Mine Music – Score
1947 – Fun and Fancy Free – Score
1948 – Seal Island – Score
1949 – The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad – Score
1950 – Cinderella – Score
1951 – Alice in Wonderland – Score
1953 – Peter Pan – Score and some songs
1954 – Siam – Score
1955 – Men Against the Arctic – Score
1955 – Lady and the Tramp – Score
1957 – Old Yeller – Score and song
1958 – White Wilderness – Score
1958 – Tonka – Score
1959 – Darby O'Gill and the Little People – Score and song
1960 – Jungle Cat – Score
1960 – Ten Who Dared – Score
1961 – Nikki, Wild Dog of the North – Score
1962 – Big Red – Score
1962 – The Legend of Lobo – Score
1963 – Savage Sam – Score
1963 – The Incredible Journey – Score
Animated Shorts
1937 - Mickey's Amateurs - Score
1937 - Modern Inventions - Score
1937 - Clock Cleaners - Score
1938 - Donald's Ostrich - Score
1938 - Self Control - Score
1938 - Boat Builders - Score
1938 - Donald's Better Self - Score
1938 - Donald's Nephews - Score
1938 - Mickey's Trailer - Score
1938 - Good Scouts - Score
1939 - Donald's Lucky Day - Score
1939 - Society Dog Show - Score
1939 - Mickey's Surprise Party - Score
1939 - Donald's Cousin Gus - Score
1939 - Sea Scouts - Score
1939 - Donald's Penguin - Score
1939 - The Autograph Hound - Score
1940 - The Riveter - Score
1940 - Tugboat Mickey - Score
1940 - Donald's Vacation - Score
1940 - Window Cleaners - Score
1940 - Mr. Mouse Takes a Trip - Score
1940 - Pantry Pirate - Score
1941 - Timber - Score
1941 - The Little Whirlwind - Score
1941 - Early to Bed - Score
1942 - Donald's Decision - Score
1942 - The New Spirit - Score
1942 - Symphony Hour - Score
1942 - Donald's Snow Fight - Score
1942 - Donald's Garden - Score
1942 - Donald's Gold Mine - Score
1942 - T-Bone for Two - Score
1942 - The Vanishing Private - Score
1942 - Pluto at the Zoo - Score
1942 - Bellboy Donald - Score
1943 – Der Fuehrer's Face – Score and title song
1943 - Education for Death - Score
1943 - Donald's Tire Trouble - Score
1943 - Pluto and the Armadillo - Score
1943 - Private Pluto - Score
1943 - Victory Vehicles - Score
1943 - Chicken Little - Score
1944 - Donald Duck and the Gorilla - Score
1944 - Contrary Condor - Score
1944 - Commando Duck - Score
1944 - How to Play Football - Score
1944 - Springtime for Pluto - Score
1944 - The Plastics Inventor - Score
1944 - First Aiders - Score
1944 - The Clock Watcher - Score
1945 - Dog Watch - Score
1945 - African Diary - Score
1945 - Canine Casanova - Score
1945 - Duck Pimples - Score
1945 - The Legend of Coyote Rock - Score
1945 - No Sail - Score
1945 - Cured Duck - Score
1945 - Canine Patrol - Score
1945 - Old Sequoia - Score
1946 - A Knight For a Day - Score
1946 - Pluto's Kid Brother - Score
1946 - In Dutch - Score
1946 - Squatter's Rights - Score
1946 - Donald's Double Trouble - Score
1946 - The Purloined Pup - Score
1946 - Wet Paint - Score
1946 - Dumb Bell of the Yukon - Score
1946 - Lighthouse Keeping - Score
1946 - Bath Day - Score
1946 - Frank Duck Brings 'Em Back Alive - Score
1946 - Double Dribble - Score
1947 - Pluto's Housewarming - Score
1947 - Rescue Dog - Score
1947 - Straight Shooters - Score
1947 - Sleepy Time Donald - Score
1947 - Figaro and Frankie - Score
1947 - Clown of the Jungle - Score
1947 - Donald's Dilemma - Score
1947 - Crazy with the Heat - Score
1947 - Bootle Beetle - Score
1947 - Wide Open Spaces - Score
1947 - Mickey's Delayed Date - Score
1947 - Foul Hunting - Score
1947 - Chip an' Dale - Score
1947 - Mail Dog - Score
1947 - Pluto's Blue Note- Score
1948 - They're Off - Score
1948 - The Big Wash - Score
1948 - Drip Dippy Donald - Score
1948 - Mickey Down Under - Score
1948 - Daddy Duck - Score
1948 - Bone Bandit - Score
1948 - Donald's Dream Voice - Score
1948 - Pluto's Purchase - Score
1948 - The Trial of Donald Duck - Score
1948 - Cat Nap Pluto - Score
1948 - Inferior Decorator - Score
1948 - Pluto's Fledgling - Score
1948 - Soup's On - Score
1948 - Three for Breakfast - Score
1948 - Mickey and the Seal - Score
1948 - Tea for Two Hundred - Score
1949 - Pueblo Pluto - Score
1949 - Donald's Happy Birthday - Score
1949 - Pluto's Surprise Package - Score
1949 - Sea Salts - Score
1949 - Pluto's Sweater - Score
1949 - Winter Storage - Score
1949 - Bubble Bee - Score
1949 - Honey Harvester - Score
1949 - Tennis Racquet - Score
1949 - All in a Nutshell - Score
1949 - Goofy Gymnastics - Score
1949 - The Greener Yard - Score
1949 - Sheep Dog - Score
1949 - Slide Donald Slide - Score
1950 - Pluto's Heart Throb - Score
1950 - Lion Around - Score
1950 - Pluto and the Gopher - Score
1950 - Crazy Over Daisy - Score
1950 - Wonder Dog - Score
1950 - Primitive Pluto - Score
1950 - Morris the Midget Moose - Score
1951 - Corn Chips - Score
1951 - Bee on Guard - Score
1952 - Teachers Are People - Score
1952 - Let's Stick Together - Score
1952 - Pluto's Party - Score
1952 - Two Weeks Vacation - Score
1953 - Rugged Bear - Score
1953 – Ben and Me – Score
1953 - Working for Peanuts - Score
1953 - Canvas Back Duck - Score
1954 - Spare the Rod - Score
1954 - The Lone Chipmunks - Score
1954 - Pigs Is Pigs - Score
1954 - Casey Bats Again - Score
1954 - Dragon Around - Score
1954 - Grin and Bear it - Score
1954 - Social Lion - Score
1954 - The Flying Squirrel - Score
1954 - Grand Canyonscope - Score
1955 - No Hunting - Score
1955 - Bearly Asleep - Score
1955 - Beezy Bear - Score
1955 - Up A Tree - Score
1956 - Chips Ahoy - Score
1956 - Hooked Bear - Score
1959 - How to Have an Accident at Work - Score
Actor
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) as Dopey and Sneezy (live-action reference)
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949) as Mr. Winkie (voice, uncredited)/Ichabod Crane (whistling, uncredited)
Toby Tyler, or Ten Weeks with a Circus (1960) – as the Bandleader (voice)
References
External links
1887 births
1963 deaths
20th-century American composers
20th-century American male musicians
20th-century English composers
American film score composers
American male film score composers
American television composers
Animated film score composers
Best Original Music Score Academy Award winners
English emigrants to the United States
English film score composers
English male film score composers
English television composers
Composers from London
Theatre organists
Walt Disney Animation Studios people