Frank Churchill

Frank Edwin Churchill was an American composer of popular music for films. He wrote most of the music for Disney's 1937 movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, including "Whistle While You Work" and "Someday My Prince Will Come". The latter (without the Larry Morey lyrics) became a jazz standard covered by various jazz greats, including Oscar Peterson, Miles Davis, and Dave Brubeck.
==History==
Churchill began his career as a pianist in cinemas at the age of 15. After dropping out of medical studies at the University of Los Angeles, California to pursue a career in music, he eventually became accompanist at the Los Angeles radio station in 1924.
He joined Walt Disney Productions in 1930, and scored many animated shorts - his song for The Three Little Pigs, "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?", was a huge commercial success.
In 1937, he was chosen to score Disney's first full-length animated feature film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. His catchy, artfully written songs played a large part in the film's initial success and continuing popularity.
In 1942, Churchill and fellow composer Oliver Wallace won an Oscar in the category "Scoring of a Musical Picture" for co-writing the score for Dumbo. He also shared an Oscar nomination with Ned Washington for the song "Baby Mine" from Dumbo for Best Song. A year later, Churchill received two posthumous Oscar nominations; the first for co-writing the score to Bambi with Edward H. Plumb, and the second for co-writing the song "Love is a Song" from Bambi with lyricist Larry Morey.
Frank Churchill committed suicide on May 14, 1942, at his ranch north of Los Angeles in Castaic, California. He is purported to have died "at the piano" of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Although there is some speculation that his suicide was a result of negative discourse with Walt Disney regarding his latest scores for Bambi, it was more likely due to his deep depression and bought with heavy drinking after the deaths of two of his closest friends and fellow Disney orchestra members who had passed away earlier that year within a month of each other.
At the time of his death, Churchill had been working on music in the early stages of Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan. In 2001, he was posthumously honored a Disney Legend.
==Filmography==
Year	Film 	Position
1930	The Chain Gang 	Composer - uncredited
1931	The Castaway 	Composer - uncredited
1931	The China Plate 	Composer - uncredited
1931	The Busy Beavers 	Composer - uncredited
1931	The Cat's Out 	Composer - uncredited
1931	Egyptian Melodies 	Composer - uncredited
1931	The Clock Store 	Composer - uncredited
1931	The Fox Hunt 	Composer - uncredited
1932	The Bird Store 	Composer - uncredited
1932	The Grocery Boy 	Composer - uncredited
1932	Barnyard Olympics 	Composer - uncredited
1932	The Bears and Bees 	Composer - uncredited
1932	Musical Farmer 	Composer - uncredited
1932	Mickey in Arabia 	Composer - uncredited
1932	The Whoopee Party 	Composer - uncredited
1932	Bugs in Love 	Composer - uncredited
1932	Touchdown Mickey 	Composer - uncredited
1932	The Klondike Kid 	Composer - uncredited
1932	Santa's Workshop 	Composer - uncredited
1933	Building a Building 	Composer - uncredited
1933	Mickey's Pal Pluto 	Composer - uncredited
1933	Birds in the Spring 	Composer - uncredited
1933	Mickey's Mellerdrammer 	Composer - uncredited
1933	Ye Olden Days 	Composer - uncredited
1933	Three Little Pigs 	Composer - uncreditedSongwriter: "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?"
1933	Mickey's Gala Premier 	Composer - uncredited
1933	Old King Cole 	Composer - uncredited
1933	Puppy Love 	Composer - uncredited
1933	Lullaby Land 	Composer - uncreditedSongwriter: "Lullaby Land of Nowhere"
1933	The Steeple-Chase 	Composer - uncredited
1933	Giantland 	Composer - uncredited
1934	Shanghaied 	Composer - uncredited
1934	Camping Out 	Composer - uncredited
1934	Playful Pluto 	Composer - uncredited
1934	Funny Little Bunnies 	ComposerSongwriter: "See the Funny Little Bunnies"
1934	The Big Bad Wolf 	Composer - uncredited
1934	Gulliver Mickey 	Composer - uncredited
1934	Mickey's Steam-Roller 	Composer - uncredited
1934	The Grasshopper and the Ants 	Songwriter: "The World Owes Me a Living"
1934	The Flying Mouse 	Composer - uncredited
1934	Orphan's Benefit 	Composer - uncredited
1934	Mickey Plays Papa 	Composer - uncredited
1934	The Dognapper 	Composer - uncredited
1934	Servants' Entrance 	Musical Director: animation sequence - uncredited
1935	The Tortoise and the Hare 	Composer - uncredited
1935	Mickey's Man Friday 	Composer - uncredited
1935	The Golden Touch 	Composer - uncredited
1935	The Robber Kitten 	Composer - uncredited
1935	Who Killed Cock Robin? 	Composer - uncredited
1935	Pluto's Judgement Day 	Composer - uncredited
1935	On Ice 	Composer - uncredited
1935	Three Orphan Kittens 	Composer - uncredited
1935	Cock o' the Walk 	Composer - uncredited
1936	Three Little Wolves 	Composer - uncredited
1936	Thru the Mirror 	Composer - uncredited
1936	Toby Tortoise Returns 	Composer - uncredited
1936	Donald and Pluto 	Composer - uncredited
1936	More Kittens 	Composer - uncredited
1937	The Worm Turns 	Musical Director - uncredited
1937	Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 	music: "I'm Wishing""One Song""With a Smile and a Song""Whistle While You Work""Heigh-Ho""Bluddle-Uddle-Um-Dum""The Silly Song""Someday My Prince Will Come" - uncredited
1939	The Practical Pig 	Composer - uncredited
1940	Bone Trouble 	Composer
1940	Pinocchio 	Music Department - uncredited
1941	The Reluctant Dragon 	HimselfComposer
1941	Dumbo 	music: "Look Out for Mr. Stork""Roustabouts""Baby Mine" - uncredited
1942	The Army Mascot 	Composer - uncredited (Posthumous release)
1942	All Together 	Composer - uncredited (Posthumous release)
1942	Bambi 	ComposerSongwriter: "Love is a Song""Little April Shower""Let's Sing a Gay Little Spring Song""Looking For Romance" - uncredited (Posthumous release)
1942	Saludos Amigos 	Composer - uncredited (Posthumous release)
1949	The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad	Songwriter: "The Merrily Song" (Posthumous release)
==Gallery==
Reluctant-dragon-disneyscreencaps.com-4700.jpg|Frank Churchill in The Reluctant Dragon.
Disney music room 1931.jpg|Standing from left: Edmond Seward, Frank Churchill, Otto Englander, Ben Sharpsteen, Bert Lewis, Gilles "Frenchy" de Tremaudan, Les Clark, Rudy Zamora, Wilfred Jackson, Jack King, Tom Palmer, Jack Cutting (behind Palmer), Johnny Cannon, Norman Ferguson, Webb SmithSeated, from left: David Hand, Ted Sears, Dick Lundy, Burt Gillett, Walt Disney.
Disney music room 1931 (2).jpg|1931; Standing from left: Smith, Seward, Englander, Zamora, Hand, Palmer, Cutting, W. Disney, Churchill, Cannon, SharpsteenSeated from left: King, Lundy, Sears, Ferguson, de Tremaudan, Jackson, Clark, Gillett, Lewis.
Frank churchill at the piano.jpg|Frank Churchill at the piano.
Frank churchill and larry morey bambi session (1).jpg|Frank Churchill collaborating with Larry Morey.
==References==
*Disney Legends
*Facebook
*Google Books
==External links==
*
Category:Males
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Category:The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
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