George Bruns

George Edward Bruns was an American film score composer, who composed the music for Disney feature films and several Disney Park attractions, like the Enchanted Tiki Room, Pirates of the Caribbean (he also wrote the song "Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirate's Life For Me!"), and the Country Bear Jamboree (he also wrote the song "Bear Band Serenade").
Bruns was born on July 3, 1914, in Sandy, Oregon. Bruns expressed interest in music at an early age: He began playing piano at age six, and subsequently learned how to play the bass tuba. He eventually became proficient in 15 different instruments and began performing with a high school band while still in elementary school. After graduating from Oregon State University, he worked as a musician with various groups. In 1946 he was appointed musical director at radio station KEX in Portland, 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. That was when he was hired by Walt Disney as an arranger in 1953, 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. Many of his film contributions included the Davy Crockett series, Mickey Mouse Club, Sleeping Beauty (his first Disney animated film he arranged the score for), Goliath II, Babes in Toyland, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, The Absent-Minded Professor, Son of Flubber, The Sword in the Stone, The Ugly Dachshund, Follow Me, Boys!, The Fighting Prince of Donegal, The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin, The Jungle Book, The Love Bug, The Aristocats, Robin Hood (his last Disney animated film he arranged the score for), Herbie Rides Again, Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color, and many cartoon shorts.
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 was posthumously named a Disney Legend in 2001.
==Filmography==
Year 	Film 	Position
1952 	Captains Outrageous 	Composer
1954-1970	The Wonderful World of Disney 	ComposerPiano ConductorHimself: "Backstage Party"
1955 	The Mickey Mouse Club 	Composer: "Circus Day"
1955 	Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier	ComposerMusical DirectorSongwriter:"The Ballad of Davy Crockett""Farewell to the Mountains"
1956 	Davy Crockett and the River Pirates 	ComposerSongwriter: "King of the River""Yaller, Yaller Gold"
1956 	Westward Ho, the Wagons! 	ComposerSongwriter: "Westward Ho, the Wagons!""The Ballad of John Colter""I'm Lonely My Darling"
1956 	Jack and Old Mac 	Composer
1956 	In the Bag 	ComposerSongwriter: "Humphrey Hop"
1956 	A Cowboy Needs a Horse 	Composer
1957 	Perri 	Composer: "Perri"
1957 	The Truth About Mother Goose 	Composer
1957 	Johnny Tremain 	Composer"Johnny Tremain"
1957-1959	Zorro 	"Zorro theme"Additional Music
1958 	Paul Bunyan 	Composer
1958 	Tonka 	Songwriter: "Tonka"
1959 	Disneyland '59 	Composer
1959 	Eyes in Outer Space 	Composer
1959 	Noah's Ark 	Composer
1959 	Sleeping Beauty 	ComposerMusic AdapterSongwriter: "Hail to the Princess Aurora""The Gifts of Beauty and Song""I Wonder"
"Once Upon a Dream""Skumps""Sleeping Beauty"
1960 	Toby Tyler or Ten Weeks with a Circus 	Composer: stock music - uncredited
1960 	Goliath II 	Composer
1961 	One Hundred and One Dalmatians 	Composer
1961 	The Absent-Minded Professor 	Composer
1961 	Babes in Toyland 	ConductorMusic Adaptormusic: "Mother Goose Village and Lemonade""We Won't Be Happy 'Till We Get It""Just A Whisper Away""Slowly He Sank to the Bottom of the Sea""Castle in Spain""Never Mind, Bo-Peep""I Can't Do the Sum""Floretta""Forest of No Return""Go To Sleep""Toyland""Workshop Song""Just A Toy""Tom and Mary""We Won't Be Happy Till We Get It (Reprise #1)""We Won't Be Happy Till We Get It (Reprise #2)"
1961 	The Saga of Windwagon Smith 	Composer
1963 	Son of Flubber 	Composer
1963 	The Sword in the Stone 	Composer
1964 	The Restless Sea 	Composer
1965 	A Country Coyote Goes Hollywood 	ComposerSongwriter: "Coyote Song"
1965 	Freewayphobia 	Composer
1965 	Steel and America 	Composer
1965 	Donald's Fire Survival Plan 	Composer
1965 	Goofy's Freeway Troubles 	Composer
1966 	The Ugly Dachshund 	Composer
1966 	The Fighting Prince of Donegal 	Composer
1966 	Follow Me, Boys! 	Composer
1967 	The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin 	Composer
1967 	Mosby's Marauders 	Composer
1967 	The Jungle Book 	Composer
1968 	The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit 	Composer
1968 	The Love Bug 	Composer
1968 	The Young Loner 	Composer
1969 	It's Tough to Be a Bird 	Composer
1969 	The Social Side of Health 	Composer
1970 	The Aristocats 	Composer
1970 	Cristobalito, the Calypso Colt 	Composer
1971 	The Strange Monster of Strawberry Cove 	Composer
1972 	The Mouse Factory 	musical directormusic supervisor
1973 	Robin Hood 	ComposerSongwriter: "Love"
1973 	VD Attack Plan 	Composer
1974 	Herbie Rides Again 	Composer
1974 	Man, Monsters and Mysteries 	Composer
==Trivia==
*Bruns met a young Brad Bird on a beach in Oregon, and was asked many questions about working at Disney. This prompted Bruns to offer Bird a tour of the studio. During this tour, Bruns introduced Bird to Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston.
==External links==
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pl:George Burns
Category:Composers
Category:Songwriters
Category:Musicians
Category:101 Dalmatians
Category:The Sword in the Stone
Category:The Jungle Book
Category:The Aristocats
Category:Robin Hood
Category:Males
Category:Sleeping Beauty
Category:Babes in Toyland
Category:Pirates of the Caribbean
Category:Herbie
Category:Disney Legends
Category:Country Bear Jamboree
Category:1980s deaths
Category:Deceased
Category:1910s births
Category:American people
Category:Zorro
Category:People from Oregon
Category:Mickey Mouse Club
Category:Goliath II
Category:The Absent-Minded Professor
Category:The Ugly Dachshund
Category:Johnny Tremain
Category:The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit
Category:Davy Crockett
Category:Paul Bunyan
Category:Westward Ho, the Wagons!
Category:Tonka