George Bruns

Known for SoundBorn 1914-07-03Died 1983-05-23Sandy - Oregon - USA

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.-WikipediaRead more

Movies & web series

Ride a Northbound Horse

Mars and Beyond

Davy Crockett Goes to Congress

I'm No Fool with Electricity

Man, Monsters & Mysteries

Michael O'Hara the Fourth

Dad... Can I Borrow the Car?

A Country Coyote Goes Hollywood

Bristle Face

Man and the Moon

The Disneyland Story

In the Bag

Robin Hood

EPCOT

The Aristocats

The Jungle Book

D.I.Y. Duck

Disneyland '59

The Saga of Windwagon Smith

The Sword in the Stone

Snoopy, Come Home

A Cowboy Needs a Horse

One Hundred and One Dalmatians

The City Fox

The Strange Monster of Strawberry Cove

Cristobalito, the Calypso Colt

The Truth About Mother Goose

Donald's Fire Survival Plan

Backstage Party

Mosby's Marauders

The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit

Davy Crockett's Keelboat Race

Goofy's Freeway Troubles

Sleeping Beauty

Paul Bunyan

Man in Space

The Ugly Dachshund

Freewayphobia

Christopher Crumpet

Follow Me, Boys!

Mooncussers

The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin

The Love Bug

Goliath II

The Wacky Zoo of Morgan City

Daring Game

The Absent-Minded Professor

Davy Crockett at the Alamo