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).
A native of Sandy, Oregon, Bruns began playing piano at age six. After graduating from Oregon State University, he worked as a bandleader at the Multnomah Hotel in Portland before relocating to Los Angeles to further pursue a musical career. In 1953, Bruns was hired as a musical arranger at Walt Disney Studios, eventually going on to become the studio's music director, a role he served from the mid 1950s until his retirement in 1976.
Over the course of his career, Bruns was nominated for four Academy Awards for his work on Disney films, including Scoring of a Musical Picture for Sleeping Beauty and Babes in Toyland (1961), and Best Adaptation or Treatment for The Sword in the Stone. He received his final nomination for Best Original Song for the track "Love" from Robin Hood.
Bruns spent his later years in his native Oregon, composing music and instructing at Lewis & Clark College. He died in Portland in 1983 of a heart attack. In 2001, he was posthumously inducted as a Disney Legend.
Biography Early life George Edward Bruns was born on July 3, 1914, in Sandy, Oregon one of three children born to Augusta (née Weyer) and Edward Bruns. He had one older and one younger sister. His father was a lumber mill proprietor, and built the first lumber mill on Mount Hood, which was eventually relocated to Sandy. 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.
He attended and graduated from Sandy High School, and went on to study engineering at Oregon State University, where he was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity.OSU's famous alumni In the 1930s he worked as a musician with various groups in the Portland, Oregon, area, and also performed in a traveling band. 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.
Career with Walt Disney In the late 1940s, he moved to Los Angeles, where he did studio work, 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.
During the mid-1950s in 1953 at the Disney Studio, his first assignment was when he composed and adapted the music from Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty ballet for use as background score in the 1959 Disney film version. In addition to composing live action films such as The Absent-Minded Professor and Babes in Toyland, he went on to compose the scores for One Hundred and One Dalmatians, The Sword in the Stone, The Jungle Book, and The Aristocats. The last Disney animated film he arranged the score for was Robin Hood. Bruns also provided Herbie the Love Bug with his sprightly theme song, featured prominently throughout the series. Among his other works include the song "Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me)" (which he co-wrote with Xavier Atencio) from the Disney theme park attraction Pirates of the Caribbean and later used in the film series based on that ride, "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" with Tom W. Blackburn, the title song from the 1956 Humphrey the Bear cartoon In the Bag, and the song "Love" with Floyd Huddleston from Robin Hood.
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.
Retirement and later years Bruns retired from Disney in 1976 and left California, returning to his native Sandy, Oregon. He instructed music part-time at Lewis & Clark College and continued to perform and compose, including recording at least one locally distributed album of jazz.
Death Bruns died of a heart attack on May 23, 1983, in Portland, Oregon. He had also suffered from diabetes in his later life. He was survived by his wife, Dorothy Colclough, and their six children. Bruns was cremated, and a service was held at the Chapel of the Hills in Wemme, Oregon. He was interred at Fir Hill Cemetery in Clackamas County. Bruns was named a Disney Legend in 2001.
Selected film scores All films produced by Walt Disney Productions except where noted.
Year Title Director(s) 1955 Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier Norman Foster 1956 Davy Crockett and the River Pirates Norman Foster 1957 Zorro Norman Foster (director) 1957 Johnny Tremain Robert Stevenson 1959 Sleeping Beauty Clyde Geronimi (Supervising Director)Eric LarsonWolfgang ReithermanLes Clark (Sequence Directors) 1961 One Hundred and One Dalmatians Wolfgang ReithermanHamilton LuskeClyde Geronimi The Absent-Minded Professor Robert Stevenson Babes in Toyland Jack Donohue 1963 Son of Flubber Robert Stevenson The Sword in the Stone Wolfgang Reitherman 1966 The Ugly Dachshund Norman Tokar The Fighting Prince of Donegal Michael O'Herlihy Follow Me, Boys! Norman Tokar 1967 Island of the Lost John Florea The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin James Neilson The Jungle Book Wolfgang Reitherman 1968 Daring Game László Benedek The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit Norman Tokar The Love Bug Robert Stevenson 1970 The Aristocats Wolfgang Reitherman 1973 Robin Hood Wolfgang Reitherman 1974 Herbie Rides Again Robert Stevenson Produced and released by Paramount Pictures
Accolades Award Category Year Nominated work(s) Outcome Academy Awards Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture 1959 Sleeping Beauty 1961 Babes in Toyland Best Score – Adaptation or Treatment 1963 The Sword in the Stone Best Original Song 1973 "Love" Grammy Awards Best Sound Track Album or Recording 1959 Sleeping Beauty Best Recording for Children 1962 One Hundred and One Dalmatians 1975 Robin Hood
References
External links
George Bruns profile from the Oregon State University alumni association