Aside from the Sherman brothers, or Alan Menken today, Disney composers were seldom interviewed and remain relatively unknown as individuals. George Bruns is no exception. The role he played in Disney’s history, however, is no small one. His greatest success came in 1955 when his score and song for The Legend of Davy Crockett sold 8 million copies and remained No. 1 on the hit parade for six months. His theme for the popular Zorro series sold another million copies.
During his 22-year stint at Disney, Bruns received three Academy Award nominations (Babes in Toyland, Sleeping Beauty and Sword in the Stone) and wrote themes for such hit films as The Love Bug, The Absent-Minded Professor, Son of Flubber, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, The Jungle Book, Robin Hood and The Aristocats. He also did the music for many of the Disney nature films, one third of all Wonderful World of Disney television programs, helped develop Disneyland and was the original music director of The Mickey Mouse Club. […]
