George Bruns
Bruns in 1955
Background information
Born	(1914-07-03)July 3, 1914 Sandy,Oregon, U.S.
Died	May 23, 1983(1983-05-23) (aged 68) Portland, Oregon, U.S.
Genres	Film score jazz
Occupations	Composer conductor musician
Instruments	Trombone tuba double bass piano
Years active	1930s–1983

George Edward Bruns (July 3, 1914 – May 23, 1983) was an Americancomposer of music for film and television. His accolades include fourAcademy Award nominations and threeGrammy Award nominations. He is mainly known for his compositions for numerousDisney films from the 1950s to the 1970s, among themSleeping 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), andRobin Hood (1973).

A native ofSandy, Oregon, Bruns began playing piano at age six. After graduating fromOregon State University, he worked as a bandleader at theMultnomah Hotel inPortland before relocating toLos Angeles to further pursue a musical career. In 1953, Bruns was hired as a musical arranger atWalt 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, includingScoring of a Musical Picture forSleeping Beauty andBabes in Toyland (1961), and Best Adaptation or Treatment forThe Sword in the Stone. He received his final nomination forBest Original Song for the track "Love" fromRobin Hood.

Bruns spent his later years in his native Oregon, composing music and instructing atLewis & Clark College. He died in Portland in 1983 of aheart attack. In 2001, he was posthumously inducted as aDisney Legend.

George Edward Bruns was born on July 3, 1914, inSandy, Oregon^[1] one of three children born to Augusta (née Weyer) and Edward Bruns.^[2] He had one older and one younger sister.^[2] His father was a lumber mill proprietor, and built the first lumber mill onMount Hood, which was eventually relocated to Sandy.^[2] Bruns expressed interest in music at an early age: He began playing piano at age six, and subsequently learned how to play thebass tuba.^[2] He eventually became proficient in 15 different instruments, and began performing with a high school band while still in elementary school.^[2]

He attended and graduated fromSandy High School,^[2] and went on to study engineering atOregon State University, where he was a member ofLambda Chi Alpha fraternity.^[3] In the 1930s he worked as a musician with various groups in thePortland, Oregon, area, and also performed in a traveling band.^[2] In 1946 he was appointed musical director at radio stationKEX in Portland, and also was the bandleader for the Rose Bowl room of theMultnomah Hotel. From 1947 to 1949 he performed and recorded on trombone with Portland'sCastle Jazz Band, led by banjoist Monte Ballou.

In the late 1940s, he moved toLos Angeles, where he did studio work, performed, and recorded with trombonistTurk Murphy's Jazz Band. In 1953, he was hired byWalt 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 fromTchaikovsky'sSleeping Beauty ballet for use as background score in the 1959 Disneyfilm version. In addition to composing live action films such asThe Absent-Minded Professor andBabes in Toyland, he went on to compose the scores forOne Hundred and One Dalmatians,The Sword in the Stone,The Jungle Book, andThe Aristocats. The last Disney animated film he arranged the score for wasRobin Hood. Bruns also providedHerbiethe 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 withXavier Atencio) from the Disney theme park attractionPirates of the Caribbean and later used inthe film series based on that ride, "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" withTom W. Blackburn, the title song from the 1956Humphrey the Bear cartoonIn the Bag, and the song "Love" withFloyd Huddleston fromRobin Hood.

During his tenure with Disney Studios, Bruns continued to playdixieland jazz, leading his Wonderland Jazz Band on two recording sessions, and playing and recording occasionally with the Disney "house" band, theFirehouse Five Plus Two.

Bruns retired from Disney in 1976 and left California, returning to his native Sandy, Oregon.^[2] He instructed music part-time atLewis & Clark College and continued to perform and compose, including recording at least one locally distributed album ofjazz.^[1]

Bruns died of aheart attack on May 23, 1983, inPortland, Oregon.^[1] He had also suffered fromdiabetes in his later life.^[2] He was survived by his wife, Dorothy Colclough, and their six children.^[2] Bruns was cremated, and a service was held at the Chapel of the Hills inWemme, Oregon.^[2] He was interred at Fir Hill Cemetery inClackamas County. Bruns was named aDisney Legend in 2001.

All films produced byWalt Disney Productions except where noted.

^P Produced and released byParamount Pictures

• George Bruns atIMDb 
• George Bruns atDisney A to Z
• George Bruns profileArchived September 28, 2007, at theWayback Machine from the Oregon State University alumni association

• 1914 births
• 1983 deaths
• 20th-century American jazz composers
• American film score composers
• American jazz bandleaders
• American jazz double-bassists
• American jazz pianists
• American male jazz pianists
• American jazz trombonists
• American male film score composers
• American male jazz composers
• American television composers
• Animated film score composers
• Dixieland jazz musicians
• Firehouse Five Plus Two members
• Jazz musicians from Oregon
• Lewis & Clark College faculty
• American music directors
• Musicians from Portland, Oregon
• Oregon State University alumni
• People from Sandy, Oregon
• Sandy High School alumni
• Walt Disney Animation Studios people
• 20th-century American male composers
• 20th-century American male pianists

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