Oliver Wallace | |
|---|---|
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| Born | (1887-08-06)August 6, 1887 |
| Died | September 15, 1963(1963-09-15) (aged 76) |
| Occupation | Composer |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | Film score,musical theatre |
| Years active | 1911–63 |
Musical artist | |
| Signature | |
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Oliver George Wallace (August 6, 1887 – September 15, 1963) was a British-American composer and conductor fromLondon.[1] He was especially known for hisfilm music compositions, which were written for manyanimation,documentary, and feature films fromWalt Disney Studios.[2]
Wallace was born on August 6, 1887, inLondon. After completing his musical training, he emigrated to the United States in 1904, becoming a US citizen ten years later.[1] He initially worked primarily on the West Coast in Seattle as a conductor of theater orchestras and as an organist accompanyingsilent films. At the same time, he also made a name as a songwriter, writing tunes such as the popular "Hindustan [de]". With the advent of the talking film era, he worked increasingly forHollywood film studios in the 1930s.
In 1936 he joined Disney Studios and quickly became one of the most important composers in the studio for animatedshort films. He provided the music for 139 of these shorts. One of his best-known pieces is the song "Der Fuehrer's Face" from the 1942Donald Duckpropaganda cartoon, though he was uncredited. This parody of aHorst Wessel song was, mainly through the version bySpike Jones and His City Slickers, one of the biggest hits during theSecond World War. Other shorts he scored includedBen and Me (1953), aboutBenjamin Franklin and a mouse, and theOscar-winningToot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom (1953), the first cartoon to use the newCinemaScope process. He also appeared in live action reference footage forSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), posing as a live action model for two of the seven dwarfs that were stacked on top of each other, Dopey and Sneezy. He also did the whistling voice forIchabod Crane as he’s riding home on his horse inThe Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949).
Walt Disney also had Wallace score full-length films for the studios for over 27 years. He started writing and orchestrating the score forDumbo (1941), for which he, together withFrank Churchill, won his first and only Oscar in 1942.[3] He went on to scoreVictory Through Air Power (1943),The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949),Cinderella (1950) along withPaul J. Smith,Alice in Wonderland (1951),Peter Pan (1953), andWhite Wilderness (1958). His last work for a Disney animated feature wasLady and the Tramp (1955). He received four other Oscar nominations for the music toVictory Through Air Power withEdward H. Plumb and Paul J. Smith (losing toAlfred Newman forThe Song of Bernadette),Cinderella with Paul J. Smith (losing toAdolph Deutsch andRoger Edens forAnnie Get Your Gun),Alice in Wonderland (losing toJohnny Green andSaul Chaplin forAn American in Paris), andWhite Wilderness (losing toDimitri Tiomkin forThe Old Man and the Sea). A common characteristic of all these productions was the cooperation of several composers in the creation of the music. Wallace understood this and integratedleitmotiv-like elements from the individual songs into the film scores.
When the Disney studios began to increasingly produce full-length feature films, Wallace also wrote scores for these. InDarby O'Gill and the Little People (1959), Wallace wrote not only the score but also set theLawrence Edward Watkin-penned popular songs "Pretty Irish Girl" and "The Wishing Song". InToby Tyler, or Ten Weeks with a Circus (1959), he appeared as an actor, playing the conductor of thecircus band.
Starting withSeal Island (1948), Wallace also specialized in musical accompaniments for Disney documentaries, including nearly all the films for the "People and Places" series and some of theTrue-Life Adventures. The music ofWhite Wilderness (1958) was even nominated for an Oscar in 1959, a rare feat for a documentary film.
Overall, Wallace contributed music to almost over 150 Walt Disney productions.[2] He worked for Disney studios for 27 years.[4] He remained active in the studio inLos Angeles until shortly before his death at aBurbank, California hospital on September 15, 1963, at the age of 76.[4] In 2008, he was posthumously honored with aDisney Legends award.[5]
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Most of the films were scored in collaboration with other composers.
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