Oliver Wallace (English composer and conductor, Walt Disney Studios)

Oliver George Wallace (August 6, 1887 – September 15, 1963) was a British-American composer and conductor from London. He was especially known for his film music compositions, which were written for many animation, documentary, and feature films from Walt Disney Studios. Wallace was born on August 6, 1887, in London. After completing his musical training, he emigrated to the Canada originally, and then shortly after to the United States in 1904, becoming a US citizen ten years later. He reportedly studied at the Chicago School of Music in the Near North neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. He initially worked primarily on the West Coast in Seattle as a conductor of theater orchestras and as an organist accompanying silent 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 for Hollywood film studios in the 1930s. In 1936 he joined Disney Studios and quickly became one of the most important composers in the studio for animated short 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 1942 Donald Duck propaganda cartoon, though he was uncredited. This parody of a Horst Wessel song was, mainly through the version by Spike Jones and His City Slickers, one of the biggest hits during the Second World War. Other shorts he scored included Ben and Me (1953), about Benjamin Franklin and a mouse, and the Oscar-winning Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom (1953), the first cartoon to use the new CinemaScope process. He also provded live action reference movesets for both Sneezy and Dopey in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and did the whistling voice for Ichabod Crane as he’s riding home on his horse in The 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 for Dumbo (1941), for which he, together with Frank Churchill, won his first and only Oscar in 1942. He went on to score Victory Through Air Power (1943), The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949), Cinderella (1950) along with Paul J. Smith, Alice in Wonderland (1951), Peter Pan (1953), and White Wilderness (1958). His last work for a Disney animated feature was Lady and the Tramp (1955). He received four other Oscar nominations for the music to Victory Through Air Power with Edward H. Plumb and Paul J. Smith (losing to Alfred Newman for The Song of Bernadette), Cinderella with Paul J. Smith (losing to Adolph Deutsch and Roger Edens for Annie Get Your Gun), Alice in Wonderland (losing to Johnny Green and Saul Chaplin for An American in Paris), and White Wilderness (losing to Dimitri Tiomkin for The 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 integrated leitmotiv-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. In Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959), Wallace wrote not only the score but also set the Lawrence Edward Watkin-penned popular songs "Pretty Irish Girl" and "The Wishing Song". In Toby Tyler, or Ten Weeks with a Circus (1959), he appeared as an actor, playing the conductor of the circus band. Starting with Seal 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 the True-Life Adventures. The music of White 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. He worked for Disney studios for 27 years. He remained active in the studio in Los Angeles until shortly before his death at a Burbank, California hospital on September 15, 1963, at the age of 76. In 2008, he was posthumously honored with a Disney Legends award. Most of the films were scored in collaboration with other composers. 1934 – Girl in the Case – Music 1941 – Dumbo – Score and some songs 1943 – Victory Through Air Power – Score 1944 – The Three Caballeros – Score 1946 – Make Mine Music – Score 1947 – Fun and Fancy Free – Score 1948 – Seal Island – Score 1949 – The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad – Score 1950 – Cinderella – Score 1951 – Alice in Wonderland – Score and some songs 1953 – Peter Pan – Score and some songs 1954 – Siam – Score 1955 – Men Against the Arctic – Score 1955 – Lady and the Tramp – Score 1957 – Old Yeller – Score and song 1958 – White Wilderness – Score 1958 – Tonka – Score 1959 – Darby O'Gill and the Little People – Score and song 1960 – Jungle Cat – Score 1960 – Ten Who Dared – Score 1961 – Nikki, Wild Dog of the North – Score 1962 – Big Red – Score 1962 – The Legend of Lobo – Score 1963 – Savage Sam – Score 1963 – The Incredible Journey – Score (final film) 1937 – Mickey's Amateurs - Score 1937 – Modern Inventions - Score 1937 – Clock Cleaners - Score 1938 – Donald's Ostrich - Score 1938 – Self Control - Score 1938 – Boat Builders - Score 1938 – Donald's Better Self - Score 1938 – Donald's Nephews - Score 1938 – Mickey's Trailer - Score 1938 – Good Scouts - Score 1939 – Donald's Lucky Day - Score 1939 – Society Dog Show - Score 1939 – Mickey's Surprise Party - Score 1939 – Donald's Cousin Gus - Score 1939 – Sea Scouts - Score 1939 – Donald's Penguin - Score 1939 – The Autograph Hound - Score 1940 – The Riveter - Score 1940 – Tugboat Mickey - Score 1940 – Donald's Vacation - Score 1940 – Window Cleaners - Score 1940 – Mr. Mouse Takes a Trip - Score 1940 – Pantry Pirate - Score 1941 – Timber - Score 1941 – The Little Whirlwind - Score 1941 – Early to Bed - Score 1942 – Donald's Decision - Score 1942 – The New Spirit - Score 1942 – Symphony Hour - Score 1942 – Donald's Snow Fight - Score 1942 – Donald's Garden - Score 1942 – Donald's Gold Mine - Score 1942 – T-Bone for Two - Score 1942 – The Vanishing Private - Score 1942 – Pluto at the Zoo - Score 1942 – Bellboy Donald - Score 1943 – Der Fuehrer's Face – Score and title song 1943 – Education for Death - Score 1943 – Donald's Tire Trouble - Score 1943 – Pluto and the Armadillo - Score 1943 – Private Pluto - Score 1943 – Victory Vehicles - Score 1943 – Chicken Little - Score 1944 – Donald Duck and the Gorilla - Score 1944 – Contrary Condor - Score 1944 – Commando Duck - Score 1944 – How to Play Football - Score 1944 – Springtime for Pluto - Score 1944 – The Plastics Inventor - Score 1944 – First Aiders - Score 1944 – The Clock Watcher - Score 1945 – Dog Watch - Score 1945 – African Diary - Score 1945 – Canine Casanova - Score 1945 – Duck Pimples - Score 1945 – The Legend of Coyote Rock - Score 1945 – No Sail - Score 1945 – Cured Duck - Score 1945 – Canine Patrol - Score 1945 – Old Sequoia - Score 1946 – A Knight For a Day - Score 1946 – Pluto's Kid Brother - Score 1946 – In Dutch - Score 1946 – Squatter's Rights - Score 1946 – Donald's Double Trouble - Score 1946 – The Purloined Pup - Score 1946 – Wet Paint - Score 1946 – Dumb Bell of the Yukon - Score 1946 – Lighthouse Keeping - Score 1946 – Bath Day - Score 1946 – Frank Duck Brings 'Em Back Alive - Score 1946 – Double Dribble - Score 1947 – Pluto's Housewarming - Score 1947 – Rescue Dog - Score 1947 – Straight Shooters - Score 1947 – Sleepy Time Donald - Score 1947 – Figaro and Frankie - Score 1947 – Clown of the Jungle - Score 1947 – Donald's Dilemma - Score 1947 – Crazy with the Heat - Score 1947 – Bootle Beetle - Score 1947 – Wide Open Spaces - Score 1947 – Mickey's Delayed Date - Score 1947 – Foul Hunting - Score 1947 – Chip an' Dale - Score 1947 – Mail Dog - Score 1947 – Pluto's Blue Note- Score 1948 – They're Off - Score 1948 – The Big Wash - Score 1948 – Drip Dippy Donald - Score 1948 – Mickey