Search results
Oliver George Wallace (August 6, 1887 – September 15, 1963) was an English composer and conductor. He was especially known for his film music compositions, which were written for many animation, documentary, and feature films from Walt Disney Studios.
Oliver Wallace (1887-1963) was a British-born composer and actor who worked on many classic Disney cartoons and live action films. He won an Oscar for his music in Dumbo (1941) and composed songs for Cinderella (1950), Alice in Wonderland (1951) and more.
- January 1, 1
- London, England, UK
- January 1, 1
- Los Angeles, California, USA
- Overview
- Biography
Oliver George Wallace was a British-born American composer, who composed the music score for Dumbo (1941), Make Mine Music (1946), Fun and Fancy Free (1947), The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949), Cinderella (1950), Alice in Wonderland (1951), Peter Pan (1953), Lady and the Tramp (1955), Old Yeller (1957), Tonka (1958), Darby O'Gill and the...
Oliver Wallace was born on August 6, 1887, in London, England. After completing his musical training, he went to the United States, where he initially worked primarily on the West Coast 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". With the advent of the talking film era, he worked increasingly for Hollywood film studios in the 1930s.
In 1936, he joined the Disney Studios, where he started posing as a live action model for both Sneezy and Dopey in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). After posing live action reference for Sneezy and Dopey in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Wallace quickly became one of the most important composers in the studio for short animated films and provided the music for more than 100 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 as the composer. 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 Wallace 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.
Walt Disney also had Wallace score full-length films for the studios. The first film he composed the music score was Dumbo (1941), for which he, along with Frank Churchill, won his first and only Oscar in 1942. In addition to composing scores for live action films, he went on to score Make Mine Music, Fun and Fancy Free, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan. The last Disney animated film he wrote the film score was Lady and the Tramp. Characteristics 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 increasingly producing full-length 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 was even nominated for an Oscar in 1959, a rare event for a documentary film.
Overall, Wallace contributed music to nearly over 150 Walt Disney productions. He remained active in the studio in Los Angeles until shortly before his death at the age of 76 on September 15, 1963.
- 2 min
Oliver Wallace was a prolific and versatile composer who created music for Disney films, cartoons, and TV shows. He was known for his pipe organ skills, his wit, and his contributions to classics like Dumbo, Cinderella, and Lady and the Tramp.
Aug 30, 2021 · Oliver Wallace - Composer Extraordinaire - YouTube. Dizographies. 11.4K subscribers. Subscribed. 239. 4.7K views 2 years ago. Today we explore the life of Oliver Wallace, a Disney composer...
- 15 min
- 4.8K
- Dizographies
People also ask
Who was Oliver George Wallace?
Is Oliver Wallace dead or still alive?
What movies did Oliver George Wallace compose?
How many movies did Oliver Wallace score?
Oliver George Wallace (August 6, 1887 – September 15, 1963) was an English-born American composer and conductor. He scored 139 animated short movies for Walt Disney Studios. He also wrote scores for several Disney documentaries, and feature movies. Wallace worked for Disney studios for 27 years.
Oscar for best scoring of a musical picture, 1941. Other articles where Oliver Wallace is discussed: Alice in Wonderland: Production notes and credits:
Related searches
