John Debney
American film composer (born 1956)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Cardon Debney (born August 18, 1956) is an American composer and conductor of film, television, and video game scores.[1] His work encompasses a variety of mediums and genres like comedy, horror, science fiction, thriller, fantasy, and action-adventure. He is a long-time collaborator of Disney and has written music for their films, television series, and theme parks. He has also collaborated with film directors including Walt Becker, Brian Robbins, Jon Favreau, Garry Marshall, Tom Shadyac, Peter Hyams, John A. Davis, Brad Anderson, Howard Deutch, Mark Dindal, Robert Rodriguez, and Paul Tibbitt.
August 18, 1956
John Debney | |
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Debney at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con | |
| Background information | |
| Born | John Cardon Debney August 18, 1956 Glendale, California, U.S. |
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| Occupations | |
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| Years active | 1974–present |
| Website | johndebney |
Debney has been the recipient of three Primetime Emmy Awards and was nominated for an Academy Award for his score for Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ (2004).
Early life and education
John Debney, the son of Disney Studios producer Louis Debney (Zorro, The Mickey Mouse Club), was born in Glendale, California, near Disney's headquarters. He grew up in the city,[citation needed] began guitar lessons at six, and played in rock bands in college. He earned a B.A. degree in music composition from the California Institute of Arts in Santa Clarita in 1979.
Career
After ending his career with Disney, John Debney worked for Mike Post. Debney furthered his hands-on training working with Hanna-Barbera composer Hoyt Curtin. Then Debney scored television projects including Disneyland, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, SeaQuest DSV, A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, The Cape, The Lazarus Man, Piggsburg Pigs!, The Further Adventures of SuperTed, Doctor Who, Cagney & Lacey, Tiny Toon Adventures, The Young Riders, The New Yogi Bear Show, Police Academy: The Animated Series, Fame, Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, Dragon's Lair, Freshman Dorm, Pop Quiz, and Dink, the Little Dinosaur, for which he won an Emmy for Best Main Title.
In the early 1990s, Debney began to score indie films and Disneyland attractions. In 1991, Debney composed the music for Phantom Manor and It's a Small World (also used at Disneyland from 1993 to 2002) in Disneyland Paris and SpectroMagic at Magic Kingdom. In 1993, he scored his first studio feature, the Disney comedy Hocus Pocus starring Bette Midler. In 1994, Debney wrote Friends Forever with Greg Scelsa from Greg & Steve's album We All Live Together, Vol. 5.
Debney has since composed scores for Cats & Dogs, The Passion of the Christ, Bruce Almighty, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Elf, Sin City, Chicken Little, Liar Liar, Spy Kids, The Scorpion King, The Princess Diaries,[2] Predators, and other films.[3]
He has also composed scores for Lair and The Sims Medieval, both video games. In 2010, he composed the theme music for the Nickelodeon television series Supah Ninjas. He composed some of Disney Parks's Nighttime Spectaculars including World Of Color Celebrate! in Disney California Adventure, The Magic, The Memories And You!, Celebrate the Magic in Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom, and Celebrate! Tokyo Disneyland in Tokyo Disneyland in addition to an arrangement of "When You Wish Upon a Star" as a fanfare (the music played when the Walt Disney Pictures logo was shown) from 1985 to 2006.
Filmography
Film
1980s
| Year | Title | Director(s) | Studio(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | The Wild Pair | Beau Bridges | Trans World Entertainment | Composed with Michel Colombier |
| 1988 | The Further Adventures of Tennessee Buck | David Keith | N/a | |
| Seven Hours to Judgment | Beau Bridges | N/a | ||
| Not Since Casanova | Brett Thompson | The Brett Thompson Company West Productions | N/a | |
| 1989 | Trenchcoat in Paradise | Martha Coolidge | Finnegan/Pinchuk Productions MGM Television | N/a |
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s
Television
Video games
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Lair | N/a |
| 2011 | The Sims Medieval | N/a |
| 2018 | Madden NFL 19 | N/a |