Edward Plumb

Edward Holcomb Plumb (June 6, 1907– April 18, 1958) was an American film composer and orchestrator best known for his work at Walt Disney Studios. He served as musical director of ''Fantasia'' and orchestrated and co-composed the score for ''Bambi'', and orchestrated and expanded the film's main composer Frank Churchill's menacing but simple three-note theme.

Early life

Plumb was born on June 6, 1907 in Streator, Illinois. His grandfather, Colonel Ralph Plumb founded the city of Streator in 1866.

Career

In the 1930s, Plumb moved to California and began work as a composer and orchestrator in the film industry. In addition to his work for Disney, Plumb frequently worked on titles for other studios, including Republic, Paramount and 20th Century Fox. In 1953, he wrote the music for MGM's ''Tom and Jerry'' short called '' The Missing Mouse'' because Scott Bradley was on vacation. Back at Disney, Plumb orchestrated the music for ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'', the Whale Chase sequence in ''Pinocchio'', ''Dumbo'', ''Make Mine Music'', ''Song of the South'', Beanero in ''Fun and Fancy Free'', ''So Dear to My Heart'', some subsidiary cues for ''Cinderella'', ''Peter Pan'', and ''Lady and the Tramp''. He also orchestrated a number of television programs for ''Walt Disney Presents'', a number of ''Davy Crockett'' films and on ''Westward Ho, the Wagons!'', starring Fess Parker. His final film project was ''Johnny Tremain'' for Disney in 1957.

He received Oscar nominations for ''Bambi'', ''Victory Through Air Power'', ''Saludos Amigos'' and ''The Three Caballeros''.

In the Tom and Jerry cartoon "The Missing Mouse" he is credited as "Edward Plumb" without the H. initial.

Death

Plumb died from long-term effects of alcohol consumption on April 18, 1958 in Los Angeles, California. He was 50.Bohn

Disney credits

* 1937 ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' - orchestration - uncredited
* 1940 ''Pinocchio'' - additional music - uncredited
* 1940 ''Fantasia'' - musical director
* 1941 '' The Reluctant Dragon'' - orchestration - uncredited
* 1941 ''Dumbo'' - orchestration
* 1942 ''Bambi'' - music by
* 1942 ''Saludos Amigos'' - score
* 1943 ''Victory Through Air Power'' - score
* 1944 ''The Three Caballeros'' - associate music director
* 1945 ''Donald's Crime'' - score
* 1946 ''Make Mine Music'' - associate music director
* 1946 ''Song of the South'' - orchestration
* 1947 ''Fun and Fancy Free'' - orchestration - uncredited
* 1949 ''So Dear to My Heart'' - orchestration as Ed Plumb
* 1950 ''Cinderella'' - orchestration - uncredited
* 1950 '' In Beaver Valley'' - orchestration - uncredited
* 1951 ''Nature's Half Acre'' - orchestration - uncredited
* 1952 ''The Olympic Elk'' - orchestration - uncredited
* 1952 ''Water Birds'' - orchestration
* 1953 ''Peter Pan'' - orchestration
* 1953 '' Bear Country'' - orchestration - uncredited
* 1953 ''The Alaskan Eskimo'' - orchestration - uncredited
* 1953 '' The New Neighbor'' - score
* 1953 ''The Living Desert'' - orchestration
* 1953 '' How to Sleep'' - score
* 1954 ''Donald's Diary'' - score
* 1954 ''The Vanishing Prairie'' - orchestration
* 1955 '' Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier'' - orchestration
* 1955 ''Lady and the Tramp'' - orchestration
* 1956 ''Davy Crockett and the River Pirates'' - orchestration
* 1956 ''Secrets of Life'' - orchestration
* 1956 ''Westward Ho the Wagons!'' - orchestration
* 1957 ''Johnny Tremain'' - orchestration (final film)

Works outside of the Disney Studio

* 1942 ''Iceland'' - orchestrator
* 1942 '' Careful, Soft Shoulders'' - orchestrator
* 1942 '' Girl Trouble'' - orchestrator
* 1942 ''You Were Never Lovelier'' - orchestrator
* 1944 ''Ever Since Venus''
* 1944 ''Something for the Boys'' - orchestration
* 1945 '' The Phantom Speaks'' - score
* 1945 '' The Woman Who Came Back'' - score
* 1945 ''Doll Face'' - orchestrator
* 1946 ''Murder in the Music Hall'' - additional music - uncredited
* 1946 ''Valley of the Zombies''
* 1946 ''Centennial Summer''
* 1946 '' Monsieur Beaucaire''
* 1946 '' Wake Up and Dream''
* 1947 ''Calcutta'' - orchestrator
* 1947 ''Variety Girl'' - composer "Puppetoon" sequence
* 1948 '' The Sainted Sisters'' - orchestrator
* 1949 '' The Accused'' - orchestrator
* 1949 '' The Great Lover'' - orchestrator
* 1950 '' The Happy Years'' - orchestrator
* 1950 '' Fancy Pants'' - orchestrator
* 1950 ''Father Is a Bachelor''
* 1951 ''Quebec''
* 1951 ''The Painted Hills'' - orchestrator
* 1951 '' That's My Boy'' - orchestrator
* 1951 '' Angels in the Outfield'' - orchestrator
* 1953 '' The Missing Mouse''

References

Notes

The library of Congress

Film Composers in America 1911 - 1970 by Clifford McCarthy

* Dartmouth Alumni Magazine, Volume 30, (1937)

Bibliography
*
* Care, Ross B. (January 1983) "Threads of Care: The Evolution of a Major Film Score - Walt Disney's Bambi," ''The Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress'' v. 40, n. 2, p. 100
* Tietyan, Dave (1990) ''The Musical World of Walt Disney''. New York: Harry N. Abrams.

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plumb, Edward H.
1907 births
1958 deaths
American film score composers
Animation composers
People from Streator, Illinois
Walt Disney Animation Studios people
20th-century American classical musicians
20th-century American composers
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio people
Alcohol-related deaths in California