John Cardon Debney (born August 18, 1956) is an American

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

and conductor of

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

, and

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

scores. His work encompasses a variety of mediums and genres, including

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

, horror,

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

, thriller,

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

and

action-adventure An action-adventure game is a video game genre, video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Definition An action adventure game can be defined as a game with a mix of elements f ...

. He is a long-time collaborator of

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

, having written music for their films, television series, and theme parks. He has also collaborated with film directors such as

Brian Robbins Brian Robbins (born Brian Levine, November 22, 1963) is an American film producer, director, and executive. He is the Co-CEO of Paramount Global; President and Chief Executive Officer of Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon; and Chief Content Offi ...

Jon Favreau Jonathan Kolia Favreau ( ; born October 19, 1966) is an American actor and filmmaker. As an actor, Favreau has appeared in films such as ''Rudy (film), Rudy'' (1993), ''PCU (film), PCU'' (1994), ''Swingers (1996 film), Swingers'' (1996), ''Very ...

, Garry Marshall,

Tom Shadyac Thomas Peter Shadyac (born December 11, 1958) is an American director, producer, and writer. The youngest joke-writer ever for comedian Bob Hope, Shadyac is widely known for writing and directing the comedy films ''Ace Ventura: Pet Detective'', ...

Peter Hyams Peter Hyams (born July 26, 1943) is an American film director, screenwriter and cinematographer known for directing the 1977 conspiracy thriller film ''Capricorn One'' (which he also wrote), the 1981 science fiction-thriller ''Outland (film), Outl ...

, John A. Davis, Brad Anderson,

Howard Deutch Howard Roy Deutch (born September 14, 1950) is an American film and television director who worked with filmmaker John Hughes, directing two of Hughes's best-known screenplays, '' Pretty in Pink'' and '' Some Kind of Wonderful''. Since 2011, he h ...

, Mark Dindal,

Robert Rodriguez Robert Anthony Rodriguez ( ; born June 20, 1968) is an American filmmaker, composer, and visual effects supervisor. He shoots, edits, produces, and scores many of his films in Mexico and in his home state of Texas. Rodriguez directed the 1992 ...

, and Paul Tibbitt. Debney has been the recipient of three

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...

s, and an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

nomination for his score for

Mel Gibson Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Mel Gibson, multiple accolades, he is known for directing historical films as well for his act ...

's '' The Passion of the Christ'' (2004).

Early life and education

The son of Disney Studios producer Louis Debney (''

Zorro Zorro ( or , Spanish for "fox") is a fictional character created in 1919 by American Pulp magazine, pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo de Los Ángeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashin ...

'', ''

The Mickey Mouse Club ''The Mickey Mouse Club'' is an American variety television show that aired intermittently from 1955 to 1996 and briefly returned to social media in 2017. Created by Walt Disney and produced by Walt Disney Productions, the program was first te ...

''), John was born and raised in

Glendale, California Glendale is a city located primarily in the Verdugo Mountains region, with a small portion in the San Fernando Valley, of Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is located about north of downtown Los Angeles. As of 2024, Glendale ha ...

, nearby Disney headquarters. He began guitar lessons at age six and played in rock bands in college. Debney earned his B.A. degree in Music Composition from the California Institute of Arts in 1979.

Career

After ending his career with Disney, Debney worked for Mike Post. Debney furthered his hands-on training by working with

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...

composer

Hoyt Curtin Hoyt Stoddard Curtin (September 9, 1922 – December 3, 2000) was an American composer, music producer and the primary musical director for Hanna-Barbera from its beginnings with '' The Ruff & Reddy Show'' from 1957 to 1965, and again from 1972 to ...

. After this, Debney went on to score television projects as diverse as ''

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It was the first theme park opened by the Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney, ...

'', '' 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 ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'', '' Cagney and Lacey'', ''

Tiny Toon Adventures ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' is an American animated television series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It originally aired from September 14, 1990 to December 6, 1992, airing in syndication before eventually settling a ...

'', '' 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 ''Dragon's Lair'' is a video game franchise created by Rick Dyer. The series is notable for its film-quality animation by ex-Disney animator Don Bluth, and complex decades-long history of being ported to many platforms. It has also been adapte ...

'', '' Freshman Dorm'', '' Pop Quiz'' and '' Dink, the Little Dinosaur'', for which he won an

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

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 It's a Small World (stylized in all lowercase and in quotations or with exclamation mark) is an Old Mill boat ride located in the Fantasyland area at various Disney theme parks around the world. Versions of the ride are installed at Disney ...

'' (also used at Disneyland from 1993 to 2002) in

Disneyland Paris Disneyland Paris is an entertainment resort in Marne-la-Vallée, France, located about east of Paris. It encompasses two theme parks, seven Disney-owned hotels, two convention centers, a golf course, an arena, and a shopping, dining and entert ...

and

SpectroMagic SpectroMagic was a nighttime parade presented in Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort. It was introduced in 1991 as part of the park's 20th-anniversary celebrations, replacing the Main Street Electrical Parade. The parade originally ran ...

Magic Kingdom Magic Kingdom Park is a Amusement park, theme park at the Walt Disney World, Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It opened on October 1, 1971, and is owned and operated by the Walt Disney Company through its Disney Experiences, Expe ...

. In 1993, he scored his first studio feature, the Disney comedy '' Hocus Pocus'' starring

Bette Midler Bette Midler ( ;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and author. Throughout her five-decade career Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Bette Midler, numero ...

. In 1994, Debney wrote ''Friends Forever'' with Greg Scelsa from Greg & Steve's album ''We All Live Together, Vol. 5''. Debney has since gone on to have a career composing scores for many films including: '' Cats & Dogs'', '' The Passion of the Christ'', '' Bruce Almighty'', '' I Know What You Did Last Summer'', ''

Elf An elf (: elves) is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic peoples, Germanic folklore. Elves appear especially in Norse mythology, North Germanic mythology, being mentioned in the Icelandic ''Poetic Edda'' and the ''Prose Edda'' ...

'', ''

Sin City ''Sin City'' is a series of neo-noir Comic book, comics by American comic book writer-artist Frank Miller. The first story originally appeared in ''Dark Horse Presents Fifth Anniversary Special'' (April 1991), and continued in ''Dark Horse Prese ...

'', '' Chicken Little'', '' Liar Liar'', '' Spy Kids'', '' The Scorpion King'', '' The Princess Diaries'' and '' Predators''. Debney has also composed scores for the video games '' Lair'' and '' The Sims Medieval''. In 2010, he composed the theme music for the

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

television series '' Supah Ninjas''. He composed some of Disney Parks's Nighttime Spectaculars, including: ''World Of Color Celebrate!'' in Disney's California Adventure, ''The Magic, The Memories And You!'' and '' Celebrate the Magic'' in Walt Disney World

and ''Celebrate! Tokyo Disneyland'' in

Tokyo Disneyland is a theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, near Tokyo. Its main gate is directly adjacent to both Maihama Station and Tokyo Disneyland Station. It was the first Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, Disney park t ...

, as well as an arrangement of " When You Wish Upon a Star" as a fanfare for the

Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Pictures is an American film Film production company, production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios (division), the Walt Disney Studios, a division of Disney Entertainment, which is owned by the Walt Disney Company. The st ...

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name that it represents, as in ...

from 1985 to 2006.

Filmography

Film

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Television

Video games

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * *
John Debney Tribute at Filmtracks.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Debney, John 1956 births American classical composers American conductors (music) American film score composers American male classical composers American male conductors (music) American male film score composers American male television composers American television composers American video game composers Animated film score composers Blue Sky Studios people Classical musicians from California DreamWorks Animation people Hanna-Barbera people Living people Musicians from Glendale, California Musicians from Greater Los Angeles Musicians from Los Angeles Netflix people Netflix Animation people Skydance Media people Sony Classical Records artists Sony Pictures Animation people Varèse Sarabande Records artists Walt Disney Animation Studios people Warner Bros. Animation people