Paul J. Smith (October 30, 1906 – January 25, 1985) was an American music composer and violinist best known for his work at

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

Life and career

Smith was born in

Calumet, Michigan Calumet ( or ) is a Village (United States), village in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The village is located within Calumet Charter Township, Michigan, Calumet Township, Houghton County, Michiga ...

on October 30, 1906. Upon graduating high school, he studied music at The College of Idaho from 1923 to 1925 before he was accepted into the Bush Conservatory of Music in Chicago, Illinois. His abilities in theory and composition earned him a scholarship to study music theory at

Juilliard The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became the Juilliard School, named aft ...

, however, it is unclear if he ever pursued this invitation. Smith joined

in 1934 and spent much of his life working as composer for many of its films' scores, animated and live-action alike, movie and television alike. He received an Oscar nomination for ''

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs "Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...

'' (1937). He won an

Academy Award for Best Original Score The Academy Award for Best Original Score is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by ...

with Leigh Harline and

Ned Washington Ned Washington (born Edward Michael Washington, August 15, 1901 – December 20, 1976) was an American lyricist born in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Life and career Washington was nominated for eleven Academy Awards from 1940 to 1962. He won the Be ...

for ''

Pinocchio Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel, ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a poor man named Geppetto in a Tuscan vil ...

'', which was his first and only Oscar win. He received six more nominations for ''

Saludos Amigos ''Saludos Amigos'' (Spanish for "Greetings, Friends") is a 1942 American live-action/animated anthology film produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Set in Latin America, it is made up of four different segments; Donald Duck ...

'' (1942), '' Victory Through Air Power'' (1943), ''

The Three Caballeros ''The Three Caballeros'' is a 1944 American live-action and animated musical propaganda anthology film produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The film premiered in Mexico City on December 21, 1944. It was released in the ...

'' (1945), ''

Song of the South ''Song of the South'' is a 1946 American Live-action animated film, live-action/animated musical film, musical comedy-drama film directed by Harve Foster and Wilfred Jackson, produced by Walt Disney, and released by RKO Pictures, RKO Radio Pi ...

'' (1946), ''

Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...

'' (1950) and '' Perri'' (1957). In '' Fantasia'', he is one of the studio employees in the orchestra. He also composed the scores for most of the ''

True-Life Adventures ''True-Life Adventures'' is a series of short and full-length nature documentary films released by Walt Disney Productions between the years 1948 and 1960. The first seven films released were thirty-minute shorts, with the subsequent seven film ...

'' episodes and over 70 animated shorts. He left Disney in 1962 and from 1962 to 1963 he composed music for ''

Leave It to Beaver ''Leave It to Beaver'' is an American television sitcom that follows the misadventures of a suburban boy, his family and his friends. It starred Barbara Billingsley, Hugh Beaumont, Tony Dow and Jerry Mathers. CBS first broadcast the show ...

''. Smith's main collaborator and partner was Hazel "Gil" George, who wrote the song title for '' The Light in the Forest'' with him and

Lawrence Edward Watkin Lawrence Edward Watkin (December 9, 1901 – December 16, 1981) was an American writer and film producer. He was known primarily as a scriptwriter for a series of 1950s Walt Disney films. Life Watkin was born in Camden (town), New York in 1901. ...

. Another one of Smith's collaborator was

George Bruns George Edward Bruns (July 3, 1914 – May 23, 1983) was an American composer of music for film and television. His accolades include four Academy Award nominations and three Grammy Award nominations. He is mainly known for his compositions fo ...

who worked with him on films like '' Westward Ho the Wagons!''. Smith also did the

stock music Production music (also known as stock music or library music) is recorded music that can be licensed to customers for use in film, television, radio and other media. Often, the music is produced and owned by production music libraries. Backgrou ...

for the '' Blondie'' series of the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Death

Smith died on January 25, 1985, 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 ...

, from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

at age 78. In 1994, he was posthumously honored as a Disney Legend.

Animation scores

*'' Thru the Mirror'', 1936 *'' Don Donald'', 1937 *''

'', 1937 *'' Donald's Nephews'', 1938 *'' The Practical Pig'', 1939 *''

'', 1940 *''

Bone Trouble ''Bone Trouble'' is a 1940 animated short produced by Walt Disney, and directed by Jack Kinney. It stars Pluto (Disney), Pluto and Butch the Bulldog, in the latter's first appearance. Plot The short begins with Pluto waking up in his dog hous ...

'', 1940 *'' Fantasia'', 1940 (violinist in orchestra) *'' Fire Chief'', 1940 *''

Pluto's Playmate ''Pluto'' is a series of American animated comedy short films produced by Walt Disney Productions. The series started in 1937 with '' Pluto's Quin-puplets'' and ended in 1951 with '' Cold Turkey''. The series stars the titular character Pluto, int ...

'', 1941 *'' Canine Caddy'', 1941 *'' A Gentleman's Gentleman'', 1941 *'' The Reluctant Dragon'', 1941 *'' Donald Gets Drafted'', 1942 *''

Bambi ''Bambi'' is a 1942 American Animated film, animated Coming of age, coming-of-age drama film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Loosely based on Felix Salten's 1923 novel ''Bambi, a Life in the Woods'', the ...

'', 1942 (orchestration) *''

'', 1942 *'' Fall Out Fall In'', 1943 *'' Victory Through Air Power'', 1943 *'' The Old Army Game'', 1943 *'' Donald's Off Day'', 1944 *'' Tiger Trouble'', 1945 *''

'', 1945 *'' The Eyes Have It'', 1945 *'' Californy'er Bust'', 1945 *'' Hockey Homicide'', 1945 *'' The Lady Said No'', 1946 *''

'', 1946 (cartoon segments) *'' Fun and Fancy Free'', 1947 *'' Mail Dog'', 1947 *''

Melody Time ''Melody Time'' is a 1948 American live-action and animated musical anthology film produced by Walt Disney. It was released to theatres by RKO Radio Pictures on May 27, 1948. Made up of seven segments set to popular music and folk music, the f ...

'', 1948 (''Pecos Bill'' and ''Johnny Appleseed'') *'' So Dear to My Heart'', 1949 *'' Toy Tinkers'', 1949 *''

'', 1950 *'' Trailer Horn'', 1950 *'' Puss Cafe'', 1950 *'' Motor Mania'', 1950 *'' Pests of the West'', 1950 *''Food For Feudin'', 1950 *'' Hook, Lion and Sinker'', 1950 *'' Camp Dog'', 1950 *'' Hold That Pose'', 1950 *'' Lion Down'', 1951 *'' Dude Duck'', 1951 *'' Test Pilot Donald'', 1951 *''

Lucky Number In number theory, a lucky number is a natural number in a set which is generated by a certain " sieve". This sieve is similar to the sieve of Eratosthenes that generates the primes, but it eliminates numbers based on their position in the rema ...

'', 1951 *''R'Coon Dawg'', 1951 *''Get Rich Quick'', 1951 *'' Cold Turkey'', 1951 *'' Fathers Are People'', 1951 *'' Out of Scale'', 1951 *'' No Smoking'', 1951 *'' Two-Gun Goofy'', 1952 *'' Susie the Little Blue Coupe'', 1952 *'' The Little House'', 1952 *'' Father's Day Off'', 1953 *'' The Simple Things'', 1953The Cartoon Music-Google Books (pg. 35)
/ref> *''The Jounery Mistery Of Boob'', 1963

Live-action theatrical film scores

*'' Glamour Girl'', 1948 *''The Strange Mrs. Crane'', 1948 *'' Love Happy'', 1949 (conductor) *'' In Beaver Valley'', 1950 includes "Jing-a-Ling", lyrics added by Don Raye *''Pecos River'', 1951 *'' About Face'', 1952 *'' Water Birds'', 1952 *'' The Living Desert'', 1953 *'' The Vanishing Prairie'', 1954 *''

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ''Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas'' () is a science fiction adventure novel by the French writer Jules Verne. It is considered a classic within its genres and world literature. It was originally serialised from March 1869 to June 1870 i ...

'', 1954 *'' The Great Locomotive Chase'', 1956 *'' Secrets of Life'', 1956 *'' Westward Ho, the Wagons!'', 1956 *'' Perri'', 1957 *'' The Light in the Forest'', 1958 *'' The Shaggy Dog'', 1959 *'' Pollyanna'', 1960 *'' Swiss Family Robinson'', 1960 *'' The Parent Trap'', 1961 *'' Moon Pilot'', 1962 *'' Bon Voyage!'', 1962 *'' In Search of the Castaways'', 1962 *''

Miracle of the White Stallions ''Miracle of the White Stallions'' is a 1963 American adventure film, adventure war film released by Walt Disney starring Robert Taylor (American actor), Robert Taylor (playing Alois Podhajsky), Lilli Palmer, and Eddie Albert. It is based on ...

'', 1963 *''Yellowstone Cubs'', 1963 *'' The Three Lives of Thomasina'', 1963

References

Film Composers in America, A. Filmography 1911- 1970 by Clifford McCarthy

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Paul 1906 births 1985 deaths American film score composers American male film score composers Animated film score composers Best Original Music Score Academy Award winners College of Idaho alumni Walt Disney Animation Studios people People from Calumet, Michigan Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in California Deaths from dementia in California Musicians from Michigan 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians