John Cardon Debney (born August 18, 1956) is an American composer and conductorof film, television, and video game scores. His work encompasses a variety of mediums and genres, including comedy, horror, science fiction, thriller, fantasy and action-adventure. He is a long-time collaborator of The Walt Disney Company, having written music for their films, television series, and theme parks. He has also collaborated with film directors such as Jon Favreau, Garry Marshall, Tom Shadyac, Peter Hyams, John A. Davis, Brad Anderson, Howard Deutch, Mark Dindal, Robert Rodriguez, and Paul Tibbitt.
Debney has been the recipient of three Primetime Emmy Awards, and an Academy Award nomination for his score for Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ (2004).
Early life and education[]
The son of Disney Studios producer Louis Debney (Zorro, The Mickey Mouse Club), John was born and raised in Glendale, California, nearby to Disney. 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 composer Hoyt Curtin. After this, Debney went on to score television projects as diverse as 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 and 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 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, Sin City, 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 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 Magic Kingdom and Celebrate! Tokyo Disneylandin Tokyo Disneyland, as well as an arrangement of "When You Wish Upon a Star" as a fanfare for the Walt Disney Pictures logo from 1985 to 2006.
Filmography[]
Film[]
| Year | Title | Director(s) | Studio(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Jetsons: The Movie | William HannaJoseph Barbera | Universal PicturesHanna-Barbera Productions | John Debney's first score for an animated film. | — |
| Sudden Death | Peter Hyams | Universal PicturesShattered Productions | — | ||
| Liar Liar | Tom Shadyac | Universal PicturesImagine Entertainment | Themes by James Newton Howard | — | |
| The Scorpion King | Chuck Russell | Universal PicturesWWE EntertainmentAlphaville Films
Misher Films |
— | ||
| Idlewild | Bryan Barber | Universal PicturesAtlas EntertainmentForensic Films
HBO Films Mosaic Media Group |
— | ||
| Georgia Rule | Garry Marshall | Universal PicturesMorgan Creek Productions | — | ||
| Evan Almighty | Tom Shadyac | Universal PicturesSpyglass EntertainmentRelativity MediaShady Acres EntertainmentOriginal Film | Nominated- IFMCA Award for Best Original Score for a Comedy Film | — | |
| The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor | Rob Cohen | Universal PicturesRelativity MediaThe Sommers Company
Alphaville Films |
Additional music
Score composed by Randy Edelman |
— | |
| The Change-Up | David Dobkin | Universal PicturesOriginal FilmRelativity MediaBig Kid Pictures | Composed with Theodore Shapiro |