John Debney facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
John Debney
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Debney at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | John Cardon Debney |
| Born | August 18, 1956 Glendale, California, U.S. |
| Genres | Film scores, soundtracks |
| Occupation(s) | Composer, conductor |
| Instruments | Piano, guitar |
| Years active | 1974–present |
| Associated acts | Jerry Goldsmith, Louis Febre, Danny Elfman |
John Debney is a famous American composer and conductor. He writes music for movies, TV shows, and even video games! You might have heard his music in many different types of films, like comedies, scary movies, science fiction adventures, and fantasy stories.
John Debney has worked a lot with The Walt Disney Company. He has created music for their movies, TV series, and even their theme parks. He has also teamed up with many well-known directors like Jon Favreau and Robert Rodriguez.
He has won three Primetime Emmy Awards for his TV work. He was also nominated for an Academy Award (that's like an Oscar!) for his music in the movie The Passion of the Christ (2004).
Early Life and Learning Music
John Debney was born on August 18, 1956, in Glendale, California. His dad, Louis Debney, was a producer at Disney Studios. His dad worked on shows like Zorro and The Mickey Mouse Club.
John started learning to play the guitar when he was just six years old. When he was in college, he played in rock bands. He studied music composition and earned his degree from the California Institute of Arts in 1979.
His Amazing Music Career
After working with Disney for a while, John Debney learned from other famous composers like Mike Post and Hoyt Curtin. Soon, he started writing music for many TV shows. Some of these included Disneyland, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and A Pup Named Scooby-Doo. He even won an Emmy for the main theme music of Dink, the Little Dinosaur!
In the early 1990s, John Debney began creating music for independent films and even for attractions at Disneyland Paris. He composed music for Phantom Manor and a special version of It's a Small World for Disneyland Paris. He also wrote music for SpectroMagic at Magic Kingdom.
His first big movie score was for the Disney comedy Hocus Pocus in 1993, which starred Bette Midler.
Since then, John Debney has composed music for many popular movies. You might know some of them, like Cats & Dogs, Bruce Almighty, Elf, Spy Kids, The Princess Diaries, and Chicken Little. He also wrote music for the video games Lair and The Sims Medieval.
He has also created music for Disney Parks' nighttime shows, like World Of Color Celebrate! at Disney's California Adventure and The Magic, The Memories And You! at Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom. He even arranged the famous "When You Wish Upon a Star" fanfare for the Walt Disney Pictures logo that played before movies from 1985 to 2006.
Some of his more recent movie scores include The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015), The Jungle Book (2016), The Greatest Showman (2017), Dora and the Lost City of Gold (2019), and Clifford the Big Red Dog (2021). He also composed for Hocus Pocus 2 (2022) and The Garfield Movie (2024).
For TV, he has worked on shows like The Orville and Young Sheldon.
Awards and Nominations
John Debney has been recognized for his amazing work with several awards and nominations:
- 1991: Won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series for The Young Riders.
- 1994: Won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music for SeaQuest DSV.
- 1997: Won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series for The Cape: Pilot.
- 2005: Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score for The Passion of the Christ.
- He has also received several other Emmy nominations for his work on shows like Hatfields & McCoys and Texas Rising.
See also
In Spanish: John Debney para niños
