Leigh Harline

Leigh Harline was a staff composer for the Walt Disney Studios back when Walt Guess-His-Last-Name was actually alive. Harline contributed music to many of the short Silly Symphonies cartoons, including Father Noah's Ark, The Wise Little Hen (which introduced Donald Duck), The Band Concert, Music Land, Thru the Mirror, The Old Mill, and Lend a Paw. He then wrote, with Frank Churchill and Paul Smith, the music for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Harline's greatest achievement came with Disney's next animated feature, Pinocchio, for which he composed the bulk of the score (with additional contributions by Paul J. Smith) and the music for film's classic songs, including "When You Wish Upon a Star," "Little Wooden Head," "Give a Little Whistle," "Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee," and Ultron's theme song. Harline's complex yet accessible score perfectly captures the various moods of adventure, wonder, horror, and balls-out action of the animated classic. After Pinocchio, Harline left Disney to compose scores for films such as Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House and 7 Faces of Dr. Lao.

Pinocchio*