| George Wilkins | |
| Birth Name: | George Edward Wilkins |
| Birth Date: | 14 March 1934 |
| Birth Place: | Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Genre: | Film score, contemporary classical music |
| Occupation: | Composer, arranger, producer |
| Years Active: | 1964–2008 |
George Edward Wilkins (March 14, 1934 – November 9, 2024) was an American musician, arranger, and composer who was best known for his work with the Disney Parks.
George Edward Wilkins was born in Detroit, Michigan on March 14, 1934.
Wilkins' first foray into music was serving as a solo vocalist at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Detroit.[1] Wilkins got his start in the music industry as a backup vocalist and vocal arranger for Patti Page during the 1950s.[2] In the 1960s, he also co-founded the vocal group The Doodletown Pipers.[3] By this time, Wilkins broke out as a composer for film and television with his work on the Rankin/Bass productions Return to Oz (1964) and The Wacky World of Mother Goose (1967).[4] [5]
In 1979, Wilkins joined Walt Disney Productions as a protégé to composer Norman "Buddy" Baker, and was tasked with writing the arrangements for the Listen to the Land and Kitchen Kabaret attractions at EPCOT, which was opening in three years, but was thrust into a composer role for the entire park after Baker was involved in a car accident. Wilkins then became music director for EPCOT in 1981 when Baker was called away to compose and conduct the score for The Fox and the Hound.
Wilkins arranged several versions of the song "It's Fun to Be Free", for the World of Motion attraction, and arranged the Journey into Imagination ride music. After several arrangement opportunities, Wilkins was finally tasked with lead composing duties on the Horizons pavilion, after Disney show development head Randy Bright had rejected the Sherman Brothers' compositions for the ride. Wilkins composed the pavilion's area loop, as well as all on-ride music and audio cues.
Throughout his time at Disney, Wilkins acted as both a "composer in residence" as well as director of music for Walt Disney Imagineering.[6] [7] Wilkins composed the music for the original song "We've Come So Far" for Space Mountain in 1984, as well as an instrumental arrangement for the attraction's queue, which remains installed in the attraction and can still be heard today. Wilkins was soon called back to work on EPCOT after being tasked with composing the soundscapes for the new Living Seas pavilion with Russell Brower.[8] Wilkins also did all arrangements for the Kitchen Kabaret replacement Food Rocks, and composed all score and audio cues for Test Track in the late 1990s.
Wilkins' final project with Disney was writing arrangements for "it's a small world" at Hong Kong Disneyland, before retiring from the company around 2008.
Wilkins died on November 9, 2024, at the age of 90.[9] [10]
| Year | Title | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | Return to Oz | TV movie, additional music | |
| 1967 | The Wacky World of Mother Goose | Film | |
| 1986–1987 | The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin | TV series |
| Year | Title | Park | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Kitchen Kabaret | EPCOT | The Land attraction; queue and attraction arrangements | |
| 1982 | Listen to the Land | EPCOT | The Land attraction; composed "Symphony of the Seed" | |
| 1982 | World of Motion | EPCOT | Arranged interior queue and attraction | |
| 1982 | ImageWorks | EPCOT | Imagination pavilion attraction; composed "Electronic Philhamonic" | |
| 1982 | Magic Eye Theater | EPCOT | Imagination pavilion attraction; arranged "Makin' Memories" | |
| 1982 | Universe of Energy | EPCOT | Composed Exxon logo music and arranged attraction finale | |
| 1982 | Entrance plaza | EPCOT | Arranged "Golden Dream" for the park's entrance plaza area music medley | |
| 1982 | EPCOT Electronic Forum | EPCOT | CommuniCore atttraction; composed theme | |
| 1983 | Journey into Imagination | EPCOT | Arranged exterior and interior background music and attraction music | |
| 1983 | Meet the World | Tokyo Disneyland | Arranged queue music | |
| 1983 | Horizons | EPCOT | Composed ride soundtrack, area loop, queue music, and post-show | |
| 1984 | Magic Kingdom Park | Composed queue music, "Star Tunnel," and "We’ve Come So Far" | ||
| 1984 | All Because Man Wanted to Fly | Disneyland Park | Short film shown prior to the World Premiere Circle-Vision film American Journeys; composer | |
| 1984 | Backstage Magic | EPCOT | CommuniCore attraction; composer | |
| 1984 | Country Bear Christmas Special | Disneyland and Magic Kingdom | Arranger | |
| 1986 | The Living Seas | EPCOT | Composed both attraction main theme and “Suited for the Sea” film with Russell Brower[11] | |
| 1986 | Country Bear Vacation Hoedown | Disneyland and Magic Kingdom | Arranger | |
| 1989 | Goofy About Health | EPCOT | Wonders of Life attraction; composer | |
| 1989 | The Great Movie Ride | Disney's Hollywood Studios | Arranger | |
| 1989 | Pan Galactic Pizza Port | Tokyo Disneyland | Composer (lyrics by Kevin Rafferty) | |
| 1991 | Jim Henson's Muppet*Vision 3D | Disney's Hollywood Studios | Queue music arranger | |
| 1992 | Walt's Restaurant | Disneyland Paris | Arranger | |
| 1992 | Silver Spur Restaurant | Disneyland Paris | Arranger | |
| 1992 | Le Pays des Contes de Fees | Disneyland Paris | Arranger | |
| 1992 | The American Adventure | EPCOT | Composed and arranged the 1992 revision of "Golden Dream" | |
| 1993 | Living with the Land | EPCOT | The Land attraction; composer | |
| 1993 | Carousel of Progress | Magic Kingdom | Arranger for 1993 revision | |
| 1994 | Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin | Disneyland | Arranger | |
| 1994 | Food Rocks | EPCOT | The Land attraction; attraction soundtrack producer | |
| 1994 | Sonny Eclipse | Magic Kingdom | Audio-Animatronic figure located at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe; Composer (lyrics by Kal David and Kevin Rafferty)[12] | |
| 1994 | WACKY Radio Show | Disneyland | Mickey's Toontown area music; composer | |
| 1998 | The Enchanted Tiki Room (Under New Management) | Magic Kingdom | Arranger | |
| 1998 | It's Tough to Be a Bug! | Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park | Composer | |
| 1998 | Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin | Magic Kingdom | Composer | |
| 1999 | Test Track | EPCOT | Queue medley composer | |
| 2000 | Pooh's Hunny Hunt | Tokyo Disneyland | Arranger | |
| 2001 | Paradise Pier | Disney California Adventure Park | Area music arranger | |
| 2001 | California Screamin' | Disney California Adventure | Composer (with Gary Hoey) | |
| 2001 | Superstar Limo | Disney California Adventure | Composer | |
| 2001 | Mediterranean Harbor | Tokyo DisneySea | Area music arranger | |
| 2002 | Journey Into Imagination with Figment | EPCOT | Composer | |
| 2005 | Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters | Disneyland | Arranger | |
| 2008 | "it's a small world" | Hong Kong Disneyland | Arranger |