George Wilkins | |
---|---|
Birth name | George Edward Wilkins |
Born | Detroit, Michigan, U.S. | March 14, 1934
Genres | Film score, contemporary classical music |
Occupation(s) | Composer, arranger, producer |
George Wilkins (born March 14, 1934) is an American soundtrack composer who has created several noteworthy scores and songs for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.
Wilkins got his start in the music industry as a backup vocalist and vocal arranger for Patti Page during the 1950s. [1] In the 1960s, he also co-founded the vocal group the Doodletown Pipers. [2] By this time, Wilkins broke out as a composer for film and television with his work on the Rankin/Bass productions of Return to Oz (1964) and The Wacky World of Mother Goose (1967). [3] [4]
In 1979, Wilkins joined The Walt Disney Company as a protégé to composer Buddy Baker, [1] as was tasked with writing the arrangements for Listen to the Land and Kitchen Kabaret , but was thrust into the a main composer for the new EPCOT Center park after Baker was involved in a car accident. [5] 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. [5] 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" at Walt Disney Productions as well as the 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 when RCA took over sponsorship for the pavilion in 1985, as well as an instrumental arrangement for the attraction's queue line, which remains installed in the attraction and can still be heard today. [8] 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. [9] Wilkins did all arrangements for Food Rocks, and composed all score and audio cues for Test Track at EPCOT 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. [3]
Year | Title | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|
1964 | Return to Oz | TV movie, additional music | |
1967 | The Wacky World of Mother Goose | Film [4] | |
1982 | Kitchen Kabaret | Vocal arrangements | |
1982 | Listen to the Land | Orchestral arrangements. | |
1982 | World of Motion | Arranged all alternate versions of It's Fun to Be Free for the queue line | |
1983 | Journey into Imagination | Arranged ride soundtrack | |
1983 | Horizons | Composed ride soundtrack, area loop, queue music, and post-show. | |
1984 | All Because Man Wanted to Fly | Short film shown prior to Circle-Vision 360° | |
1984 | Backstage Magic | ||
1984 | Country Bear Christmas Special | ||
1985 | Space Mountain | Composed queue music and We’ve Come So Far | |
1986 | The Living Seas | Co-written with Russell Brower. [10] | |
1986 | Country Bear Vacation Hoedown | ||
1986–1987 | The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin | TV series | |
1989 | Goofy About Health | Short film presented at the Wonders of Life pavilion | |
1994 | Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin | ||
1994 | Food Rocks | ||
1995 | Sonny Eclipse | An audio-animatronic music show located at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe in Walt Disney World. Wilkins co-wrote the music with Kal David. [11] | |
1998 | The Enchanted Tiki Room (Under New Management) | ||
1998 | It's Tough to Be a Bug! | ||
1998 | Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin | with Randy Newman | |
1999 | Test Track | ||
2001 | California Screamin' | with Gary Hoey | |
2001 | Superstar Limo | ||
2005 | Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters | with Randy Newman | |
2008 | It's a Small World | Wrote all arrangements | |
2024 | Le Pays des Contes de Fées | Wrote all arrangements |
Epcot, stylized in all uppercase as EPCOT, is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Experiences division. Inspired by an unrealized concept of the same name developed by Walt Disney, the park opened on October 1, 1982, as EPCOT Center, and was the second of four theme parks built at Walt Disney World. The park spans 305 acres, more than twice the size of Magic Kingdom. Often referred to as a "permanent world's fair", Epcot is dedicated to the celebration of human achievement, particularly technological innovation and international culture.
Soarin', also known as Soarin' Over California, Soarin' Around the World, Soaring Over the Horizon and Soaring: Fantastic Flight, is a flight motion simulator attraction at Disney California Adventure, Epcot, Shanghai Disneyland, and Tokyo DisneySea. It employs a mechanical lift system, a projected presentation on an 80 ft (24 m) concave 180-degree dome screen, and artificial scents and wind to simulate a hang gliding flight over locations in six of the world's continents. Many consider it the first flying theater.
Horizons was a dark ride attraction at Epcot, a theme park at Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida. Located on the eastern side of the Future World section of Epcot, the attraction used Disney's Omnimover system, but unlike most omnimover systems, it was suspended from a track above, which took guests past show scenes depicting visions of the future. It is believed to be the sequel to Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress, an attraction in Tomorrowland at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom. Horizons was the only attraction in Future World to showcase all of Epcot's "Future World" elements: communication, energy, transportation, anatomy, along with humankind's relationship to the sea, and the land.
Journey into Imagination with Figment is the third and latest incarnation of a dark ride attraction located within the Imagination! pavilion at World Celebration at Epcot, a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. Originally opened on March 3, 1983, its original and current version feature the small purple dragon named Figment as well as the song "One Little Spark", composed by the Sherman Brothers.
Test Track is a high-speed slot car thrill ride manufactured by Dynamic Attractions located in World Discovery at Epcot, a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. The ride is a simulated excursion through the rigorous testing procedures that General Motors uses to evaluate its concept cars, culminating in a high-speed drive around the exterior of the attraction.
World of Motion, presented by General Motors, was the former occupant of the transportation pavilion in Epcot at Walt Disney World Resort. It was an opening day attraction at EPCOT Center in 1982 and it closed in 1996 to make way for Test Track, a new thrill ride through a GM testing facility.
The Wonders of Life pavilion was an attraction at Epcot at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. It was devoted to health care, focusing on the human body, physical fitness, medicine and nutrition. Attractions included Body Wars and Cranium Command. It is located inside a golden colored dome between Mission: SPACE and Wonders of Xandar. It opened on October 19, 1989, and closed on January 1, 2007. From 2007 to 2018, the Pavilion acted as EPCOT's Festival Center, before becoming a construction site in March 2019 in preparation for the upcoming Play! Pavilion to replace it.
The Seas with Nemo & Friends is a pavilion located in the World Nature section of Epcot, a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. The pavilion is themed as an oceanic exploration base called SeaBase Alpha, with several exhibits devoted to oceanic study. The building includes an aquarium and its attached dark ride attraction, a talk show-type attraction called Turtle Talk with Crush, and the Coral Reef Restaurant. With 5.7 million US gallons of tank volume, the pavilion is also the second-largest aquarium in the U.S. and the sixth-largest in the world.
The Land is a pavilion located in the World Nature neighborhood of Epcot, a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. The pavilion is dedicated to human interaction with the Earth, focusing on agriculture, conservation, and travel. It opened on October 1, 1982, as part of the Phase I features for the grand opening of what was then known as EPCOT Center. It explores how humans can both use the land for their benefit, and how they can also destroy it. Future Technology in better preserving the land is also explored in the pavilion, along with a focus on the celebration of the land itself.
Imagination! is a pavilion located in the World Celebration section of Epcot, a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. The pavilion opened with the park in 1982, and is themed to human imagination, creativity, and the arts. Kodak was the former title sponsor of the pavilion.
Mission: Space is a space exploration-themed pavilion and attached centrifugal motion simulator attraction located in the World Discovery section of Epcot at Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida. The attraction simulates what an astronaut might experience aboard a spacecraft on a mission to Mars, from the higher g-force of liftoff, to the speculative hypersleep. The pavilion also includes the Mission Space: Cargo Bay gift shop, the Advanced Training Lab interactive play area and Space 220 Restaurant.
The Norway Pavilion is a Norwegian-themed pavilion that is part of the World Showcase, within Epcot at Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida, United States. Its location is between the Mexico and China pavilions.
The American Adventure is the host pavilion of the World Showcase within Epcot at Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida, United States. It is also the name of the Colonial American-themed pavilion's main attraction, an Audio-Animatronics stage show of American history. It is located between the Italy and Japan pavilions.
Body Wars was a motion simulator attraction inside the Wonders of Life pavilion at the Walt Disney World Resort's Epcot. Riders would be taken on a mission by the fictional Miniaturized Exploration Technologies corporation to study the effects of the white blood cells on a splinter inside the left index finger of a volunteer. The attraction used the Advanced Technology Leisure Application Simulator technology previously seen at Disneyland's Star Tours attraction. The ride is no longer in operation along with the other attractions inside the Wonders of Life pavilion, which opened on October 19, 1989, and closed on January 1, 2007.
"It's Fun to Be Free" was the ubiquitous theme song for the World of Motion pavilion at Walt Disney World's Epcot theme park. Composed by Disney staff musician Norman "Buddy" Baker with lyrics by Xavier "X" Atencio, it is notable among Disney Theme Park music for the sheer number of variations created for the ride, and the song's infectious earworm quality.
Walt Disney and the 1964 World's Fair is a 2009 five-CD box set compiling music and audio from Disney's attractions at the 1964 New York World's Fair:
Frozen Ever After is a musical reversing Shoot the Chute dark ride in Epcot at the Walt Disney World Resort. Part of the Norway Pavilion of the Epcot's World Showcase section, the attraction features scenes inspired by Disney's animated film Frozen as well as the 2015 animated short Frozen Fever. It opened on June 21, 2016, using the ride vehicles and track layout of the former Maelstrom attraction. A version of the attraction opened at Hong Kong Disneyland on November 20, 2023, as part of The Walt Disney Company's centennial celebration, with two more scheduled to open at Tokyo DisneySea on June 6, 2024 and Walt Disney Studios Park in the second half of 2025.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is an enclosed roller coaster at Epcot at Walt Disney World, manufactured by Dutch company Vekoma. Based on the Marvel Cinematic Universe Guardians of the Galaxy films, the attraction is the first at Walt Disney World to feature characters from the Marvel Universe. Opened on May 27, 2022, it is Epcot's first roller coaster and Disney's first backwards-launched roller coaster. It replaced the Universe of Energy pavilion, which closed on August 13, 2017.
Remy's Ratatouille Adventure, also known as Ratatouille: L'Aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémy, is a motion-based trackless 3D dark ride, based on the 2007 Disney-Pixar animated film Ratatouille, located at Disneyland Paris's Walt Disney Studios Park in France and at Walt Disney World's France Pavilion at Epcot.