John Debney

Personal Info

Known For Sound

Gender Male

Birthday 1956-08-18 (68 years old)

Place of Birth Glendale, California, USA

John Debney

Biography

John Cardon Debney (born August 18, 1956) is an American composer and conductor of 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). 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. 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 Colour 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 Disneyland in 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. Description above from the Wikipedia article John Debney, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known For

Sound

In Your Dreams

as Original Music Composer

2024
Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1

as Original Music Composer

2024
Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 2

as Original Music Composer

2024
The Garfield Movie

as Conductor

2024
Space Cadet

as Original Music Composer

2024
The Garfield Movie

as Original Music Composer

2023
Spy Kids: Armageddon

as Original Music Composer

2023
2023
2023
80 for Brady

as Original Music Composer

2022
Luck

as Original Music Composer

2022
Hocus Pocus 2

as Original Music Composer

2022
Marry Me

as Original Music Composer

2021
Clifford the Big Red Dog

as Original Music Composer

2021
Home Sweet Home Alone

as Original Music Composer

2021
American Underdog

as Original Music Composer

2021
The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers

as Original Music Composer

2020
Come Away

as Original Music Composer

2020
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey

as Original Music Composer

2020
Asteroid Hunters

as Original Music Composer

2020
2019
Lake of Death

as Original Music Composer

2019
Isn't It Romantic

as Original Music Composer

2019
Brian Banks

as Original Music Composer

2019
Dora and the Lost City of Gold

as Original Music Composer

2019
The Beach Bum

as Original Music Composer

2019
Sextuplets

as Original Music Composer

2018
Beirut

as Original Music Composer

2018
Chiefs

as Original Music Composer

2017
Flint

as Original Music Composer

2017
Home Again

as Original Music Composer

2017
The Greatest Showman

as Original Music Composer

2017
The Orville

as Music

2017
2017
Young Sheldon

as Original Music Composer

2016
League of Gods

as Original Music Composer

2016
Ice Age: Collision Course

as Original Music Composer

2016
Scrat: Spaced Out

as Original Music Composer

2016
The Jungle Book

as Original Music Composer

2016
Mother's Day

as Original Music Composer

2016
The Young Messiah

as Original Music Composer

2015
Broken Horses

as Music

2015
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water

as Original Music Composer

2015
2015
2015
Texas Rising

as Music

2014
Walk of Shame

as Original Music Composer

2014
Draft Day

as Original Music Composer

2014
The Cobbler

as Original Music Composer

2014
Stonehearst Asylum

as Original Music Composer

2014
Houdini

as Music

2013
Jobs

as Original Music Composer

2013
The Call

as Original Music Composer

2013
The Call

as Music

2012
The Three Stooges

as Original Music Composer

2012
Alex Cross

as Original Music Composer

2012
A Thousand Words

as Original Music Composer

2011
Dream House

as Original Music Composer

2011
The Double

as Original Music Composer

2011
New Year's Eve

as Original Music Composer

2011
The Change-Up

as Original Music Composer

2011
No Strings Attached

as Original Music Composer

2010
Predators

as Original Music Composer

2010
Iron Man 2

as Original Music Composer

2010
Valentine's Day

as Original Music Composer

2010
Yogi Bear

as Original Music Composer

2009
Hannah Montana: The Movie

as Original Music Composer

2009
Aliens in the Attic

as Original Music Composer

2009
Old Dogs

as Original Music Composer

2009
Hotel for Dogs

as Original Music Composer

2008
My Best Friend's Girl

as Original Music Composer

2008
The Seed

as Music

2008
Meet Dave

as Original Music Composer

2008
Swing Vote

as Original Music Composer

2007
Georgia Rule

as Original Music Composer

2007
Evan Almighty

as Original Music Composer

2006
Barnyard

as Conductor

2006
The Ant Bully

as Original Music Composer

2006
Barnyard

as Original Music Composer

2006
Idlewild

as Original Music Composer

2006
Everyone's Hero

as Original Music Composer

2005
Sin City

as Original Music Composer

2005
Zathura: A Space Adventure

as Original Music Composer

2005
Dreamer: Inspired By a True Story

as Original Music Composer

2005
Chicken Little

as Original Music Composer

2005
Duma

as Music

2005
The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl

as Original Music Composer

2005
Cheaper by the Dozen 2

as Original Music Composer

2005
The Pacifier

as Original Music Composer

2005
Sin City

as Conductor

2004
The Passion of the Christ

as Original Music Composer

2004
The Whole Ten Yards

as Original Music Composer

2004
The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement

as Original Music Composer

2004
Welcome to Mooseport

as Original Music Composer

2004
Christmas with the Kranks

as Original Music Composer

2004
Raising Helen

as Original Music Composer

2003
Bruce Almighty

as Original Music Composer

2003
Elf

as Original Music Composer

2003
Malibu's Most Wanted

as Original Music Composer

2002
Dragonfly

as Original Music Composer

2002
The Tuxedo

as Original Music Composer

2002
Snow Dogs

as Original Music Composer

2002
The Scorpion King

as Original Music Composer

2002
Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams

as Original Music Composer

2002
The Hot Chick

as Original Music Composer

2002
Swimfan

as Original Music Composer

2001
Heartbreakers

as Original Music Composer

2001
Cats & Dogs

as Original Music Composer

2001
Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

as Original Music Composer

2001
The Princess Diaries

as Original Music Composer

2001
Spy Kids

as Original Music Composer

2001
See Spot Run

as Original Music Composer

2000
The Replacements

as Original Music Composer

2000
Running Mates

as Music

2000
The Emperor's New Groove

as Original Music Composer

2000
Relative Values

as Original Music Composer

1999
Lost & Found

as Music

1999
End of Days

as Original Music Composer

1999
Dick

as Original Music Composer

1999
The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland

as Original Music Composer

1999
Inspector Gadget

as Original Music Composer

1999
My Favorite Martian

as Original Music Composer

1999
Komodo

as Original Music Composer

1999
G-Saviour

as Original Music Composer

1999
Goodnight Moon & Other Sleepytime Tales

as Original Music Composer

1998
Paulie

as Original Music Composer

1998
I'll Be Home for Christmas

as Original Music Composer

1997
I Know What You Did Last Summer

as Original Music Composer

1997
The Relic

as Original Music Composer

1997
Justice League of America

as Original Music Composer

1997
Liar Liar

as Original Music Composer

1997
The Relic

as Conductor

1997
Liar Liar

as Conductor

1996
Chameleon

as Music

1996
Getting Away with Murder

as Original Music Composer

1996
Doctor Who

as Original Music Composer

1996
Carpool

as Original Music Composer

1996
Doctor Who

as Theme Song Performance

1995
In Pursuit of Honor

as Original Music Composer

1995
Kansas

as Music

1995
Runaway Brain

as Music

1995
Sudden Death

as Original Music Composer

1995
Cutthroat Island

as Original Music Composer

1995
Sudden Death

as Conductor

1995
Houseguest

as Original Music Composer

1994
Little Giants

as Original Music Composer

1993
Hocus Pocus

as Original Music Composer

1993
Gunmen

as Original Music Composer

1993
Class of '61

as Music

1993
1993
The Flintstones: Hollyrock a Bye Baby

as Original Music Composer

1993
1993
The Halloween Tree

as Original Music Composer

1993
The Town Santa Forgot

as Original Music Composer

1993
1992
Sunstroke

as Music

1991
Into the Badlands

as Original Music Composer

1990
Jetsons: The Movie

as Original Music Composer

1989
Carmilla

as Music

1987
1984
Fitness and Me: Why Exercise?

as Original Music Composer

1984
Donald Duck's 50th Birthday

as Original Music Composer

1983
1982
Fame

as Original Music Composer

1982
1980

Crew

2023
Hypnotic

as Additional Music

1987
DTV: Monster Hits

as Additional Music