Dean Elliott
Encyclopedia
Career
Educated at the University of Wisconsin, Elliot's first composing work was for Four Star Revue an early comedy program which debuted in 1950. From here, he went on to compose for various cartoon series, most prominently Mr. MagooMr. Magoo
Quincy Magoo is a cartoon character created at the UPA animation studio in 1949. Voiced by Jim Backus, Quincy Magoo is a wealthy, short-statured retiree who gets into a series of sticky situations as a result of his nearsightedness, compounded by his stubborn refusal to admit the problem...
in the 1950s, but later he struck an alliance with master Animation director Chuck Jones
Chuck Jones
Charles Martin "Chuck" Jones was an American animator, cartoon artist, screenwriter, producer, and director of animated films, most memorably of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts for the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio...
and went on to compose the scores for many of his Tom and Jerry
Tom and Jerry
Tom and Jerry are the cat and mouse cartoon characters that were evolved starting in 1939.Tom and Jerry also may refer to:Cartoon works featuring the cat and mouse so named:* The Tom and Jerry Show...
cartoons between 1965 and 1967, starting with Duel Personality
Duel Personality
Duel Personality is a 1966 Tom and Jerry cartoon produced and directed by Chuck Jones. It is the first Tom and Jerry cartoon produced in 1966, and the first Tom & Jerry cartoon with Dean Elliott as the music compuser.- Plot :In a mansion, Tom is whacking at Jerry with a heavy ball...
and finishing with Advance and Be Mechanized
Advance and Be Mechanized
Advance and Be Mechanized, released in 1967, was the penultimate Tom and Jerry cartoon. It was directed by Ben Washam and produced by Chuck Jones, and is the third and last of the outer space themed shorts from the Chuck Jones era, the first two being O-Solar Meow, and Guided Mouse-ille both in 1967...
Chuck Jones
Chuck Jones
Charles Martin "Chuck" Jones was an American animator, cartoon artist, screenwriter, producer, and director of animated films, most memorably of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts for the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio...
's final Tom and Jerry cartoon in 1967.
In 1962, Elliott released an LP
LP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
on Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
entitled Zounds! What Sounds!
Zounds! What Sounds!
Zounds! What Sounds! is an album by Dean Elliott, released as an LP in 1962 . The album was credited on the front cover to "Dean Elliott and His Swinging Big, Big Band" and on the LP label to "Dean Elliott and His Orchestra"...
, credited to "Dean Elliott and His Swinging Big, Big Band."http://members.lycos.co.uk/spaceagepopagogo/sld020.htm The LP header read "Music and Sound Effects in a Stereo Spectacular!" and the subtitle captured the basic goals, sound, and feel of the album well:
A Sonic Spectacular Presenting MUSIC! MUSIC! MUSIC! With these special Percussion Effects! Cement Mixer, Air Compressor, Punching Bag, Hand Saw, Thunderstorm, Raindrops, Celery Stalks (the crunchiest), 1001 Clocks, Bowling Pins and Many Many More!!
The LP was made with the assistance of Phil Kaye, a sound effects virtuoso who worked with Elliott on the Tom and Jerry cartoons.http://dennyesq.blogspot.com/2006/03/zounds-i.html The LP is now firmly ensconced in the pantheon of "space age pop
Space age pop
Space age pop is a general and loosely based term for a music genre associated with certain Mexican and American composers and songwriters in the Space Age of the 1950s and 1960s. It is also called bachelor pad music or lounge music...
" or lounge
Lounge music
Lounge music is a retrospective description of music popular in the 1950s and 1960s. It is a type of mood music meant to evoke in the listeners the feeling of being in a place — a jungle, an island paradise, outer space, et cetera — other than where they are listening to it...
classics, having been cited in RE/SEARCH #14: Incredibly Strange Music (1993) which played a large part in the lounge revival of the 1990s. A track from the album ("Will You Still Be Mine") was later anthologized on one of Rhino Records' influential Cocktail Mix CDs. As the space age pop/lounge revival grew in popularity, two more tracks from the album ("You're the Top" and "The Lonesome Road") were anthologized on one of the many volumes of Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
' Ultra-Lounge series.
After this Elliott went on to compose for a number of Dr. Seuss
Dr. Seuss
Theodor Seuss Geisel was an American writer, poet, and cartoonist most widely known for his children's books written under the pen names Dr. Seuss, Theo LeSieg and, in one case, Rosetta Stone....
's cartoon's before joining DePatie-Freleng Enterprises
DePatie-Freleng Enterprises
DePatie-Freleng Enterprises was a Hollywood-based animation production company, active from 1963 to 1981. They produced theatrical cartoons, animated series, commercials, title sequences and television specials. Notable among these is The Pink Panther film titles and cartoon shorts and the Dr....
in 1975 to commence work on their Return to the Planet of the Apes
Return to the Planet of the Apes
Return to the Planet of the Apes is a short-lived animated series, by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises in association with 20th Century Fox Television, based upon Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle. Boulle's novel had previously been adapted in a series of movies, beginning with the 1968 Planet of the...
series for which he provided incidental music. He also wrote all the music for the cult animated New Fantastic Four
Fantastic Four (1978 TV series)
Fantastic Four is an animated series produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises and Marvel Comics Animation in the late 1970s.-Premise:It is the second animated series based on Marvel's comic book series Fantastic Four. The 1978 series replaced the character of the Human Torch with a robot named...
series in 1978 before moving to Warner Brother's with Chuck Jones
Chuck Jones
Charles Martin "Chuck" Jones was an American animator, cartoon artist, screenwriter, producer, and director of animated films, most memorably of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts for the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio...
where he provided all the music for his Bugs Bunny and Road Runner Movie in 1979 and later his Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24th 1/2 Century and Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over
Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over
Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over is a Looney Tunes television special which aired on May 21, 1980. It features three new cartoons at the time, which featured Bugs Bunny and other Looney Tunes characters. The theme of this special is Springtime...
in 1980, the latter of which was nominated for an Emmy. He also was musical director for Ruby-Spears from 1978–1987, where he was contracted to contribute music for the likes of such shows as Fangface
Fangface
Fangface was a 30-minute Saturday morning cartoon produced by Ruby-Spears Productions for ABC which aired from September 9, 1978 to September 8, 1979...
, Plastic Man, Heathcliff
Heathcliff (1980 TV series)
Heathcliff is an animated TV series that debuted on October 4, 1980. It was the first series based on the Heathcliff comic strip and was produced by Ruby-Spears Productions...
, Saturday Supercade
Saturday Supercade
Saturday Supercade is an animated television series produced for Saturday mornings by Ruby-Spears Productions. It ran for two seasons on CBS beginning in 1983...
and Alvin and the Chipmunks
Alvin and the Chipmunks
Alvin and the Chipmunks is an American animated music group created by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. in 1958. The group consists of three singing animated anthropomorphic chipmunks: Alvin, the mischievous troublemaker, who quickly became the star of the group; Simon, the tall, bespectacled intellectual;...
series.
His music has re-appeared in various productions including: The Bugs n' Daffy Show, That's Warner Bros!, Merrie Melodies: Starring Bugs Bunny and Friends and The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show.