March 11 - Bruce Healey

On this day, in 1950, Bruce Healey was born in St. Louis, Missouri. As a child, Bruce began, like many kids, learning how to play the piano (with a healthy dose of percussion thrown in) and, like most kids, he hated it. Okay, considering how his life progressed, maybe hate is a strong word but he did not grow up wanting to be a musician. That dream took years to form. As he got better at playing different instruments, he began to study how to arrange songs for those instruments which led him to actually composing his own pieces. And that’s when he first thought “Hey, this could be a career.” In order to further those plans, Bruce enrolled at California State University, Fullerton as a Music Composition student. At the same time he got a part time job at Disneyland, playing the drums in the marching band for the Christmas parade (all music for the parades used to be live). Thus, his growing love of music became intertwined with a growing love for all things Disney.

Image copyright Disney

Bruce began working for Disney full time in 1973, after graduating from CSU with his Bachelor’s degree. As part of the team in charge of providing music for everything from parades, to television specials to Super Bowl half time shows, Bruce spent his days arranging and composing pages and pages of music. By 1980, he’d become Music Coordinator and Arranger and six years later he’d moved up to Music Director for Walt Disney Attractions, the position he still holds today. He will proudly tell you that he is responsible for every piece of music produced by Disneyland (and just as quick to point out he doesn't do it alone) since 1986 but his work can be heard at theme parks spanning the globe.

Image copyright Disney

Perhaps his most famous piece is currently heard around the Rivers of America in Disneyland, off of Sunset Boulevard in Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida and in the Mediterranean Harbor area of Tokyo DisneySea. Some of you are smiling knowingly because you know I’m talking about Fantasmic!, one of the most popular night time spectaculars that Disney’s ever created and has been running for almost 27 years in California, where it all began. So even though Bruce says it’s okay if people know his music but don’t know him, the next time you find yourself daydreaming about slaying a dragon, and you find yourself humming a familiar little tune, may you think fondly of a man who has devoted his life to making so many of your favorite Disney elements sound really good. Happy birthday Bruce!