Paul J. Smith Tribute

Today is the birthday of a Disney Legend. While not particularly well-known, he is one of the very few people who had big contributions to both animated and live-action Disney films. Paul J. Smith was born on October 30th, 1906, so I thought we should celebrate some of his accomplishments! 

Smith was born in Calumet, Michigan to Joseph J. And Anna M. Smith. The family relocated to Caldwell, Idaho where his dad worked as the Band Director of the College of Idaho. Joseph was talented enough to be nicknamed by Idaho’s then-governor, Robert Smylie as “The Father of Music,” in the Boise Valley because he taught every musical instrument. The father’s talents rubbed off on all four of his sons and each went on to have careers in the music industry, including Paul, the second oldest.

Paul Smith first studied music at the College of Idaho from 1923 to 1925, and was later accepted into the Bush Conservatory in Chicago, Illinois. It was after his time there he was hired by the Walt Disney Studios as a composer for short cartoons. Smith made his Disney debut composing the score for the Mickey Mouse cartoon Thru the Mirror (1936). He composed the score for the Donald Duck cartoon Don Donald (1937) the following year, which was the debut of Donald Duck’s girlfriend, Daisy Duck (though at the time she was called Donna Duck!).

When Walt Disney officially got Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) off the ground, he knew that music would be just as crucial to the storytelling as the animation. Given Smith’s performance to date, Disney naturally he hired Smith to compose the film’s score, along with Frank Churchill and Leigh Harline to write the film’s songs, and Edward H. Plumb to provide orchestrations. “Snow White” grossed $184.9 million and Smith, Churchill, and Harline received an Oscar nomination for Best Music, Score— the film’s only nomination. Though the trio lost the award to Charles Previn for One Hundred Men and a Girl (1937), Smith and Harline collaborated together with Ned Washington on the score for Pinocchio (1940) three years later and for that film, they won the Best Original Score Oscar, an award they shared with Ned Washington. (Harline and Washington also won the Best Original Song Oscar for “When You Wish Upon a Star.”)

Throughout the ‘40s, Smith continued composing scores for shorts and features from The Fire Chief (1940) and Pluto’s Playmate (1941) to Bambi (1942) and Saludos Amigos (1943). Smith even appeared in a cameo as the violinist in the orchestra in Fantasia (1940). 1950 was a very busy year for him. It was the year he composed the scores for the beloved classic Cinderella as well as Disney’s True-Live Adventure documentary Beaver Valley, which won the Oscar for Best Short Subject, Two-Reel. Outside Disney, Smith was also known for scoring the films Glamour Girl (1948), Pecos River (1951), About Face (1952) and he scored the background music for the 6th and final season of Leave It to Beaver (1957-1963). 

Smith continued to receive Oscar Nominations for the Scores he wrote for “Amigos,” The Three Caballeros (1944) and “Cinderella.” His last nomination was for the True-Life Adventure, Perri (1957), which is about an adventurous female squirrel named Perri and her life throughout the four seasons. The following year, Smith co-wrote the title song for Disney’s The Light in the Forrest (1958) with Hazel “Gil” George and Lawrence Edward Watkin. George was known as Smith’s main collaborator as well as the Disney Studio Nurse.

Whenever she wasn’t treating anyone in her nursing role, George was working on films, collaborating with the likes of Paul Smith, George Bruns and Jimmie Dodd. With Smith, she wrote song lyrics for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), Westward Ho, the Wagons (1956) as well as The Shaggy Dog (1959), and Pollyanna (1960). Smith and George’s collaborations helped make “20,000 Leagues,” and “Pollyanna,” beloved classics as they both won Oscars: “20,000 Leagues” for Best Art Direction and Best Special Effects and “Pollyanna” for Best Juvenile by an Actor for Hayley Mills in the title role. (Mills was the last recipient of the award!) 

Paul J. Smith died due to Alzheimer’s Disease on January 25th, 1985, at the age of 78. Nine years after his death, in 1994, he was honored as a Disney Legend. It is unfortunate that Paul J. Smith didn’t quite get all the attention he deserved throughout his career, let alone all the awards he deserved. But looking back at his music contributions, one could easily say his career was remarkable and his work set the stage for future composers to win Oscars for scoring Disney movies, i.e.: Alan Menken (The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991)), Hans Zimmer (The Lion King (1994)), Michael Giacchino (Up (2009)), and Jon Batiste (Soul (2020)).