George Wilkins is born
By the middle of the 1970s, composer Norman "Buddy" Baker had such an impactful and prolific presence at Walt Disney Productions that when he suffered a near-miss traffic accident the Studio panicked and asked him "Is there anyone that can do what you do?" Only one name came to mind: George Wilkins.
Beginning his musical career as a teenaged vocal soloist for St Paul's Cathedral in Detriot, George went on to become a backup singer and arranger for Patti Page in the 1950s and co-founded the vocal group Doodletown Pipers. At this time he also began film composing for Rankin/Bass productions where he caught the attention of Buddy Baker who began contracting George for arrangement and orchestration for various minor projects.
After being selected by Buddy to become his protégé, Wilkins went to work on his first assignment: EPCOT Center's Kitchen Kabaret quickly followed by the "Symphony of the Seed" opening scene to Listen to the Land (unused) and shortly afterward took over Buddy's responsibilities as Music Director for the entire EPCOT Center project while Baker went to London to score 1981's "The Fox and the Hound".
Among George's incredible accomplishments creating massive sections of Epcot's musical tapestry, he took The Sherman Brother's barebones piano demos for "One Little Spark", "Makin' Memories" and "Magic Journeys" and arranged nearly an hour of symphonic (and synthesized) masterpieces for our friends Figment and Dreamfinder. As well as taking Buddy Baker and X Atencio's "It's Fun to be Free" theme to create 15 variations in stereophonic sound for the World of Motion's interior queue.
Listen to George Wilkins whimsical score for Journey Into Imagination restored and enhanced for its 40th anniversary in 2023!
George was also the principal arranger for the avant-garde variation of "Golden Dream" of the seminal EPCOT Entrance Plaza atmosphere, as well as the composer of the once-forgotten but charmingly uptempo Electronic Forum theme. Wilkins' work was so prolific for EPCOT Center that when Il Maestro Buddy Baker (himself already a musical legend) returned from London, he chided George on several occasions over his impressive management of the park's audio production for the massive project.
Before EPCOT Center even opened, George was already at work on "Phase II" projects including (what many consider) his magnum opus, HORIZONS which came to him completely unplanned when Randy Bright was displeased with The Sherman Brothers' original theme giving it his death sentence of being "Too Disneyland" for EPCOT Center. George wrote the theme "New Horizons" over the weekend getting Randy's seal of approval.
Listen to George's magnum opus HORIZONS (also) restored and completely remastered for its 40th anniversary in 2023.
During the production of HORIZONS, George Wilkins' took young composer, John Debney, struggling to break through a cloud of nepotism under his wing by giving him (what GW thought) was at least a week-long assignment to score the pavilions' 15-minute atmosphere. John was so excited that he finished the entire thing in one weekend, leaving George humorously with the problem of finding Debney more work to do. Thus began GWs efforts to mentor many young composers including another theme park musical legend Russell Brower who took Wilkins' watery theme and arranged the iconic Living Seas atmosphere.
George also returned to Epcot on several occasions to re-compose his own attractions as they were updated including, what could be considered to be the closest thing to a "cult classic", Living with the Land, featuring his acoustic guitar "barn music" and infectiously percussive pan-fluted finale. He also produced Food Rocks, gave Test Track its only musical cue and returned to the Imagination pavilion in 2002 to help fix the damage caused by the Journey into YOUR Imagination with a musical score to bring back Figment and the theme "One Little Spark".
Of course, this is "only" an Epcot-centric encapsulation of George's astonishing body of work which includes impressive entrees such as the (truly) Great Movie Ride, the best version of Space Mountain, two Bear Band shows and the musical stylings of Sonny Eclipse just to name a few.
Speaking from personal experience, ALL his music, which has served as the inspirational soundtrack to so many lives, is merely a dim reflection of his beautiful soul. And I am so thankful for the time, however brief, that I've spent with him.
EPCOT MUSIC CREDITS
(In Chronological Order)
KITCHEN KABARET
(Arr.) Queue, Overture & Full Attraction
LISTEN TO THE LAND
Symphony of the Seed
WORLD OF MOTION
(Arr.) Interior Queue & Full Attraction
JOURNEY INTO IMAGINATION
(Arr.) Exterior, Interior & Full Attraction
THE IMAGE WORKS
Electronic Philharmonic
MAGIC EYE THEATER
(Arr.) Makin’ Memories
UNIVERSE OF ENERGY
Exxon Logo
(Arr.) Attraction Finale
EPCOT ENTRANCE PLAZA
(Arr.) Golden Dream
COMMUNICORE EAST
Electronic Forum Theme
HORIZONS
“New Horizons” Theme
COMMUNICORE EAST
Backstage Magic
THE LIVING SEAS
Main Theme & “Suited for the Sea” Film
WONDERS OF LIFE
Goofy About Health
THE AMERICAN ADVENTURE
(Composer & Arr.) Golden Dream 1992
LIVING WITH THE LAND
Complete Attraction
FOOD ROCKS
(Producer) Complete Attraction
TEST TRACK
Queue Medley
JOURNEY INTO IMAGINATION with FIGMENT
(Composer) Complete Attraction
OTHER PARK MUSIC CREDITS
(In Chronological Order and Incomplete)
MEET THE WORLD
(Arr.) Queue
SPACE MOUNTAIN 1984
(Composer) “We’ve Come So Far” &
”Star Tunnel” Theme
AMERICAN JOURNEYS 360°
All Because Man Wanted to Fly
COUNTRY BEAR VACATION HOEDOWN
(Arr.) Complete Show
COUNTRY BEAR CHRISTMAS SPECIAL
(Arr.) Complete Show
THE GREAT MOVIE RIDE
(Arr.) Complete Attraction
PAN GALACTIC PIZZA
(Composer) Complete Show
Lyrics by Kevin Rafferty
MUPPETVISION 3D
(Arr.) Queue
WALT’S
(Arr.) Restaurant Atmosphere
SILVER SPUR
(Arr.) Restaurant Atmosphere
LE PAYS DES CONTES DE FEES
(Arr.) Complete Attraction
ROGER RABBIT’S CART TOON SPIN
(Arr.) Complete Attraction
CAROUSEL OF PROGRESS 1993
(Arr.) Complete Attraction
SONNY ECLIPSE
(Composer) Complete Show
Lyrics by Kevin Rafferty & Kal David
TOONTOWN W.A.C.K.Y RADIO SHOW
(Composer) Complete Soundtrack
THE ENCHANTED TIKI ROOM
UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT
(Arr.) Complete Show
IT’S TOUGH TO BE A BUG
(Composer) Complete Attraction
BUZZ LIGHTYEAR’S
SPACE RANGER SPIN
(Arr.) Complete Attraction
PARADISE PIER
(Arr.) Area Atmosphere
CALIFORNIA SCREAMIN’
(Composer) Complete Attraction
SUPERSTAR LIMO
(Composer) Complete Attraction
POOH‘S HONEY HUNT
(Arr.) Complete Attraction
MEDITERRANEAN HARBOR
(Arr.) Area Atmosphere
BUZZ LIGHTYEAR’S
ASTRO BLASTERS
(Arr.) Complete Attraction
”IT’S A SMALL WORLD” 2008
(Arr.) Complete Attraction
