One of the first few posts I wrote for The Daily Mickey was about Lee Cockerell and Bruce Laval’s windows on Main Street. At the time, I didn’t put very much thought into how that post might be part of a series on the stories behind the different windows, so I simply wrote it and posted it to the blog. Looking back, however, I realize I should have started the series in an orderly manner, working my way up one side of the Main Street and down the other. With that in mind, today’s post will focus on the windows on the northwest side of Town Square, above the Emporium.
The first set of windows above the Emporium, closest to the Harmony Barber Shop, belong to the Plaza School of Music. As with almost all of the windows on Main Street, those for the Plaza School of Music aren’t advertising an actual company. Instead, they serve as the opening and closing credits of the story that is the Magic Kingdom. In the case of these three windows, credit is given to three men who influenced the music of Walt Disney World: Buddy Baker, Bob Jackman and George Bruns.
Windows on Main Street: Buddy Baker
The leftmost window, dedicated to Buddy Baker, reads:
Sheet Music
B. Baker
Norman “Buddy” Baker (January 4, 1918 – July 26, 2002) is a Disney legend who composed over 200 scores for Disney television, films, and theme parks. In 1954, Baker was hired by Walt Disney Studios to help compose the music for the Disney television series Davy Crockett. During his 28 year career with Disney Studios, Baker was the musical director for some of the most popular Disney music of all time, including Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean and it’s a small world.
Baker also scored the popular Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln and the Carousel of Progress for the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair. Toward the end of his career, Baker was musical director for EPCOT Center, supervising and composing music for the pavilions of Future World and World Showcase, including the scores of Universe of Energy, the American Adventure and Impressions de France. In 1983, Baker retired from his work with The Walt Disney Company and went on to direct the University of Southern California scoring program. He was inducted as a Disney Legend in 1998 and passed away in the summer of 2002.
Windows on Main Street: Bob Jackman
The middle window, dedicated to Bob Jackman, reads:
Plaza School of Music
Band Uniforms
B. Jackman
Unfortunately, I found very little information about Bob Jackman when researching his window. Jackman was the manager of the Disney music department starting in 1955. During that same year, he and William Lava co-wrote the opening theme to The Mickey Mouse Club serial The Adventures of Spin and Marty. He also co-wrote the song guests here while touring the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, Swisskapolka. An interesting fact about Jackman is that he was the voice of Goofy in a number of cartoons in the 1950s.
If anyone has additional information on Bob Jackson, please share it by submitting a comment using the form below.
Windows on Main Street: George Bruns
The window on the right, dedicated to George Bruns, reads:
Music Rolls
G. Bruns
George Bruns (July 3, 1914 – May 23, 1983) is, like Buddy Baker, a Disney Legend who contributed to over 200 motion pictures, television shows and more during his 22 year career with Disney. In 1953, he was personally hired by Walt Disney to score Sleeping Beauty, which received an Academy Award nomination for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture. This was the first of three such nominations for Bruns, as he received one in 1961 for Babes in Toyland and another in 1963 for The Sword in the Stone.
Bruns is also famous for a number of his other works, including: co-writing the Ballad of Davy Crockett; the music portion of the Zorro theme song; contributions to the TV series Disneyland, The Mickey Mouse Club and Disney’s Wonderful World of Color; and contributions to the films 101 Dalmatians, Jungle Book, Robin Hood and The Love Bug. Bruns retired in 1975, passed away in 1983 and was posthumously inducted as a Disney Legend in 2001.
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