Gene Vincent de Paul was an American pianist, composer, and songwriter, who partnered with Don Raye to write songs for Alice in Wonderland and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" segment of The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. They also wrote "Beware the Jabberwock" which was not included in the final version of Alice. A demo was recorded, and is included on the 2004 and 2010 DVD releases of the Disney movie.
Born in New York City and was educated at Benjamin Franklin High School and in private piano study. He was a pianist in dance orchestras, toured theaters as a singer, and arranged music for vocal groups. He served in the United States Army during World War II. He joined the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) in 1941 and went on to compose the music for many motion pictures. He was nominated (with Raye) for an Academy Award for Best Music, Original Song in 1942 for the song "Pig Foot Pete" from the movie Hellzapoppin'. The song actually was not included in that movie, but in the 1941 feature, Keep 'Em Flying, and was thus ineligible for the nomination and award. His other film credits included Ride 'Em Cowboy, Moonlight in Hawaii, In the Navy, A Song is Born, You Can't Run Away from It, Broadway Rhythm, I Dood It, Larceny with Music, Hi'Ya Chum, Behind the Eight Ball, and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers with Johnny Mercer whom he had collaborated previously for the Broadway musical, Lil' Abner.
Whether by himself or through collaboration, de Paul wrote sings, like "I'll Remember April", "Cow Cow Boogie", "Teach Me Tonight", "Mister Five by Five", "He's My Guy", "Milkman, Keep Those Bottles Quiet", "Johnny Get Your Gun Again", "Love Me", "Star Eyes", "You Don't Know What Love Is", "Irresistible You", "When You're In Love", "Lonesome Polecat", "Sobbin' Women", "Love In a Home", "If I Had My Druthers", "The Country's in the Very Best of Hands", "Namely You", ""Wait Till Tomorrow", Jubilation T. Cornpone", "Your Red Wagon", "A Song Was Born", "Wake Up, Jacob", "You Can't Run Away from It", "You Don't Know What Love Is", "Gimme Some Skin, My Friend", and "Temporarily".
When Seven Brides for Seven Brothers was adapted for the stage with additional new songs by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn, de Paul was nominated for Broadway's 1983 Tony Award as Best Score and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1985.
De Paul died in 1988 and was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Hollywood Hills.
Disney Filmography[]
| Year | Film | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1942 | Bambi | Music Department - uncredited |
| 1948 | So Dear to My Heart | Songwriter: "It's Whatcha Do With Whatcha Got" - uncredited |
| 1949 | The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad | Songwriter: "Ichabod Crane" "Katrina" "Headless Horseman" |
| 1951 | Alice in Wonderland | Songwriter: "'Twas Brillig" |
