Walt Disney Studios is known for their great animated films filled with memorable songs, songs that we remember from our childhood and that last with us through adulthood. They are songs we share with our own children as they grow. We usually remember the names of the actors who brought the characters to life, but not everyone pays attention to the names of those who wrote those songs that stay with us. Leigh Harline, a prolific composer, was one of those people who brought the early Disney characters to life through his songs.
Harline was the son of Swedish immigrants who converted to Mormonism. He was born in Utah on March 26, 1907, and was his parent’s thirteenth child. His family recognized his musical talents early in his life, and he played the organ on Sundays at the Mormon Tabernacle when he was twelve years old. He attended the Latter Day Saints High School and then the University of Utah, where he majored in music and studied piano and organ with J. Spencer Cornwall, the conductor of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Continue reading