Dean Elliott

May 11, 1917 – December 31, 1999

Sioux City, Iowa, USA

William Lorenzo Bunt (May 11, 1917 – December 31, 1999), known professionally as Dean Elliott, was an American television and film composer. Educated at the University of Wisconsin, Elliott's first composing work was for Four Star Revue an early comedy program which debuted in 1950. From here, he went on to compose for various cartoon series, most prominently Mr. Magoo in the 1950s, but later he struck an alliance with master Animation director Chuck Jones and went on to compose the scores for many of his Tom and Jerry cartoons between 1965 and 1967, starting with Duel Personality and finishing with Advance and Be Mechanized, Chuck Jones' second-to-last Tom and Jerry cartoon in 1967. He also composed a few film scores, including College Confidential (1960), Sex Kittens Go to College (1960), The Las Vegas Hillbillys (1966), and The Phantom Tollbooth (1970). In 1962, Elliott released an LP on Capitol Records entitled Zounds! What Sounds!, credited to "Dean Elliott and His Swinging Big, Big Band." The LP was made with the assistance of Phil Kaye, a sound effects virtuoso who worked with Elliott on the Tom and Jerry cartoons. The LP is now firmly ensconced in the pantheon of "space age pop" or lounge classics. Elliott went on to compose for a number of Dr. Seuss' cartoons before joining DePatie-Freleng Enterprises in 1975 to commence work on their Return to the Planet of the Apes series for which he provided incidental music. He also wrote all the music for the cult animated New Fantastic Four series in 1978 before moving to Warner Bros. with Chuck Jones where he provided all the music for Jones' The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie in 1979, and later for Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24½th Century and Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over in 1980, the latter which was nominated for an Emmy. He also was musical director for Ruby-Spears Productions from 1978–1987, where he was contracted to contribute music for the likes of such shows as Fangface, The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show, Heathcliff, Saturday Supercade, and Alvin and the Chipmunks series. In 1980, he again teamed up with Chuck Jones to score Jones' television special (for W-B!) Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over, in which the "Merrie Melodies" short Soup or Sonic was derived. In 1983, he scored the additional music for the Peanuts special What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown?. His music has re-appeared in various productions including: The Bugs n' Daffy Show, That's Warner Bros.!, Merrie Melodies: Starring Bugs Bunny and Friends, and The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show. Elliott died on December 31, 1999, at the age of 82.