Life and career

The son of Disney Studios producer Louis Debney (Zorro, The Mickey Mouse Club), John was born and raised in nearby Glendale, California, where he began guitar lessons at age six and played in rock bands in college. Debney earned his B.A. degree in Music Composition from the California Institute of Arts in 1979. Two weeks after graduating from CalArts, he got a job at copying department at Disney. One day, Buddy Baker saw him and had him arrange music that would later be used for different pavilions and rides at EPCOT Center (at Walt Disney World in Florida). After three years at Disney, he freelanced for television composer Mike Post. Debney furthered his hands-on training by working with Hanna-Barbera composer Hoyt Curtin. After this, Debney went on to score television projects as diverse as Disneyland, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, SeaQuest DSV, A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, The Cape, The Lazarus Man, Piggsburg Pigs!, The Further Adventures of SuperTed, Doctor Who, Cagney and Lacey, Tiny Toon Adventures, The Young Riders, The New Yogi Bear Show, Police Academy: The Animated Series, Fame, Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, Dragon's Lair, Freshman Dorm, Pop Quiz and Dink, the Little Dinosaur, for which he won an Emmy for Best Main Title. In the early 1990s, Debney began to score indie films and Disneyland attractions. In 1991, Debney composed the music for Phantom Manor in Disneyland Paris. In 1993, he scored his first studio feature, the Disney comedy Hocus Pocus starring Bette Midler.

Debney has since gone on to have a career composing scores for many films including: The Passion of the Christ, Bruce Almighty, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Elf, Sin City, Chicken Little, Liar Liar, Spy Kids, The Scorpion King, The Princess Diaries and Predators.

Debney has also composed scores for the video games Lair and The Sims Medieval. In 2010, he composed the theme music for the Nickelodeon television series Supah Ninjas.

Filmography

1990s

Year	Title	Director(s)	Studio(s)	Notes
1990	Jetsons: The Movie	William Hanna Joseph Barbara	Hanna-Barbara Productions Universal Pictures	N/A
	The Face of Fear	Farhad Mann	Columbia Broadcast System Warner Bros. Television	Television film
1991	Into the Badlands	Sam Pillsbury	MCA Television The Ogiens/Kane Company	Television film
1992	Still Not Quite Human	Eric Luke	Walt Disney Productions	Television film
1993	I Yabba-Dabba Do!	William Hanna	Hanna-Barbara Productions	Television film
	Jonny's Golden Quest	Don Lusk Paul Sommer	Hanna-Barbara Productions	Television film
	Class of '61	Gregory Hoblit	Amblin Entertainment Universal Pictures	Television film
	Hocus Pocus	Kenny Ortega	Walt Disney Pictures	N/A
	The Halloween Tree	Mario Piluso	Hanna-Barbara Productions	Television film
	The Town Santa Forgot	Robert Alvarez	Hanna-Barbara Productions	Television film
	Hollyrock-a-Bye Baby	William Hanna	Hanna-Barbara Productions	Television film
1994	Gunmen	Deran Sarafian	Davis Entertainment Dimension Films	N/A
	White Fang 2: Myth of the White Wolf	Ken Olin	Walt Disney Pictures	Also composed a theme for the Walt Disney logo.
	Little Giants	Duwayne Dunham	Amblin Entertainment Warner Bros. Family Entertainment	N/A
1995	Chameleon	Michael Pavone	Rysher Entertainment	Direct-to-video
	Houseguest	Randall Miller	Caravan Pictures Hollywood Pictures	N/A
	In Pursuit of Honor	Ken Olin	HBO Films	Television film
	Runaway Brain	Chris Bailey	Walt Disney Pictures	Short film
	Cutthroat Island	Renny Harlin	Carolco Pictures Tele-Communications, Inc. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer StudioCanal	Score performed by the London Symphony Orchestra.
	Sudden Death	Peter Hyams	Universal Pictures	N/A
1996	Getting Away with Murder	Harvey Miller	Savoy Pictures	N/A
	Doctor Who	Geoffrey Sax	Universal Studios BBC Films BBC Worldwide 20th Century Fox Fox	Television film
	Carpool	Arthur Miller	Regency Enterprises Warner Bros.	N/A
1997	The Relic	Peter Hyams	Mutual Film Company PolyGram Filmed Entertainment Paramount Pictures Universal Pictures	This score was entierely MIDI-generated.
	Liar Liar	Tom Shadyac	Imagine Entertainment Universal Pictures	Theme composed by James Newton Howard
	I Know What You Did Last Summer	Jim Gillespie	Mandalay Entertainment Columbia Pictures	N/A
1998	Paulie	John Roberts	Amblin Entertainment Allied Filmmakers Mutual Film Company DreamWorks Pictures	N/A
	I'll Be Home for Christmas	Arlene Sanford	Mandeville Films Walt Disney Pictures	N/A
1999	My Favorite Martian	Donald Petrie	Walt Disney Pictures	N/A
	Lost & Found	Jeff Pollack	Alcon Entertainment Warner Bros.	N/A
	Inspector Gadget	David Kellogg	Caravan Pictures Walt Disney Pictures	N/A
	Dick	Andrew Fleming	Phoenix Pictures Columbia Pictures	N/A
	Komodo	Michael Lantieri	Scanbox Entertainment	N/A
	The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland	Gary Halvorson	Jim Henson Productions Children's Television Workshop Columbia Pictures	with Harry Gregson-Williams
	End of Days	Peter Hyams	Beacon Pictures Universal Pictures Buena Vista International	N/A

2000s

Year	Title	Director(s)	Studio(s)	Notes
2000	Relative Values	Eric Styles	Alliance Atlantis Communications Starz Encore Entertainment	N/A
	Michael Jordan to the Max	James D. Stern Don Kempf	Giant Screen Films	IMAX documentary
	The Replacements	Howard Deutch	Dylan Sellers Productions Bel-Air Entertainment Warner Bros.	N/A
	Running Mates	Ron Lagomarsino	Turner Entertainment	Television film
	The Emperor's New Groove	Mark Dindal	Walt Disney Animation Studios Walt Disney Pictures	N/A
	G-Saviour	Graeme Campbell	Bandai Visual	Theme music only
2001	See Spot Run	John Whitesell	Village Roadshow Pictures Warner Bros.	N/A
	Heartbreakers	David Mirkin	Davis Entertainment Winchester Films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer	N/A
	Spy Kids	Robert Rodriguez	Troublemaker Studios Dimension Films	with Danny Elfman and Robert Rodriguez
	Cats & Dogs	Lawrence Guterman	Zide/Perry Productions Rhythm and Hues Studios Village Roadshow Pictures Warner Bros.	N/A
	The Princess Diaries	Garry Marshall	BrownHouse Productions Walt Disney Pictures	N/A
	Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius	John A. Davis	Nickelodeon Movies O Entertainment DNA Productions Paramount Pictures	N/A
2002	Snow Dogs	Brian Levant	Kerner Entertainment Walt Disney Pictures	N/A
	Dragonfly	Tom Shadyac	Shady Acres Entertainment Spyglass Entertainment Universal Pictures Buena Vista International	N/A
	The Scorpion King	Chuck Russell	Alphaville Films WWE Studios Universal Pictures	N/A
	Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams	Robert Rodriguez	Troublemaker Studios Dimension Films	with Robert Rodriguez
	Swimfan	John Polson	20th Century Fox	Themes only
	The Tuxedo	Kevin Donovan	Blue Train Productions Vanguard Films DreamWorks Pictures	with Christophe Beck
	The Hot Chick	Tom Brady	Happy Madison Productions Touchstone Pictures	N/A
2003	Most	Bobby Garabedian	Prague Indies Productions Eastwind Films	Short film
	Malibu's Most Wanted	John Whitesell	Warner Bros. Pictures	Themes only
	Bruce Almighty	Tom Shadyac	Shady Acres Entertainment Spyglass Entertainment Universal Pictures Touchstone Pictures	N/A
	Elf	Jon Favreau	New Line Cinema Warner Bros. Pictures DreamWorks Pictures	N/A
	Looney Tunes: Back in Action	Joe Dante	Warner Bros. Pictures	Additional music only
2004	Welcome to Mooseport	Donald Petrie	20th Century Fox	N/A
	The Passion of the Christ	Mel Gibson	Icon Productions Newmarket Films 20th Century Fox	Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score at the 78th Academy Awards.
	The Whole Ten Yards	Howard Deutch	Franchise Pictures Cheyenne Enterprises Warner Bros.	N/A
	Raising Helen	Garry Marshall	Beacon Pictures Hyde Park Entertainment Mandeville Films Touchstone Pictures	N/A
	Spider-Man 2	Sam Raimi	Marvel Entertainment Columbia Pictures	Additional music only.
	The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement	Garry Marshall	Walt Disney Pictures	N/A
	Christmas with the Kranks	Joe Roth	Revolution Studios 1492 Pictures Columbia Pictures	N/A
2005	The Pacifier	Adam Shankman	Offspring Entertainment Spyglass Entertainment Walt Disney Pictures	N/A
	Sin City	Robert Rodriguez	Troublemaker Studios Dimension Films Miramax Films	with Robert Rodriguez and Graeme Revell
	The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D	Robert Rodriguez	Troublemaker Studios Dimension Films Miramax Films Columbia Pictures	with Robert Rodriguez and Graeme Revell
	Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo	Mike Bigalow	Happy Madison Productions Columbia Pictures	Theme music only
	Duma	Carroll Ballard	C.O.R.E. Warner Bros. Pictures	with George Acogny
	Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story	John Gatins	Tollin/Robbins Productions Hyde Park Entertainment DreamWorks Pictures	N/A
	The Seed	Joe Hahn	Warner Bros. Pictures	with Unkle and Mike Shinoda. Short film.
	Venom	Jim Gillespie	Dimension Films	Themes only
	Chicken Little	Mark Dindal	Walt Disney Animation Studios Walt Disney Pictures	N/A
	Zathura	Jon Favreau	Radar Pictures Columbia Pictures	N/A
	Cheaper by the Dozen 2	Adam Shankman	21 Laps Entertainment 20th Century Fox	N/A
2006	Keeping Up with the Steins	Scott Marshall	Miramax Films	N/A
	The Ant Bully	John A. Davis	Legendary Pictures Playtone DNA Productions Warner Bros.	N/A
	Barnyard	Steve Oedekerk	Nickelodeon Movies O Entertainment Omation Animation Studio Paramount Pictures	N/A
	Idlewild	Bryan Barber	Atlas Entertainment Universal Pictures	N/A
	Everyone's Hero	Colin Brady Dan St. Pierre Christopher Reeve	IDT Entertainment Arc Productions 20th Century Fox	N/A
2007	Spider-Man 3	Sam Raimi	Marvel Entertainment Columbia Pictures	Additional music only.
	Georgia Rule	Garry Marshall	Morgan Creek Productions Mandalay Entertainment Universal Pictures	N/A
	Evan Almighty	Tom Shadyac	Universal Pictures Spyglass Entertainment Relativity Media Shady Acres Entertainment	N/A
	Big Stan	Rob Schneider	Sony Pictures Home Entertainment	Themes only
2008	Meet Dave	Brian Robbins	20th Century Fox Regency Enterprises	N/A
	The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor	Rob Cohen	Universal Pictures	Additional music only
	Swing Vote	Joshua Michael Stern	Touchstone Pictures Treehouse Films	N/A
	The Stoning of Soraya M.	Cyrus Nowrasteh	Roadside Attractions	N/A
	My Best Friend's Girl	Howard Deutch	Lionsgate	N/A
2009	Hotel for Dogs	Thor Freudenthal	Paramount Pictures Dreamworks Pictures Nickelodeon Movies	N/A
	Hannah Montana: The Movie	Peter Chelsom	Walt Disney Pictures	N/A
	Aliens in the Attic	John Schultz	20th Century Fox Regency Enterprises	N/A
	Old Dogs	Walt Becker	Walt Disney Pictures	N/A

2010s

Year	Title	Director(s)	Studio(s)	Notes
2010	Valentine's Day	Garry Marshall	Warner Bros. Pictures New Line Cinema	N/A
	Snowmen	Robert Kirbyson	Arc Entertainment Heritage Films	N/A
	Iron Man 2	Jon Favreau	Paramount Pictures Marvel Studios	N/A
	Predators	Nimród Antal	20th Century Fox	Adapted Alan Silvestri's scores
	Yogi Bear	Eric Brevig	Warner Bros. Pictures	N/A
2011	No Strings Attached	Ivan Reitman	Paramount Pictures	N/A
	The Change-Up	David Dobkin	Universal Pictures	with Theodore Shapiro
	Dream House	Jim Sheridan	Universal Pictures	N/A
	The Double	Michael Brandt	Image Entertainment	N/A
	New Year's Eve	Garry Marshall	Warner Bros. Pictures New Line Cinema	N/A
2012	A Thousand Words	Brian Robbins	Paramount Pictures DreamWorks Pictures	N/A
	The Three Stooges	Farrelly brothers	20th Century Fox	N/A
	Alex Cross	Rob Cohen	Summit Entertainment	N/A
2013	The Call	Brad Anderson	TriStar Pictures	N/A
	Jobs	Joshua Michael Stern	Open Road Films	N/A
2014	Draft Day	Ivan Reitman	Lionsgate	N/A
	Walk of Shame	Steven Brill	FilmDistrict	N/A
	The Road Within	Gren Wells	Well Go USA Entertainment	Theme music only
	The Cobbler	Thomas McCarthy	Voltage Pictures	N/A
	Stonehearst Asylum	Brad Anderson	Millennium Films	N/A
2015	The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water	Paul Tibbitt	Paramount Pictures Nickelodeon Movies Paramount Animation United Plankton Pictures	N/A
	Careful What You Wish For	Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum	Big Air Studios	Theme music only
	Broken Horses	Vidhu Vinod Chopra	Reliance Entertainment Fox Star Studios	N/A
2016	The Young Messiah	Cyrus Nowrasteh	Focus Features	N/A
	The Jungle Book	Jon Favreau	Walt Disney Pictures	N/A
	Mother's Day	Garry Marshall	Open Road Films	N/A
	Hacksaw Ridge	Mel Gibson	Cross Creek Pictures Icon Productions	Replaced James Horner
	Ice Age: Collision Course	Mike Thurmeier	20th Century Fox Blue Sky Studios	N/A

Year	Film	Director
1989-PAST	Trenchcoat in Paradise (1989) Welcome to Pooh Corner (episode: "Too Smart For Strangers", as "MUSIC ARRANGED BY") Seven Hours to Judgement (1988) The Further Adventures of Tennessee Buck (1988) Not Since Casanova (1988) The Wild Pair (1987) The Day My Kid Went Punk (1987)	Martha Coolidge Philip F. Messina Beau Bridges David Keith Brett Thompson Beau Bridges

Awards

Year	Award	Result
2015	Emmy Award - Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music: Texas Rising (with Bruce Broughton) (2015)	Nominated
2012	Emmy Award - Outstanding Music Composition for a Miniseries, Movie, or Special (Original Dramatic Score): Hatfields & McCoys: Part 1 (with Tony Morales) (2012)	Nominated
2005	Academy Award - Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score: The Passion of the Christ (2004)	Nominated
1997	Emmy Award - Outstanding Main Title Theme Music: The Cape (1996)	Nominated
1997	Emmy Award - Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore): The Cape: Pilot (with Louis Febre) (1996)	Won
1994	Emmy Award - Outstanding Individual Achievement in Main Title Theme Music: SeaQuest DSV (1993)	Won
1991	Emmy Award - Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore): The Young Riders: Kansas (1989)	Won
1990	Emmy Award - Outstanding Achievement in Main Title Theme Music: The Young Riders (1989)	Nominated

[ Source: Wikipedia ]