Richard Stone (composer)

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Richard Stone (November 27, 1953 - March 9, 2001) was an American composer. He played an important part in the revival of Warner Bros. animation in the 1990s, composing music and songs for Tiny Toon Adventures, Taz-Mania, Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, Freakazoid, The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries, Road Rovers, and Histeria! Many consider him to be an heir to the style of Carl Stalling.

Stone's work on these cartoons was recorded in the "Eastwood 8" studio at Warner Brothers; For a period of over 10 years his music was recorded in the same room and with the same piano used by Carl Stalling for Warner Brothers animation in the 1940s and 50s.

The 50-piece "Animaniacs orchestra" included studio musicians such as Vinnie Colaiuta, Rick Baptist, Ralph Humphry, Ian Underwood, and Dominic Ferra.

After studying cello with Lloyd Smith and Orlando Cole in addition to music theory at the Curtis Institute of Music, Stone went on to earn a degree from Indiana University. In 1980 he moved to California to work as a music editor with such composers as Georges Delerue on Platoon and other films) and Maurice Jarre (on The Witness).

He went on to write music for various feature films and television shows, including the Bruce Campbell western "Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat", "Pumpkinhead", as well as "North Shore" and the mini series, "In a Child's Name". Stone worked on John Hughes movies including Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Sixteen Candles. Stone also composed the title-theme and music for the William Shatner series, "Rescue 911".

Among the Emmy Awards Richard Stone has won for his music: outstanding achievement in music direction and composing for "Animaniacs," "Pinky and the Brain," and "Histeria," as well as Outstanding Original Song, shared with lyricist Tom Ruegger, for the Main Titles of "Animaniacs" and "Freakazoid." Richard shared many of his music direction/composing awards with his team of composers, who included Steve Bernstein, Julie Bernstein, Gordon Goodwin and Tim Kelly.

According to "Animaniacs" writer/producer Paul Rugg, crew members fondly referred to Richard as "The Great Stonini," a sort of musical magician whose compositions and orchestrations often raised the quality of the cartoons to unexpected musical and artistic heights.

Mr. Stone died of pancreatic cancer in Los Angeles, California at age 47.