Richard Stone (composer)

For other people named Richard Stone, see Richard Stone (disambiguation).

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, SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron, 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 Scoring Stage at Warner Bros. Studios; 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 1950s. He made a brief cameo in the Episode of Animaniacs "10 Shorts of Wakko".

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 series, including the Bruce Campbell western Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat, Pumpkinhead, as well as North Shore and the miniseries, "In a Child's Name". Stone worked on John Hughes films including Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Sixteen Candles. Stone also composed the music for the William Shatner series, "Rescue 911".

Stone has won several Emmy Awards for 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. Stone shared many of his music direction/composing awards with his team of composers, who included Steven 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.

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

Memorial

Stone's memorial service was held on April 2, 2001, in the Eastwood Scoring Stage.