A composer, “Buddy” Baker learned to read music before text. He moved to Los Angeles in 1938 after earning a doctorate in music at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Mo. He worked for The Bob Hope Show on radio and later became the show’s musical director. He also worked on shows for Jack Benny and Eddie Cantor and, in 1954, took a job at the Walt Disney Studios.
He ended up writing the scores for dozens of Disney features, including the original animated Winnie the Pooh films. He also wrote incidental music for Disneyland attractions, and most memorably scored the music played in the ride “It’s a Small World”. He wrote music for Disney TV shows such as Zorro — as wrote something new every day for The Mickey Mouse Club show during its five-day-a-week, four-year run.
After retiring from Disney in 1983, he went on to become the Director the Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television Program at the University of Southern California. He died July 26 at home in Southern California. He was 84.