Evelyn Kennedy
# Evelyn Kennedy

Evelyn Kennedy (1915 – 1990) was a music editor for the Walt Disney Company, where she contributed to over 100 movies, including “Lady and the Tramp” (1955), “Sleeping Beauty” (1959), “The Jungle Book” (1967), “Mary Poppins” (1964), and “The Aristocats” (1970). She worked for Disney for the later part of the Golden age of American Animation in the era before the cheaper production techniques of animated television pushed into the spotlight.

## Early life

Evelyn Kennedy attended university at Amarillo School of Music in Amarillo Texas. She was a pupil of Lila Austin who had studied under E. Robert Schmitz and Joseph Lhevine. Evelyn Kennedy married Austen Myers on July 12, 1936 and became Evelyn Kennedy Myers. Kennedy was an accomplished pianist and accordionist, and began teaching early in her life. Kennedy would hold recitals for her students and she would also perform on the keys on stage. She followed her teacher Lila Austin in taking a teaching job at the Amarillo School of Music. At the start of World War II, Evelyn Kennedy joined the U.S Navy and was able to get a job as a stenographer typist for the Walt Disney Studios, where the production studios were being used to provide propaganda for the war effort. This proved to be a pathway into a future job with the Walt Disney Studios.

## Career at Disney

Because of the gender shift in the workforce during World War II, women were taking a larger role in the workplace. Breaking into the film industry, which was heavily male dominated, was difficult. But Evelyn Kennedy’s skill solidified her position. One of the first films she worked on was “Lady and the Tramp”, which earned an estimated $6.5 million in distributor rentals on its first release in 1955. As the music editor for the film, Kennedy played an integral role in the success of the project. Over the next three decades, Kennedy edited and compiled materials for over one hundred films and carried forward the momentum of Disney’s accomplishments. In an interview with Richard Sherman, he talks about his work-relationship with Evelyn Kennedy. “She was a bit older than me, so I was kind of like 'the kid' wandering around, but I was so interested in how she did it. She never let anybody [else] into her editing room where she worked with the Moviola – switching and pushing the film around to make it work. She had a little sign that said, 'Nobody can enter except Richard Sherman.' I was the one guy she would let come in. I was not supposed to talk, so I could just stand there and watch how she worked and how she did it. I was fascinated by it.... It was 'lessons' for me. I was learning so much in those days."

When talking about her job as a film music editor in 1982, Kennedy's only lament was that she "there were more openings for young people looking for a career".

## List of works

| Year | Title |
| - | - |
| 1955 | Lady and the Tramp |
| 1955 | The African Lion |
| 1955 | Men Against the Arctic |
| 1956 | Secrets of Life |
| 1957 | Public Pigeon No. 1 |
| 1957 | Perri |
| 1957 | Old Yeller |
| 1958 | The Light in the Forest |
| 1958 | White Wilderness |
| 1958 | Tonka |
| 1959 | Sleeping Beauty |
| 1959 | The Shaggy Dog |
| 1959 | Darby O'Gill and the Little People |
| 1960 | Toby Tyler or Ten Weeks with a Circus |
| 1960 | Pollyanna |
| 1960 | Jungle Cat |
| 1960 | The Hound That Thought He Was a Raccoon |
| 1960 | Ten Who Dared |
| 1961 | One Hundred and One Dalmatians |
| 1961 | The Absent Minded Professor |
| 1961 | The Parent Trap |
| 1961 | Nikki, Wild Dog of the North |
| 1961 | Babes in Toyland |
| 1962 | Moon Pilot |
| 1962 | Bon Voyage! |
| 1962 | Big Red |
| 1962 | The Legend of Lobo |
| 1963 | Son of Flubber |
| 1963 | Summer Magic |
| 1963 | Savage Sam |
| 1963 | The Incredible Journey |
| 1963 | The Three Lives of Thomasina |
| 1963 | The Sword in the Stone |
| 1964 | The Misadventures of Merlin Jones |
| 1964 | A Tiger Walks |
| 1964 | Mary Poppins |
| 1965 | Those Calloways |
| 1965 | That Darn Cat! |
| 1966 | The Ugly Dachshund |
| 1966 | Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N. |
| 1966 | Follow Me, Boys! |
| 1963-1966 | The Magical World of Disney |
| 1967 | Monkeys, Go Home! |
| 1967 | The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin |
| 1967 | The Gnome-Mobile |
| 1967 | The Jungle Book |
| 1967 | The Happiest Millionaire |
| 1968 | Blackbeard's Ghost |
| 1968 | The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band |
| 1968 | C |
| 1968 | The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit |
| 1968 | The Love Bug |
| 1969 | Rascal |
| 1969 | The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes |
| 1970 | King of the Grizzlies |
| 1970 | The Boatniks |
| 1970 | The Aristocats |
| 1970 | The Wild Country |
| 1970 | The Courtship of Eddie's Father |
| 1971 | The Barefoot Executive |
| 1971 | Scandalous John |
| 1971 | The Million Dollar Duck |
| 1971 | Bedknobs and Broomsticks |
| 1971 | The Biscuit Eater |
| 1972 | Napoleon and Samantha |
| 1972 | Now You See Him, Now You Don't |
| 1972 | Run, Cougar, Run |
| 1972 | Snowball Express |
| 1973 | The World's Greatest Athlete |
| 1973 | Charley and the Angel |
| 1973 | One Little Indian |
| 1973 | Robin Hood |
| 1973 | Superdad |
| 1974 | Herbie Rides Again |
| 1973 | The Bears and I |
| 1974 | The Castaway Cowboy |
| 1975 | The Strongest Man in the World |
| 1975 | Escape to Witch Mountain |
| 1975 | The Apple Dumpling Gang |
| 1976 | No Deposit, No Return |
| 1976 | Treasure of Matecumbe |
| 1976 | Gus |
| 1976 | The Shaggy D.A. |
| 1976 | Freaky Friday |
| 1977 | The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh |
| 1977 | The Rescuers |
| 1977 | A Tale of Two Critters |
| 1977 | Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo |
| 1977 | Pete's Dragon |
| 1978 | Return from Witch Mountain |
| 1978 | The Cat from Outer Space |
| 1978 | Hot Lead and Cold Feet |
| 1978 | The Small One |
| 1979 | The North Avenue Irregulars |
| 1979 | The Black Hole |
| 1980 | The Last Flight of Noah's Ark |
| 1980 | Herbie Goes Bananas |
| 1981 | The Fox and the Hound |
