Richard "The Great Stoneini" Stone (November 27, 1953 - March 9, 2001) was an Emmy award-winning American composer best known for his contributions to Warner Bros. animation. Richard began his composing career with Warner Bros. on Tiny Toon Adventures in the episode "The Wide World of Elmyra". He would move on from Tiny Toons to Animaniacs where his influence was greatly shown. Many fans compared his work with that of Looney Tunes composer Carl Stalling. In fact, when recording the music for Animaniacs, Richard used the same soundstage that Stalling used (now known as the Eastwood Scoring Stage); and even utilized the same piano. Richard's other works with Warner Bros. include Taz-Mania, Pinky and the Brain, Freakazoid!, The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries, and Histeria! On March 9, 2001, Richard passed away at the young age of 47 from pancreatic cancer.
Some songs that The Great Stoneini contributed to in the original Animaniacs are reprised in the 2020 Animaniacs reboot; and are also present in the the marketing for it as well as the soundtracks for Seasons One and Three. He receives a posthumous series credit for "Original Themes By" as well as "Written By" credits on the soundtracks.
Song Credits[]
- Theme Song (music)
- Pinky and the Brain Theme
- Various background scores and vocal songs in various episodes across Animaniacs; Pinky and the Brain; and Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain
- Various songs in Wakko's Wish
Trivia[]
- Richard Stone is behind the rise of the famous musical tune that accompanied many 90's and 2000's Warner Bros. Family Entertainment and WBA productions; and it is considered to be a trademark of his (the tune is said to literally sound-out "I'm Rich-ard Stone!"). It plays in the WB Family Entertainment and WBA intro animations starring Bugs Bunny, the end of Animaniacs Theme Song, and portions of many other scores in the 90's WB cartoons. Although the opening was discontinued in 2009, the signature bars live on in the reboot through the theme song and several other songs (and even at the end of other works such as the Looney Tunes Cartoons short "Pest Coaster").