Harry Arends is an American television producer, director, and editor best known for his extensive work with The Walt Disney Company from the late 1970s through the early 2000s. He is particularly recognized for producing/editing “Making-of” documentaries for Disney animated classics and for the best-selling children’s home videos in the world… the Disney Sing-Along Songs series.
Career & Disney Contributions
A UCLA alumnus, he served briefly as Associate Curator of the UCLA Film and Television archives. Arends specialized in documentary specials and anniversary celebrations including Remembering Marilyn, 50 Years of Television, 50 Years of Disney Magic, and Jack Benny: Comedy in Bloom.
Other notable credits include:
“Making-of” Documentaries: Produced and directed behind-the-scenes specials for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (“Still the Fairest of Them All”), The Little Mermaid, Cinderella, Old Yeller, Peter Pan, more.
Direct-to-Video Features: Directed and produced titles like Winnie the Pooh: Seasons of Giving (1999) and The Spirit of Mickey (1998).
Sing-Along Songs: Worked on over a dozen volumes of the popular Disney Sing-Along Songs series, including Be Our Guest and Fun With Music.
Awards and Nominations
Arends has received multiple industry nominations for his editing work on major television specials:
Primetime Emmy Awards: Nominated three times for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Editing for:
Bob Hope: The First 90 Years (1993)
The Best of Disney: 50 Years of Magic (1991)
Red Hot + Blue: A Tribute to Cole Porter (1990)
CableACE Award: Nominated for editing the documentary special Rick Nelson: A Brother Remembers (1989).
He is also the recipient of over eight Telly Awards.
He also produced children’s language teaching programs including “Disney’s Adventures into English”, and “Disney’s Fun with English,” an eight episode home video series. Other projects included special event tributes to celebrities such as Carol Channing, Julie Andrews, Chita Rivera, Buddy Hackett and Syndey Pollock.
Other Activities
Beyond his professional career at Disney, Arends is a collector and historian of popular music from the early 20th century. He hosts “Harry Arends’ Record Party” on YouTube, where he shares and discusses jazz, dance music, and vintage “shellac” recordings and cylinder records from the 1900s to the 1950s.
His papers are housed in the UCSB Library, Department of Special Research Collections.
Harry Arends Sound Archives 