Music in Animation

Music in cartoons has been very prominent since animation became popular. It is used to accomplish many different things in a scene. It can speak for characters that can’t or won’t speak, set tempo, set the time period, be sound effects, and make the scene interesting. The use of music in animation has changed over the years, but it has always played a prominent part in the success of the film. Tom and Jerry cartoons use music so much, that without it the cartoon would be completely different. In these cartoons, the music hits the action for every single movement of each character. This technique is called Mickey Mousing. Music is used to make sound effects as well. It hits the action in ways, and seems like it is the sound effects sometimes. The music is also used to speak for the characters. An example of this is when Jerry almost runs inside Tom’s mouth, and the music plays and shows his alarm. In the Tom and Jerry scene that was showed in class, the music provided huge support to the scene. As Jerry explored the bowling alley, the music mimicked his every step and move. Jerry would tip toe, and the music would trill every time his foot touched the ground. The music would play, and accent his every move. It winded with him as he slid down the cord, and it flowed with him as he skated on the bowling lane. The instruments used varied as to keep the music from becoming monotonous. It seemed though as if it were mainly strings and woodwinds. For Jerry’s movements, the instrumentation was usually played in a high register, and Tom’s movements were played lower to show he was bigger than Jerry. Tom and Jerry was very much a children’s show. There was almost no dialogue, and the plots were simple. Instead of dialogue and sound effects, music was used. The music was continuous throughout the scenes. Having continuous music was necessary, because the music imitated everything that happened. This provided unspoken dialogue, sound effects, and tempo. The