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Cartoon Music

Running Head: Cartoon Music

Cartoon Music

Cartoon Music
Awhile ago I was flipping through radio stations and I came to one that was playing classical music, the song that was playing at the time got me to pause at that station for a few moments. I didn't know what the piece of music was, or who composed it, but I knew it sounded familiar. I ended up having that theme stuck in my head for about a week, and I was trying to figure out where I heard it before. Finally it hit me, that piece of music is in the cartoons that I used to love watching when I was young, mainly the cartoons such as Bugs Bunny, and Tom and Jerry, which did not have much dialogue within them, therefore, the music drove the cartoon. Many people have been introduced to the music of classical and romantic eras without even realizing it, through the watching of cartoons as a child.
Thinking about cartoons, particularly Warner Bros. Looney Tunes, I began to realize just how important music was to the cartoon industry and how much classical music was used in the making of them. In cartoons music plays several roles, such as set the mood, fill empty space, and emphasize movement. According to Wikipedia Encylopedia, in the 1920s the "Golden Age of American Animation" began with the advent of sound cartoons. Cartoons of this era included rich orchestral scores played by studio orchestras, using original material as well as incorporating familiar melodies from the classical and romantic eras.
During the "Golden Age of American Animation" (1920s to 1950s), a leading influence on sound and animation, was Carl Stalling. According to Daniel Goldmark, Stalling began his career with Disney productions and then began working for Warner Bros. Co. (pg 7). It was there that Stalling began using familiar tunes in his cartoons, and these tunes became a language in which he could tell stories with little or no words. Stalling used classical music because the popular song references were able to shape,...