Scoring for Animation, Video Games, and Film

Animation films are widely consumed in the general population and the study of animation films has blossomed. But music and sound are often marginalized, despite the significance of music, voice talent, sound design and effects for both the films and their marketing. Drawn to Sound unpacks animation film sound and music tracks, and contextualises them within the screen and music industries. Focusing on feature-length, widely-distributed films released in the post-WW2 period, the book highlights work from key centres of animation production, such as the USA, the UK, Japan, significant studios including Disney, Aardman Animation and Studio Ghibli, and major auteurs like Tim Burton. Chapters by animation experts such as Paul Wells and Daniel Goldmark and by film music authorities including Philip Hayward, Ian Inglis and Janet Halfyard offer international perspectives on the history and aesthetics of music and sound in animation film. Contributions from authors in Japan, Australia, England, the USA and Canada explore animation soundtracks, their creators and their production approaches. Different disciplinary perspectives from music, media, cultural and animation studies offer models for future analysis. As the first of its kind, this anthology is an invaluable resource for students, teachers and researchers in film, animation, music and media studies.

Sound is just as crucial an aspect to your animation as your visuals. Whether you're looking to create a score, ambient noise, dialog, or a complete soundtrack, you'll need sound for your piece. This nuts-and-bolts guide to sound design for animation will explain the theory and workings behind sound for image, and provide an overview of the systems and production path to help you create your soundtrack. Follow the sound design process along animated shorts and learn how to use the tools and techniques of the trade. Enhance your piece and learn how to design sound for animation.

In the first in-depth examination of music written for Hollywood animated cartoons of the 1930s through the 1950s, Daniel Goldmark provides a brilliant account of the enormous creative effort that went into setting cartoons to music and shows how this effort shaped the characters and stories that have become embedded in American culture. Focusing on classical music, opera, and jazz, Goldmark considers the genre and compositional style of cartoons produced by major Hollywood animation studios, including Warner Bros., MGM, Lantz, and the Fleischers. Tunes for 'Toons discusses several well-known cartoons in detail, including What's Opera, Doc?, the 1957 Warner Bros. parody of Wagner and opera that is one of the most popular cartoons ever created. Goldmark pays particular attention to the work of Carl Stalling and Scott Bradley, arguably the two most influential composers of music for theatrical cartoons. Though their musical backgrounds and approaches to scoring differed greatly, Stalling and Bradley together established a unique sound for animated comedies that has not changed in more than seventy years. Using a rich range of sources including cue sheets, scores, informal interviews, and articles from hard-to-find journals, the author evaluates how music works in an animated universe. Reminding readers of the larger context in which films are produced and viewed, this book looks at how studios employed culturally charged music to inspire their stories and explores the degree to which composers integrated stylistic elements of jazz and the classics into their scores.