Tom and Jerry

So I’m pretty sure everyone is familiar with the crazy, intense, symphonic, orchestral scores in classic cartoons. But the other day, I was "re-familiarized" with these awesome feats of animation genius! I had just gotten home from some philosophy classes and instead of going back to bed, I decided to turn on some cartoons. Not shortly thereafter an episode of Tom and Jerry came on and I sat watching, delighted that it wasn’t one of those newer disappointing cartoons. I sat watching, but also sat listening, and boy was I for a treat. The musical score was surprisingly intense, complex, and went perfectly with the action on screen. When Jerry was being chased down hallways and up coat hangers, the music would crescendo wildly. If Tom slipped on a rug the sound of mallets across a marimba (or something else) would synch perfectly to the image as well as with the music playing. Synchresis is a massively important aspect of animation and it is expertly achieved in Tom and Jerry. If a completely absurd sound (like mallets swept across a xylophone) are synched perfectly with images like Tom skidding out of control on a loose rug, those sounds seem entirely like. I began to think about it, and I’m pretty sure that the animations were created after the musical score and the plot was written to the music. I’m not sure though, but that seems pretty logical. Or the plot was written before the score, then the score was set to the plot, and then the animations were then created with the score, I don’t really know. Sound can add such a ridiculous amount of value to an image, especially animated, non-realistic images. When I watch Tom and Jerry, I see them as very real characters with real emotions who feel real pain. Well, at least until I think about it. Ha. (they are only drawings…tear) But this illusion is created by complex and expert use of sounds and images together, and I love it.