Music is sound is animate

Music is an animator. Even a better animator at times than a real life animator. Music can bring life to a character just as much as the animator who drew his actions. Chapter 11 of The Illusion of Life:Disney Animation speaks about music in animation. I found it interesting that music can be the personality in animation rather than the actions of a character. This is interesting to me because I overlook music and sounds in animation. Songs are part of story development and I think of them being made after the animation was complete.

Songs are written early. After reading the chapter this makes sense. Since music can add so much emotion it should be looked at early. Songs for animation are better if written to the story. Constant revisions are made back and forth through the music and animation to get the proper flow. 

As discussed in the chapter a good song will pick up the tempo of the story, add emotion, and tell it in a different light. It will make the audience feel more toward the situation and characters. Music adds more power to a sequence. Music makes the sequence memorable. It can add emotion that an animator just can not fully achieve with expressions and movement. 

The following clip is of the work or mouse song in Cinderella:

In the clip the mice feel bad for Cinderella and decide to finish her dress for her. The song adds much more emotion to the situation rather than the animation itself. The upbeat tempo of the song brings an upbeat tempo to the sequence which reflects how happy the mice are to do this for Cinderella. The song also brings the audience into the sequence rather than the animation itself. The audience would not be captivated by mice making a dress alone. The song brings a flow to what the mice are doing. All of the characters singing together also add more to the family dynamic of the animals in the house. The song too then adds more to the fact that these characters are the only ones who care about Cinderella. 

When remembering all the Disney movies I have seen songs start to pop up in my head. These songs remind me of the movies but also remind me of the characters and themes of the movies. These movies would not have been the same without the songs. They gave the movies that “Disney magic”. The music gave the movies a whole personality. Music can turn a movie into its own character.