drawn to sound- animation film music and sonicity (review)

Drawn to Sound: Animation Film Music and Sonicity (review)ine Mangaoang

Music, Sound, and the Moving Image, Volume 5, Issue 2, Autumn 2011,pp. 179-183 (Article)

Published by Liverpool University PressDOI: 10.1353/msm.2011.0014

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Recent animated films have achieved significant levels of success in termsof box-office sell-outs, and of lucrative merchandising deals includingDVD and OST sales. Both traditional 2D and 3D animation havereceived critical and industry recognition to the extent that one can seewhy the academy might pay attention to this genre, with films like SpiritedAway (Hayao Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli, 2001), Wallace & Gromit in TheCurse of the Were-Rabbit (Nick Park and Steve Box,DreamWorks/Aardman, 2005), and WALL-E (Andrew Stanton,Disney/Pixar, 2008) all receiving Academy Awards for Best AnimatedFeature. Indeed, the screen studies community have for some timerecognised the significance of animated film (see Wells 1998, 2002; Leslie2002; Buchan 2006; as well as several animation periodicals), yet in thework of film music scholars it often appears marginalised. Why is this?One suggestion by editor Rebecca Coyle is that sound scholars in generalare not as quick to embrace the musical values of animated film scoresdue in part to their frequent utilisation of less culturally valued musicalgenres (6). Drawn to Sound is, therefore, the first anthology of its kind tocover this particular era of animated film music. Its main predecessorsare Daniel Goldmark and Yuval Taylors The Cartoon Music Book (2002),Robin Beauchamps Designing Sound for Animation (2005), and DanielGoldmarks monograph Tunes for Toons: Music and the Hollywood Cartoon(2005); and this new book successfully builds on these existing texts toencourage others in a variety of fields to consider the impact of soundand music in animated film. It presents a wide variety of academicapproaches from film studies perspectives, musicological examinations,textual analyses, and corporate and economic assessments, suggestingthe many possibilities of approaching the alliance of music, sound, andanimation film.

This variety of approaches is one of the strengths of this volume, witheach of the contributors offering their detailed and illuminating accountof the varied approaches to scoring and sound for animation features.This also has its drawbacks, however, as although some of the essays flow

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Rebecca Coyle (ed.)Drawn to Sound: Animation Film Music and SonicityLondon and Oakville: Equinox, 2010, 256pp.

review by ine Mangaoang

seamlessly from one to the next, others feel more disjointed and furtherremoved from the actual overall thematic content. To give structure tothese various approaches, Drawn to Sound is divided into four sections,each situated within a slightly different perspective: Scoring AnimationFilm; Musical Intertextuality; Music and Sonicity; and lastly, Musicand Industrial Contexts. Coyle argues that animation film andanimation film music do not signify a genre, as the variety and numberof chapters of this volume illustrate (2), and so each presents a differentcase study taken from various locations around the world (namely NorthAmerica, United Kingdom, France, Australia, and Japan), based onavailable research being undertaken in such areas. In the IntroductionCoyle states that this volume seeks to bring together a variety of fieldstudies from across the world in the post-World War II period (this 60-year timescale demonstrating the expansion of animation featureproductions from the traditional to the digital, encompassing theadvance of new technologies (23)); however, this extensive post-warperiod is not evenly examined, with the majority of articles focusing onanimated films of the past 20 years.

The decision to incorporate the term sonicity in the volumes subtitleis one of interest given that it relates directly to the essays in Part III,Music and Sonicity (and arguably, the term might only really apply tothe sonic discussions of chapters 8 and 10). Coyle defines the term as oneborrowed from science that relates to the transmission of power by periodical forces and movements (3). She continues by citing Britishsound artist Stanzas work with the World Soundscape Project as motiva-tion for utilising sonicity in the volumes subtitle, stating that the idea ofa shared project of sound and image is pertinent to the discussion ofsound in animation (3). While one can agree with the importance ofconsidering sound and image in all manner of films, the use of sonicityin this instance is not exceptionally convincing without a deeper investi-gation of the term. Nevertheless, Drawn to Sound succeeds in creatingawareness of the unique and distinctive role of animated film sound inboth film and film music studies (1). It is not possible to go into detail onall 13 essays, each of which is evidently well researched with thoughtfulreference to relevant sources. The essays in Part II MusicalIntertextuality and Part IV Music and Industrial Contexts in particularcohere the strongest with their thematic title; however, this review willhighlight three essays for specific consideration here.

The first of the more immediately engaging articles is Ian Inglissdiscussion of appropriating existing popular songs alongside originalmusical score in Yellow Submarine (George Dunning, 1968). Inglis assertsthat animation film is distinguishable from other films by the constant

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Rebecca Coyle (ed.), Drawn to Sound review by ine Mangaoang

audience encounters with the unpredictable, the surreal, the illogical,and the impossible (80), and as such, music is the guide that illuminatesthe pathway through these new and inventive worlds. Inglis charts theproblematic choices involved in scoring new material around existingpopular songs in animated film, particularly when the songs in questionare from as famous a back catalogue as that of The Beatles. The differ-ence between using pre-existing songs in scores versus original sound-tracks is the same as the difference between listening and hearing,according to Inglis, with incidental film music often forgotten as soon asthe audience leaves the theatre (856). Questions about experimenta-tion between image and sound are raised here, with George Martinsincidental compositions using everything from Western movie hooks toavant-garde sounds, culminating in the only specifically composedmusic for the film (ibid.). This mix of styles has made it problematic forthe general popular music audience and hardcore Beatles fans to viewthis film as authentic Beatles material (87), yet Inglis makes a persuasivecase for Yellow Submarine as an aurally and visually symbiotic, mutuallyadvantageous, piece of film history.

Equally engaging and impressive is Rebecca Coyle and JonFitzgeralds essay Disney Does Broadway: Musical Storytelling in TheLittle Mermaid and The Lion King. The authors clearly establish the partic-ular climate out of which both films were made, tracing how The LittleMermaid (Ron Clements and John Musker, 1989) marked a new era forthe Disney corporation, followed by The Lion King (Roger Allers and RobMinkoff) five years later, which became the highest-grossing traditionallyanimated feature film in the USA (234). Such a move for Disney wouldnot have been possible without the success of Ron Howards Splash (1984)plus the increasing popularity of musical-oriented movies like Footloose(Herbert Ross, 1984) and Dirty Dancing (Emile Ardolino, 1987), which ledto Broadway team Alan Menken and Howard Ashmans involvement inThe Little Mermaid. Coyle and Fitzgeralds warm account of the fusion ofBroadway-style song with Caribbean calypso and gentle, romantic balladsis well executed and absorbing, as is their discussion of how West Endmusical theatre lyricist Tim Rice, pop songwriter Elton John, SouthAfrican musician Lebo Morake, and veteran Hollywood composer HansZimmer joined forces to create the Academy Award-winning score forThe Lion King.

Coyle and Fitzgerald touch on interesting ideas of place, nationality,and authenticity in this chapter, questioning if the inclusion of an Africanmusician automatically gives the score a sense of Africanness. Theycontinue by citing Zimmers intriguing assertion that: When you hear anAfrican choir, its innocence. Theres no holding back . . . you can hear



every individual in the group (236). This quote is buttressed byreference to Anahid Kassabians observation that music signifies ethnicity(2367), yet a greater assessment of the connection between sound andfamiliar cultural association might have proved more helpful. Ultimately,Coyle and Fitzgerald highlight the important fact that the music was amajor part of the success of transferring The Lion King from screen tostage musical something one might have already guessed and thuspaved the way for further DisneyBroadway collaborations, and a newfuture of adaptability for animation film music in the next decades (243).

Daniel Goldmarks account of sonic nostalgia in Sylvain Chometsscore for Les Triplettes de Belleville (2003) in chapter 8 is delightfullywritten, and is a welcome contrast to the other chapters that focus onanimation film music. Goldmark describes how Chomet locates twohistorical eras the nostalgic past and the crushing present (141) without the use of dialogue, through careful soundscape scoring. Ratherthan the almost complete lack of dialogue allowing the musical sound-track to take precedence in the film, Goldmark argues that it coaxes theaudience to focus on the visual storytelling that takes place from a varietyof perspectives on-screen (145). The storyline is imaginatively heardthrough a dogs eyes (151), and Goldmark describes how we witness theintrusions of the changing, modernising soundscape on the caninecharacter whose life has been invaded by the deafening sound ofcommuter trains passing his home every 15 minutes. Goldmark expertlyanalyses the various sounds included in Les Triplettes de Belleville sound-track from 1930s pop song to Bach, dance hall jazz, to the sounds ofmotorcars and bicycles illustrating how these sounds serve to situate thefilms many historical eras as well as narrate various plotlines.

It is a shame that Goldmarks essay is decidedly let down by poor-quality black and white film stills that have been included to elucidatecertain arguments for the reader. Unfortunately, other essays in Drawn toSound feature figures from other animated films, where the black andwhite contrast levels prove more successful to decipher images in somestills than in others. Rather than reinforce the solid arguments beingmade by the authors of each of the three chapters that include illustra-tions, the exceptionally dark and unclear images used in chapters 6 and8 only serve to compromise the overall excellence of this inauguralanthology on animated film.

Before concluding, it is worth noting that Drawn to Sound is part ofEquinoxs stimulating new Genre, Music and Sound series thataddresses sound and musics relationship with popular internationalfilm categories that until now have been rather neglected in academia,and which includes anthologies on horror film and pornography (with

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the creatively titled Earogenous Zones: Sound, Sexuality and Cinema, 2010).From this perspective we can get a sense of the momentum behind thisvolume. Overall, Drawn to Sound presents itself as a long-overdue andmost welcome addition to the existing scholarship on animation, film,and film music studies, and offers a wealth of information suitable forundergraduate and postgraduate students and academics across avariety of disciplines. Important detail on animation film music isincluded, even if the findings tend to repeat themselves across themultiple case studies, with similar arguments being made and remade insubsequent chapters throughout the volume. Furthermore, the lack ofdiscourse available on the utilisation of sound and music in contempo-rary digital animation film is noticeable but perhaps unavoidable.Nevertheless, this anthology offers some pioneering work by leadingauthorities on animation, film, and music.

References

Beauchamp, R. (2005) Designing Sound for Animation, Oxford: Focal Press

Buchan, S. (ed.) (2006) Animated Worlds, Eastleigh: John Libbey Publishing

Goldmark, D. (2005) Tunes for Toons: Music and the Hollywood Cartoon, Berkeley: University of California Press

and Taylor, Y. (eds) (2002) The Cartoon Music Book, Chicago: A Cappella Books

Johnson, B. (ed.) (2010) Earogenous Zones: Sound Sexuality and Cinema, Londonand Oakville: Equinox

Leslie, E. (2002) Hollywood Flatlands: Animation, Critical Theory and the Avant Garde,London: Verso

Wells, P. (1998) Understanding Animation, New York: Routledge

(2002) Animation: Genre and Authorship, London: Wallflower Press



drawn to sound- animation film music and sonicity (review)

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