Mickey Mousing

For the character, see Mickey Mouse.

In animation and film, "Mickey Mousing" (synchronized, mirrored, or parallel scoring) is a film technique that syncs the accompanying music with the actions on screen. The term comes from the early and mid-production Walt Disney films, where the music almost completely works to mimic the animated motions of the characters. Mickey Mousing may use music to "reinforce an action by mimicking its rhythm exactly....Frequently used in the 1930s and 1940s, especially by Max Steiner, it is somewhat discredited today, at least in serious films, because of overuse. However, it can still be effective if used imaginatively"[1].

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Modern usage

"Mickey Mousing" is also used to criticize that a visual action is - without good reason - being duplicated in accompanying music or text, therefore being a weakness of the production rather than a strength. Newlin lists six other functions which music may serve besides this one.[1] Complaints regarding the technique may be found as early as 1946.[2]

See also

Source

  1. ^ a b Newlin, Dika (1977). "Music for the Flickering Image- American Film Scores", Music Educators Journal, Vol. 64, No. 1. (Sep., 1977), pp. 24-35.pdf
  2. ^ Chuck Jones, Chuck (1946). "Music and the Animated Cartoon", Hollywood Quarterly Problems of Communication: The Animated Cartoon, Vol. 1, No. 4. (Jul., 1946), pp. 364-370.

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