jamesg1213
I did a quick search but couldn't find anything. Found this though, which might be of interest;
https://www.soundonsound....ques/cartoon-composing
That's pretty cool and detailed and something that you get a bit of history of in the Cartoon Music Book ... and how it was done. Remember there was no computer stuff in the 50's and 60's and they had to develop their own timing, which made the Warner Bros, and other cartoons very difficult to make with music, and yet, when you see them as they are, they are a wonder ... that it got done, and I (probably) would recommend a serious study of how these were done, which should help with the imagination and timing of doing this with a computer, which will be easier ... and faster ... but not necessarily better, since your imagination is now tied to something that is not going to change, more than likely, though Chuck Jones has many moments and examples of changes made because Carl did this, or someone did that ... and the book goes quite far and even including things like Snoopy and his pals.
It's an art form, that can be used in regular film, however, today, it's being used to simply add sound bits and pieces that change/distort an effect, so the film sounds better, or weird, and makes an audience think it is cool, because it is so different.
My only suggestion, might be ... find a couple of cartoonists, and talk to them about music and adding to the cartoon, not just music, but effects as well, because they are not separate in a cartoon, as they tend to be in a film.
Film schools, are full of folks that do cartoons, and try their had at some very weird and far out things ... and as an example, every year the Portland International Film Festival has a kids side, which is full of cartoons and just plain ... out there and far out stuff, and you could almost say that these are all beginner film makers, and their creativity is endless. Some of the most far out things are actually in these things, a lot more than many of the films in the Festival, btw.
One last suggestion ... get the 2 CD's by Carl Stallings and listen to them ... remember that you do not have the visual for a cartoon when listening, and it will drive you crazy ... that all that got cut to within 5 minutes of a visual something or other ... and if you can end up having a little fun and be crazy with stuff like that, I guarantee you that doing a cartoon for you will be a breeze ... and you will help make the cartoon even more important, and better.
That's as much as I can tell you, and hope this helps ... I might not be the best suggestion, but music for any of the visual mediums, has been my life ... all of my life ... and cartoons is one of the first things that woke me up to it ... FANTASIA of all films, but I already had "visuals" to classical music in my head by then, so seeing this idea was awesome ... and later the other cartoons ... yeah ... makes film music, for the most part ... just be total and complete crap that has nothing to do with the story and situation itself ... at least in the cartoons, the concepts were MATCHED a lot more ... and better!
A really good example of the mixing of music and film, check out the old Blade Runner, which had sequences that were choreographed to the music and then the new version that has none of that and is instead full of sound bites and bits that make it look like it's part of the soundtrack and it does not choreograph anything except some idea that this film has to be a bigger and better action/adventure film than the others out there ... at least a lot more cool than they were, kind of thing. In my book, the whole thing was just horrible, and insensitive to the very thing that made the first film so special. It wasn't just the story and its parts ... the music added something to it that otherwise might not have been there. You could not say anything that close to the new film.
A cartoon, needs that strong cohesion, to make it better and stronger ... and this was the secret behind many of the Disney and Warner Brothers cartoons for many years.
It's a forgotten thing these days, and not appreciated as deeply and valuable as it became in helping film be more detailed and intense, and this was something that folks like Stanley Kubrick drew on in his early days, however subtle it might have been ... it was a small thing that got your attention, and many other film makers took advantage of it (Ken Russell and Werner Herzog and others), to create something that was way out there and strange, as well.