The Cartoon Music Book

by Daniel Goldmark, Charles L. Granata, Greg Ehrbar (Contributor)

The popularity of cartoon music, from Carl Stalling’s work for Warner Bros. to Disney sound tracks and The Simpsons ’ song parodies, has never been greater. This lively and fascinating look at cartoon music’s past and present collects contributions from well-known music critics and cartoonists, and interviews with the principal cartoon composers. Here Mark Mothersbaugh talks about his music for Rugrats , Alf Clausen about composing for The Simpsons , Carl Stalling about his work for Walt Disney and Warner Bros., Irwin Chusid about Raymond Scott’s work, Will Friedwald about Casper the Friendly Ghost , Richard Stone about his music for Animaniacs , Joseph Lanza about Ren and Stimpy , and much, much more.

Genres: Music, Film, Nonfiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Stella · Rating 3 out of 5]

This compilation has some gems of information, but has no single author guiding the history of composing for cartoons. Instead, you get excerpts from articles, pieces of interviews, and some opinion pieces, sometimes contradicting each other or talking primarily about non-cartoon related topics. The subject deserves better.

[Cuathemoc Ruiz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Plenty of interviews with a few essays written about certain themes or composers. Some articles were engaging, while others were there to fill up the pages. Perhaps it was hard to gravitate towards certain essays because I was attempting to read on long drives (and I didn't have access to the music discussed). Make this a rental, unless you think you might be excited by every aspect of cartoon music.

[Chloë · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read "The Cartoon Music Book" as part of an experimental test-run course at my university on Music and Animation. The book was the most entertaining text I've read during college, with very educational insights on the history of animation and the cultural web-work of influence in the cartoon world. Hearing the stories behind "The Skeleton Dance," how Walt pioneered the concept of surround sound for Fantasia, fundamental musical correlations and many other tales is necessary info for anyone interested in animation-- especially those looking to make their own cartoons.

The class itself was basically a reading group for this book, and I gleaned everything new I learned from this. I read some excerpts from "Tunes for Toons" which also seems like a nice resource.

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection of essays from different composers from all realms of animation. Mark Mothersbaugh gives a great interview. Though it's ingrained in our heads, the music of animation is often overlooked.

[Thebruce1314 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice cross-section of articles on the topic of music as heard in cartoon media. I enjoyed this one.

[Vittorio · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good history of cartoon music throughout history. Each chapter focuses on a specific arranger,composer, performer and the editor did a fantastic job!