It is within the exacting medium of animation—surely the most malleable and minutely controlled of film forms—that certain analogies between music and film become most discernible. Indeed, in animation a note-by-note/frame-byframe comparison is not without validity in discussing both the creative processes and final results of attempts to merge the two media.
Some of the most effective and tightly integrated examples of visual/musical synthesis came from the Walt Disney studio between 1928 and 1942. During the 1920s, Disneys initial animated films—the Newman Laugh-O-Grams (1922-23), the Alice comedies (1924-27) and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (1927-28) series, and even the first two Mickey Mouse shorts—were produced as silents. As even these primitive works demonstrate, familiarity with the specialised demands of the silent film medium is invaluable for appreciating the impact and effect that sound, particularly music, may exert on the tempo of an isolated sequence or an entire film. Disneys experience in silent film production, combined with an innate appreciation of musics potential for structuring, contextualising and enhancing the overall appeal of his films, accounts for his studios early integration of music as a vital compon=nt of their work, one to which was devoted as much attention and pre-production consideration as were expended on story and graphic elements.
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