Summary - The Sound of the Early Warner Bros. Cartoons

Scott Curtis
The Sound of the Early Warner Bros. Cartoons

Traditionally, sound and image have always been pretty closely synced in cartoons. At first, this was for economical reasons as music in cartoons was usually an adaptation of compositions that Warner Bros wanted to sell or show off. Technical issues also played a part: it was not possible early on to pre-record separate tracks for music, sound and dialogue, so the orchestra doing the music would also need to create sound effects and whatever else was needed.

The result is that very often, the animation in cartoons syncs to the music and vice versa. The music itself is not diegetic (doesn’t come from inside the world), but characters respond to it anyway. The article therefore suggests another way to describe sound; based on how it relates to the images: isomorphic and iconic.

Isomorphic sound is audio that matches the rhythm of the action and images. If a character walks quickly, the music is quick. If he pauses, the music stops.

Iconic sound is audio based on an analogy with the action. Iconic sound provides feedback on an action, but does with sound that only has some relation to the action, not all. For instance, a cymbal crash can accompany someone being smacked in the face. While a cymbal crash does have matching components such as volume, shock and so on, its sound is still a symbol for what is happening.

These definitions are not mutually exclusive; a particular sound can be both. Where the line of diegesis is blurred, this can be a useful model to define audio. Isomorphic and iconic sounds do not just occur in cartoons, but in other forms of entertainment as well.