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“Mickey Mousing” was a scoring technique popularized in the 1930’s and 40’s by adding musical accents, stingers, and mimicry to support the onscreen action.
Think Tom & Jerry:
https://youtu.be/4VEMLNg3ICo?si=MLjnG31LF-zrpMnh
But what many composers don’t think about is that it was just as much about necessity as it was about style.
Animation and film was still in its early stages. Creating realism and/or expressiveness was a challenge, and every aspect of the picture had to be exaggerated so the audience could easily understand what characters were thinking and feeling.
Those animations needed mickey-mousing.
Animation now looks exceptional.
Even without music, we can feel the emotions from characters on screen.
With that in mind, scoring many of today’s animations with mickey-mousing wouldn’t just be unnecessary—it would be inappropriate. ❌
To honor the story of your characters, you need to take their story seriously.
It doesn’t matter if you’re scoring animation, games, or live-action.
(It often doesn’t even matter if you’re scoring comedy!)
Score from the heart, as if the character’s journey was your own.
When scoring, ask yourself:
“What can my music speak to about this scene that isn’t tied to the on-screen actions?”
Remember:
Audiences are smart enough to know that a piano falling on a character’s head hurts.
We don’t need music to tell us that. 😉