Mickey Mousing

In animation and film, "Mickey Mousing" (synchronized, mirrored, or parallel scoring) is a film technique used to sync the actions on screen with the accompanying music. The term comes from the early and mid-production Walt Disney films, where the music almost completely works to mimic the animated motions of the characters. Mickey Mousing may use music to "reinforce an action by mimicking its rhythm exactly....Frequently used in the 1930s and 1940s, especially by Max Steiner, it is somewhat discredited today, at least in serious films, because of overuse. However, it can still be effective if used imaginatively".

Examples of Mickey Mousing outside of Walt Disney films include the original 1933 King Kong, in which the music is crescendoed in such a way as to suit Kong's motions in climbing the Empire State Building. It is also used frequently in horror films, typically during a killing scene involving the villain. Composers including Aaron Copland Mickey Moused.

Modern usage

'Mickey Mousing' is also used to criticise that a visual action is - without good reason - being duplicated in accompanying music or text, therefore being a weakness of the production rather than a strength. Newlin lists six other functions which music may serve besides this one. Complaints regarding the technique may be found as early as 1946.

See also

• word painting

Source