AVClub: One of the reason why cartoons tend to embrace music so often (besides the fact that they make decent time-wasters), is because music can often be used in tandem with the animation to create some fascinating, almost-experimental visuals. Cartoons, even the wackiest ones, can push some of the aesthetics to some fascinating places through song: use of montages and quick cuts; exaggerations of proportions and nifty, artistic transitions; overt distortions of facial expressions and unique applications of background variations. I’ve only named a few of the many, many things that cartoons have used music cues for, and while it’s easy to get caught up in simplistic takeaways from cartoon-songs (which tends to be focused on whether the song(s) is/are good, and whether the show “looks good” performing them), it’s always important to take a moment to look at how animation really sells a music cue through its aesthetic choices–even for kids songs (“Stronger Than You” from Steven Universe, anyone?).
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