Toon of the Week: Carl Stalling

Soundtracks, like cinematography, production design and audio production, are elements of film that should seamlessly integrate with a whole work. While some outstanding examples can stand up on their own, they are generally works that must be appreciated within the context of a bigger work. Unfortunately, this leads to a lot of underappreciated accomplishments. This is perhaps most so in the case of scoring for cartoons. These short films are generally considered a less artform due to their primary audience being children. However, great artists and craftspeople are required to create these complicated films. One of the grandfathers of cartoon scoring was Carl Stalling. Stalling is most known as the primary composer for Warner Brothers’ Merry Melodies and Looney Tunes series. Every week for 22 years he would compose, arrange and conduct a score for a 50 piece orchestra. These scores often had to include whiplash changes in tone and color, as well as popular and classical music references. All of this had to fit within a 5-7 minute piece. Above you can hear how it could require multiple takes for the music for just one shot in a cartoon to turn out just right. Below you can hear Stalling turning the lampooning on his own work. It’s facinating to hear this kind of music out of its context, but you can also check out what it’s like within the cartoon as well.