Soundtracks for Western Animated Shows

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Ckingster9

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So something I've been wondering about for a while...
Music can be a very powerful element in any visual medium. The right choice of music can take a good scene and make it down right spectacular. And i'm not talking about songs like what you hear in a musical, but more along the lines of background music. Sometimes a lot of care and thought goes into the music for animation, so much so that the music on its own is brilliant. If you look at Anime, Video games and Movies you will find that a soundtrack containing the music from the series will almost always be released. But this doesn't seem to be as common place as western animated shows. What shows have had soundtracks come out for them, What shows do you think SHOULD have had soundtracks, and why DON'T we see more soundtracks being released for animated shows?

Part of what spurned this was Transformers Prime. Always loved the theme music for the series and the way they use the theme in the show is just great; its epic and can really make you feel pumped. As far as I could tell the Composer wanted to release the soundtrack but Hasbro told him not to and I think i've also been hearing that their are no plans to release the soundtrack (Information on this seems limited, so I could be wrong about their being no plans to release it)... But then I also think of other shows like Avatar the Last Airbender(not the movie) which I thought had some good music, but a soundtrack never saw official release as far as I've heard. Why would they not release such soundtracks?

And at times I wonder why we don't hear MORE great music in TV shows. When watching a few select western shows like Avatar, as well as Anime, movies and playing video games, I am often aware of the music and can sense the effect it has on my emotions. But then with a lot of other shows, even though background music is present, it seems to get lost as I watch the show; whether good or bad I find myself unable to appreciate it... Like maybe the music is being downplayed to the point that there IS something there which is better than silence, but not played UP to the point where it can have notice. I feel like maybe Western shows don't place as much value into music as movies/games/anime do.

Granted, maybe this is in part because of the history of western animated shows. Western show history revolves a great deal around episodic comedy shows... Music seems to usually shine the best when its doing something exciting or dramatic, which you don't get in kids comedy, but you do get in anime, movies and video games... though that's not to say it can't be done. Invader Zim had a rather amusing soundtrack, and I recall Courage the Cowardly dog doing some nice things in select episodes. But Western animation has been moving on, and is doing more than just comedy shows and are making the kind of shows that could take advantage of a great soundtrack... But could it be that western animation just hasn't really totally caught on to the idea because this is something they have no been doing as long as other animated mediums? I'm not really sure... All I know is that we don't often see Official Soundtracks for Western animated shows and I'm wondering why

So what are your thoughts on the stance of Soundtracks in Western animated shows?
 
Even though it's quite early in its run, I've found Gumball to have an amazing soundtrack. It's kind of strange watching it after the new loony toons, which has been a disappointment in the sound department so far, especially considering the new merry melodies.

I guess I shouldn't count shows like the wonder pets or backyardigans, because they're specifically musical shows. I think both have great music though.
 
I think maybe its because for every western show with a good soundtrack, there are five more with either bad or un-memorable soundtracks. In Japan, almost every single anime series/movies and video games get great soundtracks that the composer really put their heart into, and love or hate them, most or memorable.

In Western animation, the soundtracks aren't usually as impressive for some reason. I do agree that Prime has a good soundtrack, and I remember liking Teen Titan's musical score, but thats about it. I just feel that most western composers don't put much effort into their soundtracks when it comes to animation.
 
There is a BIG INDUSTRY surrounding the sales of these soundtracks in Japan, particularly if it's difficult to make profitable merchandise off the product in other cases (such as Blood+ or Toward The Terra). Ratings and DVD sales aren't going to be enough, so these companies hire big-shots (GONZO hired the Metal Gear Solid people for Blassreiter, Blood+ hired an American, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood hired TV/movie composer Akira Senju) and release soundtracks to make more money. Not to mention that these composers are bringing strings, guitarists, pianists, etc., into their studios, and they cost money too. You have to sell the soundtracks by necessity now.

Americans tend not to see things this way. It's difficult to get a widely-released full score of a movie (just try to find the full score of Inception instead of the bowdlerized 40-minute version, I dare you). It's practically impossible for Western animation now, and it doesn't help that most soundtracks tend to not be very special or distinctive, mostly relying on cheaply-produced electronica, synth, rock, and hip-hop, most of which are instrumental. There's no intention to sell the OSTs so they're not giving the composers the material to craft a memorable OST. An exception was Sym-Bionic Titan, in which the intention was probably there to release a soundtrack eventually (as the producers invested in a orchestra for much of the score). But as SBT has ceased to exist we probably won't have an OST for that.

Finally . . . let's face it, the age-old stereotype of "cartoons are for kids" still rules. Soundtracks are mostly released for teen/adult fans, which most of these cartoons are not trying to appeal to. Note that the adult-focused Venture Bros. got a soundtrack release while many other, arguably more popular cartoons never did. Kids just aren't interested in instrumental scores the way teens and adults are.

Here's an example of how impossible it is: there's been clamoring for an Avatar: The Last Airbender OST for forever. There isn't even one CD out there or an iTunes release. It just does not happen.
 
Well another part of the issue is wondering if studios don't see the value a good soundtrack; its not just about selling the soundtrack, but making a good soundtrack to help make the show itself better. I mean why don't we see more effort to craft a great score like we see in some other shows. Like I said, the right choice of music can make a good animated scene absolutely great. It make me feel like these studios find the music to expendable despite the value it could have and thus getting cut to keep costs down. And i guess one thing that helps the anime industry when it comes to music is because they KNOW they can make money back on the music and thus there is no risk to spending extra cash for great music


Yes i suppose that probably is one of the big kickers for a lack of OST releases

Though this is one that does confuses me. The soundtrack for the show already exists; they already spent the money for the composer and the musicians... and unlike other shows the soundtrack seems to be well-received amognst fans... Does it really cost so much money just to make the soundtrack AVAILABLE for distribution and sale that Nick does not think it would be worth offering? Maybe one thing that might help convince companies to invest a little bit more, is if the shows that did already made a good ost and found they could make some profit off the soundtrack.

Does all make me wonder what can be done to try and make studios see the value music can have in an animation to help make western shows even better
 
No one has mentioned Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, or Freakazoid?

Tiny Toon Adventures definitely had a CD released with a few underscores. Animaniacs had several CDs released of their songs. In fact Steve Bernstein put some underscores from Animaniacs, one from Pinky and the Brain on his web site. They all are genius scores, and really need more atention. Richard Stone, Steve and Julie Bernstein and all the other great musicians created great amazing scores for these shows.
 
Western animation generally follows the tradition of music complimenting the action of the show. Something blunt and easily understood in relation to the action you're seeing. This calls for a soundtrack that doesn't call too much attention on itself. While repetitive at times, it's generally a pretty solid formula.

I think the main difference is that most western animators are influenced by other western animation in the past or Hollywood mainstream films like Spielberg's stuff, where music is an assistant to the visuals, whereas many animators from Europe and Japan draw from broader live action sources equally as much as the typical animated and mainstream live action sources. So they see those films by Kubrick and Malick and Welles and see sound and music as an entity unto itself, and try to incorporate those influences into their work.

Even Pixar and Dreamworks hew closely to the classic formula of music complimenting the action. You would never see, for instance, an action scene set to a contrasting piece of music in a Pixar film. That means no dramatic scene of Woody falling out of a glass window with pleasant chorus music in the background! (usually this kind of thing would only be done for comedic purposes ;)) One could say that Ghibli is closer to Pixar and Dreamworks too. Everyone praises Joe Hisaishi, but generally his music is there to compliment the action. Dramatic music for drama, amused music for comedy, etc,.The pattern I see is that the closer a work is targeted to the mainstream, the more likely the soundtrack is incidental to the action on the screen.
 
Disney released a Disney Afternoon CD back in 1990 with various (but not ALL) the songs from Gummi Bears/Ducktales/Rescue Rangers/Talespin, but never put out anything else after it. I was peeved because it was missing pretty much EVERY Chip & Dale's Rescue Rangers song outside of the extended theme song.

I'd LOVE to have a full Chip & Dale RR soundtrack with all the original songs (Mainly for Fat Cat Stomp & The Best of Everything, the two best songs the show came up with), as well the show's score. I LOVED the score to this show, more so than every other DA show.
 
Soundtracks and scores are a stragnge thing. (If gets even stranger if you need them for your website). The problem comes down to working with the music industry, and the current mainstream thinking that animation is for kids.

Most music labels don't want to touch soundtracks, outside of theatrical releases, since they don't see a market in soundtracks. And you need to go to the music labels to use music in any production. Since the labels don't see a market, music isn't going to be cheap to license. Television rarely has the budget to cover such things, and this is why more tv soundtracks suck. The studios have to make the scores themeselves or hire someone fresh out of college. And cartoons? They have the smallest bugets around.

The only way we will see more and better soundtracs in both animation and on CD, is to show that there is a market for such things. Write to the studios. Buy soundtrack CDs as they are released. Use any legal avenue to get your soundtrack fix that you can find. And never pirate (thends to show that the market has no value).

I am going to have to make another blog about this issue. I made a few already.
 
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