Since there are incredibly slim pickings of TV shows on that we allow our kids to watch, we frequently provide TV opportunities by purchasing DVDs of shows we know are acceptable to us. Lately, we’ve been enjoying old school Tom and Jerry cartoons.
As children, we probably didn’t fully digest the degree to which the storyline was driven by the stunning arrangements of orchestral scores. Now, watching as adults, we are completely fascinated by the dependence these cat and mouse stories have on the music.
There would be no life to Tom and Jerry without the musical accompaniment emphasizing the action, emotion and thoughts of the cat and mouse, as well as various other characters.
It is wonderful to see our children thoroughly enjoy, and understand, a scene that is evolving before them when there are no words explaining the plot. The stories are as simple, or as elaborate, as their processing desires.
We find real quality in a show that allows our kids to think for themselves while also exposing them to intricate classical and jazz pieces of music. We can probably assign some of the credit for our adult appreciation of music to the experiences we had as young children watching Tom and Jerry.