Animation History Library, What books do you recommend? Options

[Anita Bilyeu]

Hello everyone, I am brand new to this forum and I've been reading various threads all morning! Wow, you guys are a plethora of great information! I was wondering if anyone out there in cyberspace can recommend some books to add to my fledgling animation library. I've picked up one or two titles from ebay and amazon.com but I am really looking for books with substance and historical information, not just pretty pictures and fluff. Any help is greatly appreciated! Have a happy day!
Nita

[LooneyThad]

The must-read for any animation enthusiast, fan, etc. is Leonard Maltin's OF MICE & MAGIC. Definitley the best of its kind.


-Thad

[Anita Bilyeu]

Thanks Thad, I'll be sure to look for it! Is it still in print or will I have to go through the Out of Print/Rare section of Barnes and Noble or Amazon?

Thanks again!

Nita

[Ray Pointer]

Although this has been discussed in past threads, anything by Leonard Maltin, including OF MICE AND MAGIC and THE DISNEY FILMS. Also include anything by John Canemaker, Donald Crafton, Jerry Beck, and Joe Adamson. Also consider THE FLEISCHER STORY by Leslie Cabarga. Avoid such recent publications as SERIOUS BUSINESS by Stefan Kanfer and MASTERS OF ANIMATION by John Grant. These last two titles are badly reserached, misinformed, and in the case of the John Grant book is paraphased just short of outright plagerism from other books including passages that I provided for THE FLEISCHER STORY.

[Gordan]

You can find OF MICE AND MAGIC at www.amazon.com for only $19.60, and it usually ships within 24 hours of your order.

If you like classic Hollywood animation, these are some of the best books:

Joe Adamson's TEX AVERY: KING OF CARTOONS

Leslie Cabarga's THE FLEISCHER STORY

A great book on both history of Disney animation and techniques involved in making of Disney cartoons:
Ollie and Johnston's ILLUSION OF LIFE: DISNEY ANIMATION

Mike Barrier's HOLLYWOOD CARTOONS: AMERICAN ANIMATION IN ITS GOLDEN AGE is an extremely detailed and thorough book that deals with the history of Hollywood theatrical cartoons. However, this book lacks frame stills from cartoons + is arguably a bit pro-Disney and, for me, somewhat anti-Fleischerian.

[Anita Bilyeu]

You guys rock!! I've written down these titles and started surfing for them. I already bought Of Mice and Magic (for $4!) and I won Walt Disney's Animation Magic by Don Hahn from ebay. Anyone have comments on that book--good or bad? I also won from ebay Warner Bros. Animation Art with the cel cover....it's by Jerry Beck so I'm guessing it is highly recommended. I also found (for $3 at a library sale) The History of Animation--Enchanted Drawings by Charles Solomon. I just got it so I haven't really reviewed it in depth yet. Any comments--good or bad about this book? I appreciate all the help!

Thanks bunches!
Nita

[bigshot]

The best books in my opinion are Maltin's Of Mice & Magic, Cabarga's Fleischer Story, Thomas & Johnston's Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life. Canemaker's Felix the Cat and Beck & Friedwald's The Warner Bros Cartoons (the first edition in hardback, not the revised and expanded softcover one).

See ya
Steve

[Anita Bilyeu]

Thank you so much for all of the titles and suggestions. I really do appreciate it!


Cheers!
Nita

[#60]

Is there a book on Lantz somewhere? I figured I'd ask since there's this thread after the huge one about him.

[Ray Pointer]

That's THE WLATER LANTZ STORY, which I referenced by mentioning Joe Adamson.

[Ray Pointer]

That's THE WALTER LANTZ STORY, which I referenced by mentioning Joe Adamson.

[CaptGeorge]

You might want to add "Makin' Toons" by Allan Neuwirthfor a survey on recent animated television series and Jerry Beck's own "Outlaw Animation" about the glory days of Spike & Mike's Twisted Festival of Animation. The two books complement each other and give a good history on the animation personalities and ideas that have proliferated since the early 1990s on TV.

Most of the books people have mentioned are in still in-print with the exception of the Walter Lantz book which you'll have to borrow from a library unless you want to pay whatever the going used book rate for it is.

Two caveats about two books, though --
Although "The Illusion of Life" and "Of Mice & Magic" are probably the best survey books of their respective subjects, don't fall into the trap of mistaking all of the writing as fact. There's no questioning the authority of the writers involved, but they do in a way pick favorites and you can sort of tell what they did more research on (especially in the Maltin book -- no question he's a Bugs and Mickey fan). Nothing replaces seeing the films yourself but that's easier said than done now since a lot of these cartoons aren't in general circulation anymore.

The main problem with Maltin's book besides the slanted survey (to WB and Disney) is that it's long out-of-date. The last revised edition came out in 1987 and so much more has happened since then that the book really hasn't kept with the times. I think at least 3 or 4 more chapters could be added alone about theatrical animation and the developments since 1987.

The problem with "The Illusion of Life" is that it perpetuates the myth that it was Nine and ONLY Nine Old Men that were responsible for the success of Disney animation art and it gives short-thrift to some of the people who were essential primary building blocks in Disney Feature Animation history.

Hardly anybody is going to call "The Illusion of Life" a bad how-to animation book, but there's a question of how good a history book it really is because of personal agendas. Ironically, the first widely-published book that I read that called into question some of the conclusions of "The Illusion of Life" was "Nine Old Men" by John Canemaker who is a good friend of the authors of "The Illusion of Life." Both "The Illusion of Life" and "Nine Old Men" are ironically published by Disney's book publishing arm, Hyperion Press.

Besides Canemaker's book, it's fairly well-known within professional animation circles that both Bill Peet and Jack Kinney (author of his own Disney memoirs book, "Walt Disney and Other Assorted Characters") gave the authors of "The Illusion of Life" a slight bit of hell over some of what was written in the book and a lot of the history that was LEFT OUT OF THE BOOK.

[Nelson]

Nita-

Another great book on animation that I highly recomend, is TALKING ANIMALS AND OTHER PEOPLE written by legendary animator SHAMUS CULHANE.This book looks at the career of Culhane who worked for the Fleischers, Walter Lantz, Charles Mintz and Famous Studios from the 1920s to 1960s.You can order this wonderful book at Amazon.com for $13.46

[Anita Bilyeu]

All of these suggestions are wonderful! I'm going to have to work a ton of overtime to buy all these great titles!

I still have a children's book illustrated by Bill Peet called "Randy's Dandy Lions." My kids must have wanted me to read it to them a million times!

Thanks again!
Nita

[le petit ourson]

I like "Cartoons: One Hundred Years of Cinema Animation", by Giannalberto Bendazzi, even if there are a few inaccurate historical details. It is well written (no garanty about the english translation, I read the french one) and doesn't only talk about american cartoon.