Animation Art [Paperback]

Jerry (ed) Beck (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 27, 2004

Nearly a century before the ground-breaking phenomenon Toy Story, Little Nemo appeared in the New York Herald and ushered in a major new art form. The thrilling journey from such humble origins to the blockbuster movies of today's CGI extravaganzas like Shrek had begun, capturing the imagination of successive generations and embracing the onslaught of an accelerated technological revolution. Covering every aspect of animation (from the movies to MTV) from every part of the world, Animation Art revels in the techniques, the stories, the technology and the personalities which have fashioned the development of this truly modern art form. The list of authors includes producers, animators, voice artists, animation magazine editors, writers, directors, importers, educationalists and enthusiasts. It includes the Head of Artistic Development at Dreamworks, a director/writer/producer for Disney, Warner and Nickelodeon, and one of the animators of the Sixties classic Yellow Submarine.

Editorial Reviews

From The New Yorker

While mentioning such precursors as the nineteenth century's zoetrope and the lantern slides that afforded crude animated effects as early as the seventeenth century, Beck and his contributors concentrate on the history of film animation and provide a comprehensive overview. The pioneers here include Winsor McCay, Walt Disney, and a variety of European and Asian auteurs whose work tended to be less populist. This dichotomy between the medium's high-art potential and its commercial appeal has persisted into the present, with such innovators as Pixar, on the one hand, and Jan Svankmajer, on the other. The two strands met in the career of Oskar Fischinger, a German émigré to California, whose abstract animations elaborating his concept of "visual music" were influential but who lasted just nine months on Disney's "Fantasia."
Copyright © 2005 The New Yorker --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Review

“How can you not admire such an ambitious project that dares to chronicle the evolution of animation?” (Animation Magazine ) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Flame Tree Publishing (August 27, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1844511405
• ISBN-13: 978-1844511402
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 10.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,813,942 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jerry Beck is an animation historian and cartoon producer. His over fifteen books on the subject include The Animated Movie Guide, Looney Tunes: The Ultimate Visual Guide and The 50 Greatest Cartoons. He is also co-founder/co-writer of the popular animation blog, Cartoon Brew.

Beck is a former studio exec with Nickelodeon and Disney, and is currently a consulting producer to Warner Bros., Universal and Disney for their classic animation dvd compilations. Beck has programmed retrospectives for the Annecy and Ottawa Animation Festivals, The Museum of Modern Art and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. He has taught animation history at NYU, SVA, the AFI and UCLA. He is the host/producer of the annual "Worst Cartoons Ever" screening at the Comic-Con International: San Diego.

Beck started his career in film distribution, working at MGM/UA, Orion Classics, Cannon Films and Expanded Entertainment (Tournee of Animation), before starting his own company, Streamline Pictures in 1989, the first U.S. distributor to import anime features such as Otomo's Akira and Miyazaki's Laputa: Castle In The Sky. Beck was instrumental in launching Animation Magazine, and has written for The Hollywood Reporter and Variety. Beck was also the West Coast Bureau Chief for Kidscreen magazine in 2000. He has also created, written and produced animated films for various clients. His latest animation project, Hornswiggle, recently aired on the Nicktoons Network.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A "feast" for the mind as well as for the eye...., December 16, 2004

By 

Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Animation Art: From Pencil to Pixel, the World of Cartoon, Anime, and CGI (Paperback)

This is a magnificent achievement. Serving as General Editor, Jerry Beck has brought together in a single volume a riveting narrative which examines the history of cartoon, anime, and CGI with stunning full-color illustrations of that history. As he explains in his Introduction, "We have assembled an international team of animation authorities to tell the tales behind the toons. -The story is told in chronological sequence with choice images that enhance its history...From popular Disney characters to obscure personal films, it is all covered: Hollywood hits and Japanese anime, as well as Russian masterpieces and Asian artfilms. Looking it over, it is quite a wild ride." Indeed it is. The material is skillfully organized within twelve chapters which range from "The Origin of the Art" to "The New Century." By no means do I claim to be an expert on the subject of animation art but I presume to observe that I cannot imagine what has been left out. The illustrations are stunning; the prose narrative is crisp and lucid.

In the Foreword, Jeffrey Katzenberg observes that animation art provides a unique opportunity "to remember to know who has gone before, to really know the stories, take lessons from them, and bring that knowledge to the future. My hope is that, one day, other people will feel the same way about about those of us who are making animated films now. While it is an amazing thing to have the opportunity to create films and to bring these enormous enterprises to the world, it is something entirely different and entirely more rare to have our work remembered and considered part of the continuing evolution of an art form." Thanks to Beck, those who work their way through this magnificent volume will not only remember what has been achieved in animation art thus far; they will also understand what can yet be accomplished as others who have yet to reveal themselves through their art.

I highly recommend this volume to anyone interested in animation art, of course, but also to those who have an interest in the creation and evolution of comic books. Also to those who share my high regard for illustrators such as Al Hirschfeld whose art is celebrated in Hirschfeld on Line, now available from Amazon in both book and DVD formats.

4.0 out of 5 stars Awesome Deal!, July 10, 2011

By 

Poisonappple - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Animation Art: From Pencil to Pixel, the World of Cartoon, Anime, and CGI (Paperback)

My College didnt have this book at the student store. Found it here for way cheaper then what the school would have charged me. Was a great find!

5.0 out of 5 stars Still my favorite after several years, April 13, 2011

By 

Ed Fonseca "Edy" (New Orleans, LA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Animation Art: From Pencil to Pixel, the World of Cartoon, Anime, and CGI (Paperback)

I got this book years ago at a sale at Borders (you know, that store that sold books once upon a time) and ever since then, I often pull out this book just to gaze at its magnificent splendor. Beautiful pictures, lots of animation history, this is definitely the book for anyone even the slightest bit interested in animation.