Cartoon Modern: Style and Design in 1950s Animation [Hardcover]

Amid Amidi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 17, 2006

Between the classic films of Walt Disney in the 1940s and the televised cartoon revolution of the 1960s was a critical period in the history of animation. Amid Amidi, of the influential Animation Blast magazine and CartoonBrew blog, charts the evolution of the modern style in animation, which largely discarded the "lifelike" aesthetic for a more graphic and often abstract approach. Abundantly found in commercials, industrial and educational films, fair and expo infotainment, and more, this quickly popular cartoon modernism shared much with the painting and graphic design movements of the era. Showcasing hundreds of rare and forgotten sketches, model boards, cels, and film stills, Cartoon Modern is a thoroughly researched, eye-popping, and delightful account of a vital decade of animation design.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Amid Amidi is the publisher and editor of the magazine Animation Blast and cofounder of the popular animation blog CartoonBrew.com. In addition to writing, Amidi works in the animation industry. The author of The Art of Robots (0-8118-4549-4), he lives in Los Angeles.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 200 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (August 17, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811847314
• ISBN-13: 978-0811847315
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 1 x 8.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #77,355 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #12 in Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > History & Price Guides
  • #36 in Books > Arts & Photography > Graphic Design > Animation
  • #74 in Books > Arts & Photography > Drawing > Cartooning

More About the Author

Amid Amidi is a Brooklyn-based author and historian. His next book "The Art of Pixar: The Complete Color Scripts and Select Art from 25 Years of Animation" will be released in Fall 2011. His earlier book "Cartoon Modern: Style and Design in Fifties Animation" won the prestigious Theatre Library Association Award for best English-language book about film and television in 2006. He is the co-founder of CartoonBrew.com, the most highly-trafficked animation blog on the Internet.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars 'Thought I'd Died and Gone to Cartoon Heaven September 25, 2006

By Iconophoric

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Like many of my peers, as I grew up, my interest in animation gravitated toward the full animation of the Golden Age: Robert McKimson, Bob Clampett, Chuck Jones, et al, for a long while disdaining any form of animated minimalism, even the kind represented in this book. By the age of 7 or 8, we had come to associate Top Cat, Deputy Dawg, The Flintstones, The Jetsons and all the minimal animation that had once been among our favorites with shoddy cheapness. (Even as a small child, I remember several of us sitting around talking about cartoons, and laughing to scorn at the way the same background tree kept passing every couple of seconds in Hanna-Barbera chase scenes. We wondered, did they think we weren't catching that?!) 'Limited animation', those dread words, became poision for all us growing young animation fans.

I'm not sure when my respect and interest in minimal/modern animation returned in a changed form, but I think it had to be in the mid 80s, when the best of UPA appeared suddenly on a couple of VHS tapes: Gerald McBoing Boing, The Tell-Tale Heart, Unicorn in the Garden, Christopher Crumpet, The Rise of Duton Lange, Family Circus, etc. On the rebound, the '50s fine art/graphic design style of these cartoons knocked me out. After seeing these shorts, I started seeking out more examples of this style of animation in old TV commercial reels, and then started noticing the style spilling over into point of purchase, packaging design and magazine ads of the period. By this point, I was a fatally hooked "modern."

This book will throughly scratch the itch of those baby boomers whose earliest TV memories may include those brief Tom Terrific segments from Captain Kangaroo, as well as the younger reader who will feel the irresistable draw of a very strong retro style. The pictures (and there are a ton of them) are pretty, and instantly evocative, and the text hits a smart median between scholarly and entertaining.

Five stars. If you have anyone with any level of popular art/film/animation/graphic design interest on your Christmas list, I'd bear this book in mind.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Eye and mind candy-for lovers of animation and all art & design August 30, 2006

By PonyExpress

Format:Hardcover

This long awaited book is a typically clever, eye-popping treat from Chronicle Press. The author is a well-versed authority on this particular aspect of animated cartoons--the brilliant, trend-setting and still-potent design of the 1950s. Arranged in chapters alphabetically by studio, each page is filled with treasures in color and line. Inside you'll find beautiful examples from such famous studios as UPA("Gerald McBoing-Boing", "Mr. Magoo", "Rooty-Toot-Toot", etc.), Warner Bros(the work of Maurice Noble in tandem with Chuck Jones, among others) and Disney--and many almost unknown studios whose output is liberally displayed. It's all inspiring, and it's fascinating to realize that although the overrriding fifties sense of style is hot right now, these men and women of the grey flannel past are still way ahead of almost all of us. Amid Amidi's text is intelligent and informative, an apt accompaiment. Artists, animators, cartoon lovers and afficionados of midcentury modern design have to have this.

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars More biography than imagery April 5, 2008

By Michael D. Kelley

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I absolutely love 50's (and early 60's) animation styles, so based on the other reviews here I eagerly awaited this book. It was a huge letdown.

First of all, the majority of content here is biographical information about the artists who created this art. As such a nice piece of scholarship and research, and giving these artists their just rewards is a Good Thing. But that's basically all there is.

Yes, there are some images, even quite a lot, but the artwork isn't large or arranged in a manner to make any sense (other than as biographical material). There are a few tantalizingly good images, but the vast majority are small, rather pedestrian and, oddly enough, not particularly indicative of the style of the period.

The author sets great store by "unconventionalism", but in point of fact the art of the 50's and 60's did become conventional -- it became its own convention. And this kind of historical perspective is sorely missing here, in large part due to the way the material is organized (it's strictly a studio by studio look -- no timeline or growth of the art is presented in any way. Each studio is given a page or two, and the studios are listed alphabetically).

If you are into cartoon history *facts* then this book will be a goldmine of information for you. If, like me, you are more interested in the visual aspects of the art then I'd strongly recommend skipping this and spending the money either renting or buying some of the cartoons from that time period that are available on DVD (contrary to the author's opinion, much of the stuff IS available: once again, his bias towards the unconventional means that he overlooks the majority of work of that time period).