Hippo in a Tutu: Dancing in Disney Animation [Hardcover]

Mindy Aloff (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 1 and up

The ballet for hippo ballerinas and their crocodile cavaliers (plus a corps de ballet of ostriches and elephants) set to Ponchielli’s “Dance of the Hours” in Fantasia (1940) is one of the best-loved scenes in all the Disney animated features. Many viewers may not realize, however, that this ballet is no mere generalized parody of ballet mannerisms, but is in fact a deeply informed, affectionate parody of a famous scene choreographed by George Balanchine for the film Goldwyn Follies (1938) and starring his wife, the ballerina movie star Vera Zorina.

With this sequence as a point of departure, Hippo in a Tutu examines the roles that dance, dancing, and choreography play in the Disney animated shorts and features. This profusely-illustrated chronicle both analyzes and celebrates dance in the Disney studios’ work, while also investigating behind the scenes to find out how Disney’s animated dance sequences have been made.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 1 and up
  
• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Disney Editions (February 17, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1423100794
• ISBN-13: 978-1423100799
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,127,007 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully Illustrated Book!, July 3, 2010

By 

D. G. DeBondt - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hippo in a Tutu: Dancing in Disney Animation (Hardcover)

This book, is simply beautiful, the graphics as always from Disney are works of art. Purchased it for my daughter, who has a B.A. in Fine Arts in Illustration, and she just wept.

5.0 out of 5 stars Hippo Hippo Hooray, June 6, 2010

By 

Jerrold Goldman (Long Island, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hippo in a Tutu: Dancing in Disney Animation (Hardcover)

This is one excellent book, not only for the dance fan but for the animation fanatic (me). There are things about the Disney production process that I never knew, and illustrations and source material that are priceless. Mindy, if you are reading this, I have two reservations for the next edition (I have to carp about something!): My favorite terpsichorean Disney gem gets no mention; "Woodland Cafe" highlights a brilliant spider-and-fly apache dance as well as a Cab Calloway "Truckin" grasshopper and some original jitterbugs. And Gene Kelly danced with Jerry the Mouse (after Walt turned down his request to use Mickey) in "Anchors Aweigh", not "Cover Girl" (where he dances with his reflection.) Nit-piks, admittedly to a first rate accomplishment.

3.0 out of 5 stars Probably not what you're expecting, May 17, 2010

By 

Grant Beaudette (Missoula, MT United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hippo in a Tutu: Dancing in Disney Animation (Hardcover)

Disney and dancing go hand in hand. The animation empire was quite literally founded on characters like Mickey Mouse bouncing along to catchy rhythms. It's only natural someone write a book about such an essential part of Disney history.

However, Hippo in a Tutu isn't from the point of view for a Disney fan to learn more about dancing as you might expect, but rather for those well versed in dance to learn more about Disney.

This book is written by a dance critic, and while she's very knowledgeable, a layperson might have trouble picking out detailed dancing terms and descriptions in just text. Apart from some storyboards the pictures don't add as much to feel of dancing as you'd hope, which is admittedly hard since you're trying to depict a dynamic art in a static medium.

The films looked at in the book are almost exclusively from Disney's early shorts and features. A huge amount of the book focuses on Fantasia, which is understandable, but there's little mention of any films after the mid 40's; just brief bits on both Sleeping Beauty and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Toward the end, the book looks mostly at the people who performed in the live-action reference footage for dances in Snow White, Dumbo and the like, as well as the climate of racial discrimination/insensitivity of the period in Hollywood. Not quite what you might've expected from this book.

If you're a dance aficionado you may want to give this a try. If you're more interested in Disney and the actual films and animation, this might not be as enjoyable as you'd think.