Wow what a whopper of a book. I really enjoyed “The Magic Behind the Voices” a who’s who of animated character vocals – and this book on Disney animation seemed like a great follow up. It was. It was for me also surprisingly BIG, and at well over 500 pages a big effort to actually read.
I read this for the history with no intention of becoming an animator. However my doodles have improved a lot since I've been reading this.
I didn’t grow up with Disney movies. When I was a kid in the 70’s Disney was in kind of a slump with their animated films. I even remember reading something somewhere about how they would never get back the old magic. But I was still affected by Disney. I was in their “Record Club” for a short while. We also somehow had little plastic Disney character figures to play with (Kids - this was before Wal-Mart and China and the Internet) I still got to see Disney Illustrations everywhere and imagine the movies that were so famous in our culture.
Then later when Disney got it’s magic back (after this book was written) I went out on a date with a girl to see Beauty and the Beast. And then got married to that girl and we lived happily ever after. And we had kids that grew up with Disney on video. So I got to see what I missed. Thank you Disney you have made my life a dream come true! Ok it wasn’t all you.
Anyway about the book . . . It’s great history. Walt Disney doesn’t actually invent anything . . . but his workers do and he creates a whole new industry and world looking for magic . . . that “golden moment” that takes an audience to another place and leaves them feeling good. The book is extremely well written, wonderfully illustrated . . . but will cost you part of your life to read word for word.
I think the lessons learned in animating are good lessons for life. Look for what is inspirational and moving. Creative teamwork can bring results no one imagined. Keep moving, and keep people engaged. Make something beautiful that people feel a part of. The character and the story are the driving and meaningful factors.
So I feel happy and sad. Sad because maybe deep down I thought there was some real magic in Disney. Happy though, that the magic they were going for was after all, life. And life is pretty special.
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Customer reviews
Is a must have book for any book collection
Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2019
Ever since freshman year in college I felt in love with traditional animation,that year I went to library to find books about animation, and I found this huge heavy book, considered to be like the "Bible" for animators, I borrowed that book so many times I lost count. When I moved to engineering scool, my engineering graduation Master thesis was about animation and robotics, and this book was key for me to do things right. Over the years I always said one day I would own it, here in Taiwan it was nearly impossible to get a copy and I wasn't able to afford one from the U. S.. These past months many things changed in my life drastically, and while times have been very rough on me I wasn't going to let that push me down, I saved up, and after years of wanting this book, here it is. This is not an early Bday gift or late Christmas present, this is a gift from Bear to Bear, love Bear just because. So I'll call it happy "illusion of life book" day.
Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2019
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Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 8, 2022
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 9, 2021
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 9, 2019
Is a must have book for any book collection
By Jeffrey Sebastian on July 8, 2019
Ever since freshman year in college I felt in love with traditional animation,that year I went to library to find books about animation, and I found this huge heavy book, considered to be like the "Bible" for animators, I borrowed that book so many times I lost count. When I moved to engineering scool, my engineering graduation Master thesis was about animation and robotics, and this book was key for me to do things right. Over the years I always said one day I would own it, here in Taiwan it was nearly impossible to get a copy and I wasn't able to afford one from the U. S.. These past months many things changed in my life drastically, and while times have been very rough on me I wasn't going to let that push me down, I saved up, and after years of wanting this book, here it is. This is not an early Bday gift or late Christmas present, this is a gift from Bear to Bear, love Bear just because. So I'll call it happy "illusion of life book" day.
By Jeffrey Sebastian on July 8, 2019
Images in this review
Top reviews from other countries
Leanne Harcourt
So much crammed onto every page, truly stunning!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 25, 2020
So much crammed onto every page, truly stunning!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 25, 2020
My daughter is due to go to Uni to study animation. As well as loving the old type hand drawing animation she loves Disney esp the classics. I've got her this for Christmas so haven't seen her reaction yet but I'm so excited for her to see it. You know as a parent those presents they'll go bonkers about and this is it for me :) as for my opinion it's an absolute beaut of a book. As a big Disney fan myself waves of nostalgia came flooding in with just a quick glance so I can just imagine her reaction! Beautifully put together with lots crammed into every single page. I'll be looking through it all too and I'm so pleased with the purchase, pat on the back for me :) you'll not regret buying this book.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 25, 2020
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J.BFuller
So much better in real life than on line
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 27, 2020
TheNamelessReviewer
Good book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 17, 2022Katherine
Interesting and informative book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 3, 2016Amy louise foy
Animation bible
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 25, 2020
