I had the pleasure of receiving yesterday Don Hahn's new book The Alchemy of Animation: Making an Animated Film in the Modern Age. This book is clearly a very good surprise: it is very readable (Don Hanh's previous book was too), longer and much better illustrated than Hahn's Disney's Animation Magic.
Is this a Disney-historian dream? Frankly it isn't and it isn't meant to be. It is clearly a book aimed at a very general audience. And that goal is reached, with honors. In fact, I believe this book is doing exactly what The Art of Animation by Bob Thomas did in its time: it creates a nice window in the life of current Disney artists and on the world of Disney animation. If I were a kid today, this book would definitely get me excited and make me want to become an animator (if I had any talent that is!) Everything is clearly explained and the book does not talk down to its audience in any way.
Conclusion: Not a revolution in terms of Disney history, but wonderful book for your kids and great book for Disney enthusiasts thanks to the artwork selection.
Didier,
ReplyDeleteis the artwork in this book the kind most Disney enthusiasts may already have found in other books or are there never before seen sketches/drawings?