re: "The Alchemy of Animation" takes a look inside the modern Mouse Factory

Jim Hill — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:39:58 GMT

It's probably even better than a tour through the hat building... unless that tour was being led by Don himself.

re: "The Alchemy of Animation" takes a look inside the modern Mouse Factory

Jim Hill — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 06:27:42 GMT

Well, I finally saw the book tonight and found it bare bones and minimal informatiom to boot. If I were to be in a college animation program, this book would be akin to the opening lecture of what is going on...then the required text would be Thomas & Johnston's 'ILLUSION OF LIFE.' Nothing, and I mean nothing, tops ILLUSION when it comes down to really understanding what animation is, how it is handled, and, what it is capable of.

I am not knocking Hahn's book, but, it is so basic in an overview that a lot of the material needed for an aspiring animator is lost before the cover is even bent back and the pages opened.

So, if you want a quick view of what current animation is, what the roles on a animated film production team are, some great pictures of what animated art and conceptual art before it reaches the final product, a good nod of the head towards the digitalization of even hand drawn animation for the final film product - this is a good book. If you want to understand what animation is, what makes it tick, how it is accomplished, then, get ILLUSION OF LiFE.

Better yet, get both books. You'll be glad you did.