This book is amazing. Disney in the '40s and '50s is the only boys' club I would want to join, but it is amazing me & Rachel taught ourselves all we needed to know anyway. There are pictures in here of animators sketching big bubbling vats of goo and making special instruments to animate the sound of a spiderweb covered in dew. Then I watched Fantasia again. It is truly a masterpiece. I love Disney. This is my favorite book. Five stars.
( )

Marvelous book by two of Disney's original animators ("the Nine Old Men") and a great example of craftsmanship in animation as well as near-boundless creativity. ( )

I am looking to replace my lost copy of this book! ( )

This was a Christmas present from my mom when I was about 12. She got it on the discount rack at Kmart and I used this book so much that both the front and back cover have fallen off. I just took it out and looked through it again last night, to find something to stretch my drawing muscles on since I haven't done any drawing in 15 years now. It's every bit as wonderful and full of inspiration as I remember it being. My daughter loves looking through it too. ( )

One of the three practically required references for animators and aspiring animators (the other two being Richard Williams' book and Preston Blair's book).

This coffee table-sized book was written by two of Disney's "Nine Old Men" at the apex of their careers. In "Illusion of Life" Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston cover the history of animation at the Disney Studios and discusses the process of creating an animated film from beginning to end.

The "principles of animation" are covered as are layout, storyreels, background painting an much more. The book is filled with artwork from concept art to background paintings to reproductions of cels to cel setups to rough drawings by the animators. It also contains more technical material such as the design of Disney's Multiplane Camera and the impact it had on animation.

This is a beautiful volume that you'll learn something new every time you read it. ( )