frank thomas and ollie johnston the illusion of life

Nostalgia and film buffs, students of popular culture, and that very broad audience who warmly responds to the Disney “illusion of life” will find this book compelling reading (and looking!).

It was very successful and made 1000 over expenses at the local theaters. From the perspective of two men who had an important role in shaping the art of animation, and within the context of the history of animation and the growth of the Disney studio, this is the definitive volume on the work and achievement of one of America’s best-known and most widely loved cultural institutions. Frank had made a movie spoof of Hollywoods view of college life back in 1930. The book answers everybody’s question about how the amazingly lifelike effects of Disney character animation were achieved, including charming stories of the ways that many favorite animated figures got their unique personalities. With the full cooperation fo Walt Disney Productions and free access to the studio’s priceless archives, the authors took unparalleled advantage of their intimate long-term experience with animated films to choose the precise drawings to illustrate their points from among hundreds of thousands of pieces of artwork carefully stored away. Besides relating the painstaking trial-and-error development of Disney’s charcter animation technology, this book irresistibly charms us with almost an overabundance of the original historic drawings used in creating some of the best-loved characters in American culture: Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, Snow White and Bambi (among many, many others) as well as early sketches used in developing memorable sequences from classic features such as Fantasia and Pinocchio. Not to be mistaken for just a “how-to-do-it,” this voluminously illustrated volume (like the classic Disney films themselves) is definitely intended for everyone to enjoy.

Frank thomas and ollie johnston the illusion of life