The History of Animation: Enchanted Drawings

by Charles Solomon

The first chapter of Enchanted Drawings: The History of Animation begins with a quotation from Arthur C. Clarke: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." This elegant, richly illustrated book tells the story of animation from its 18th-century beginnings as a magic lantern show (a box with a lamp and a mirror) to the creation of Jurassic Park and The Lion King.

Genres: Nonfiction, Art, History, Film

356 pages, Hardcover

First published November 14, 1989

Reviews

[Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great exploration of the history of animation, this book is a worthy addition to the bookshelf of any fan of animation! Solomon explores, in great detail, the history of animation from its earliest experiments centuries ago to the state of animation in the early 1990s, and even hardcore animation buffs are likely to learn a thing or two from this book. I've read numerous texts and essays on the history of animation, and even I learned a few things!

That being said, I do one point of contention with this book, and that is Solomon's rather dismissive attitude towards racial stereotypes in animation. He concedes that there have been no shortage of awful examples of horrific racism in animation, but in several instances, he seems to try to downplay it instead of admitting the truth. For example, when discussing the crows in Disney's "Dumbo", he argues that they're simply "harmless caricatures" instead of the harmful and offensive stereotypes they so clearly are (the leader of the group is quite literally named for the racist stereotype that the entire group embodies). In fairness, this book was published in 1994, when we as a society were just beginning to finally grapple with the issue of bigotry in older films (both animated and live action), but trying to downplay obvious racist stereotypes is and always has been wrong. Morals and ethics always change, and we must always take care to avoid unfairly judging the past or assigning ill intent where there was none, but even in 1994, it was commonly known and accepted that such stereotypes was wrong, regardless of the intent of the filmmakers.

Solomon's defense of indefensible racial stereotypes leaves a sour taste on what is an otherwise incredible exploration of history, but fortunately, it doesn't render it unreadable in any way, nor does it mean it shouldn't be read. On the contrary, just as classic films with scenes that don't measure up to modern morals should be preserved and studied, so too should texts like this. It has its issues, but it's still an incredible piece of work that every fan of animation should read.

[Gijs Grob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solomon's 'Enchanted Drawings' covers more or less the same ground as Leonard Maltin's earlier 'Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons; Revised and Updated', which means it focuses on American drawn studio animation, and more or less ignores everything else (pages 294 to 299 are devoted to independent animation, almost as an afterthought). Of course, this is defensible, as this is still a large scope to cover. The major differences with Maltin's book are Solomon's attention to minor studios, like the war time FMPU studio and George Pal's Puppetoons, a large and very insightful chapter on television animation, and, of course, a multitude of color illustrations.

Originally published in 1989, the 1994 edition contains an extra chapter on the events during the animation renaissance, which Solomon convincingly argues then still is more of a Disney renaissance than anything else. 'Enchanted Drawings' is highly opinionated anyhow, but this actually guides the reader through the vast history of American drawn animation.

In short, 'Enchanted Drawings' is highly recommended as an introduction to the field, although I still prefer Maltin's classic book in that respect.

[Roman Tsirulev · Rating 5 out of 5]

Прочитал пока только первую треть, потому что надо уезжать и сдавать в библиотеку, но оторваться совершенно невозможно.

[Danny · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Bible for all animation lovers

[Matea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but so looooong!!!!

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

You'd think a $75 book from Knopf would have had a decent editor. If Oscar Wilde had said "I'd rather be talked about than not talked about," he would not be known as a great wit today. "Flowers and Tress" was not the first Technicolor cartoon, it was first three-strip Technicolor cartoon. Why was The Simpsons family on the front cover and then not mentioned in the test? So much good information, but the errors drove me crazy. Although reading about computer animation and where he thought it would (or more likely wouldn't) go was fun.