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L'Art de l'Animation : de Mickey à la Belle et la Bête
Thomas celebrates the magic of animation, explaining the basic techniques and giving examples of story sketches, layout animation drawings and background paintings--all the elements that go into the making of an animated film. With the cooperation of Walt Disney Productions, the publication of the book will tie in with the upcoming film Beauty and the Beast. 200 full-color illustrations.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
17 people are currently reading
800 people want to read
About the author
Bob Thomas
131 books33 followersRobert Joseph "Bob" Thomas was an American Hollywood film industry biographer and reporter who worked for the Associated Press from 1944.
Born in San Diego, he grew up in Los Angeles, where his father was a film publicist. He attended UCLA. He lived in Encino with his wife, Patricia. They have three daughters. Thomas, aged 92, died on March 14, 2014 at his home.
Thomas made his mark by engaging celebrities in activities that brought out their personalities, whether by measuring their waistline after childbirth (as he did with Betty Grable) or testing just how tall a leading lady needed to be by kissing her himself (as he did with June Haver). Acclaimed as the dean of Hollywood reporters, Bob Thomas wrote about the movie business for the Associated Press since the days when Hollywood was run by the men who founded it: Jack Warner, Darryl F. Zanuck, Harry Cohn and Louis B. Mayer.
During his long history of reporting for the AP, Thomas authored at least 30 books. Many in the film industry credit his 1969 biography of producer Irving G. Thalberg as sparking their interest in pursuing a career behind the scenes. Other Thomas biographies include Joan Crawford, Marlon Brando, David O. Selznick, Walter Winchell, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Howard Hughes, Abbott & Costello, Walt Disney, and a children's book, Walt Disney: Magician of the Movies. - Wikipedia
Born in San Diego, he grew up in Los Angeles, where his father was a film publicist. He attended UCLA. He lived in Encino with his wife, Patricia. They have three daughters. Thomas, aged 92, died on March 14, 2014 at his home.
Thomas made his mark by engaging celebrities in activities that brought out their personalities, whether by measuring their waistline after childbirth (as he did with Betty Grable) or testing just how tall a leading lady needed to be by kissing her himself (as he did with June Haver). Acclaimed as the dean of Hollywood reporters, Bob Thomas wrote about the movie business for the Associated Press since the days when Hollywood was run by the men who founded it: Jack Warner, Darryl F. Zanuck, Harry Cohn and Louis B. Mayer.
During his long history of reporting for the AP, Thomas authored at least 30 books. Many in the film industry credit his 1969 biography of producer Irving G. Thalberg as sparking their interest in pursuing a career behind the scenes. Other Thomas biographies include Joan Crawford, Marlon Brando, David O. Selznick, Walter Winchell, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Howard Hughes, Abbott & Costello, Walt Disney, and a children's book, Walt Disney: Magician of the Movies. - Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
December 10, 2019
This book has 2 main sections: A general overview of the Disney output from the 1920's up to the early 90's and the making of Beauty and the Beast. All throughout there is great artwork of all kinds: animation drawings, cells, backgrounds, layout sketches and frame stills. It's interesting, but not surprising, that the frame stills for the older films are grainy. (I wonder if nitrate frames were used). The making of Beauty and the Beast is covered well. (The color charts and frame stills as shown strongly indicate that the past 2 DVD releases have ruined the artistic integrity of the film).
My only complaint is that the book is too short for a subject like this. I hope that someday there will be a book like this (and The Art Of Walt Disney) that goes in depth on each film the way that they did here with Beauty and the Beast.
I would recommend this book mainly for the second section.
My only complaint is that the book is too short for a subject like this. I hope that someday there will be a book like this (and The Art Of Walt Disney) that goes in depth on each film the way that they did here with Beauty and the Beast.
I would recommend this book mainly for the second section.
August 17, 2017
Loved this book in high school when it came out (I won't say when that was and date myself). Very informative. Love the lenticular cover!!!
March 23, 2022
This is another book that I spent my entire childhood looking at, but never read until now (in my 40s). It was super interesting reading this 1991 version of the book immediately after reading the 1958 version. The '91 book is more historically accurate, acknowledging Ub Iwerks as the co-creator of Mickey Mouse, the 1941 studio strike, and other facts that were glossed over or omitted from the '58 version. I also found the early section on the history of early animation to be more robust and better researched. Sadly the book layout is nowhere near as clean as the older version, but there are still tons of great production photos and concept art throughout the book.
I found the making of Sleeping Beauty ('58) to be more interesting than the making of Beauty and the Beast ('91), and it was a bigger portion of the original book - really going department by department and explaining how the studio worked. There are plenty of interviews of key personnel in this version of the book, but some departments are left out (color model stills are shown, but there is no explanation of the CAPS system that was in use at the time). Honestly, the weirdest part of reading this book was getting through the chronological retelling of the Disney features up to the point of Sleeping Beauty and having it dismissed as a failure (essentially contradicting about half of the previous version of the book, which played it up as a forthcoming masterpiece).
A lot of time was spent on the corporate reshuffling of the late '80s (basically the same story of the excellent "Waking Sleeping Beauty" documentary from 2009). Sections like this are probably why I never read this as a kid, but I found it all fascinating now.
Anyway, I was worried I'd finally read this and regret having tracked down the 1958 version of the book, but it turned out they were different enough that I'm glad I have them both. Also, bonus points for putting a lenticular cover on an animation book! :)
I found the making of Sleeping Beauty ('58) to be more interesting than the making of Beauty and the Beast ('91), and it was a bigger portion of the original book - really going department by department and explaining how the studio worked. There are plenty of interviews of key personnel in this version of the book, but some departments are left out (color model stills are shown, but there is no explanation of the CAPS system that was in use at the time). Honestly, the weirdest part of reading this book was getting through the chronological retelling of the Disney features up to the point of Sleeping Beauty and having it dismissed as a failure (essentially contradicting about half of the previous version of the book, which played it up as a forthcoming masterpiece).
A lot of time was spent on the corporate reshuffling of the late '80s (basically the same story of the excellent "Waking Sleeping Beauty" documentary from 2009). Sections like this are probably why I never read this as a kid, but I found it all fascinating now.
Anyway, I was worried I'd finally read this and regret having tracked down the 1958 version of the book, but it turned out they were different enough that I'm glad I have them both. Also, bonus points for putting a lenticular cover on an animation book! :)
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February 20, 2023I picked up this book out of curiosity to understand the animation production process; both old and new and after finishing this process I can say that this book gave me a tour of the production floors. The author explained the start of the commercial animation process and also provided the intricate details of 2D animation. This is a good foundation to understand the basics where you can see where today's animation industry has been based.
This book provides the basics along with sharing some of Disney's characteristics like adding emotion to every single stage of the animation. Bringing emotion with flat pictures by adding colors and music and voice is marvelous to read.
Do give this book a read if you wish to quickly grasp the basics of animation production and how today's production process was developed on this.
This book provides the basics along with sharing some of Disney's characteristics like adding emotion to every single stage of the animation. Bringing emotion with flat pictures by adding colors and music and voice is marvelous to read.
Do give this book a read if you wish to quickly grasp the basics of animation production and how today's production process was developed on this.
November 11, 2018
**Didn't write any reviews for the books I read between the beginning of October to the beginning of November. Therefore, the details of this following review may be fuzzier than usual; that means take it easy on me and do not rub balloons to this review's hair; a fuzzball puff will be the result.**
Mainly read it for the behind the scenes story workshoping and the rough draft drawings. Also, was not prepared for how much the book would breeze through the films right before "Beauty and the Beast." That's pretty much it.
Mainly read it for the behind the scenes story workshoping and the rough draft drawings. Also, was not prepared for how much the book would breeze through the films right before "Beauty and the Beast." That's pretty much it.
October 1, 2020
I bought this book years ago and just re-read it. The first half is very interesting but doesn't devote more than a paragraph or two to any subject. The second half is ALL "Beauty and the Beast". I'd like more of the first half and less of the second half. As an introduction to early-era Disney it's a pretty good starting place, but I think you might learn more on other books...or even on Wikipedia.
June 28, 2021
Disney has always inspired me and now I know more of how Walt Disney brought a world of magic to life. It was fun and exciting to dive into some of the different animations and the process that made these fantastic movies. It was fun to see the animators behind beloved characters and the thought process. Definitely recommend to Disney lovers and art fanatics!
December 27, 2023
Tiesiog nuostabi knyga apie animacijos gamybą remiantis Disney stydijos filmais. Ir detalus pasakojimas apie animacinio filmo ‘Gražuolė ir pabaisa’ kūrimą iš animatorių perspektyvos. Knyga sena (1991m), kolekcinė jau, bet labai smagi ir aktuali ir šių laikų filmų gamyboje.
September 16, 2017
Insightful and wildly informative. Great read for any Di-hard!
January 6, 2019
Good overview of the history of Disney animation, although not much I didn't already know.
March 3, 2025
I checked this out to keep it from being purged from my local library and now that I know there's an edition that goes up to Hercules, I kind of wish we had that!
September 24, 2017
I read this in middle school, and it opened my eyes to what a true art form classic animation is. I've been in love ever since.
June 16, 2015
I received this book as a gift more than ten years ago, and had glanced through it a few times, but never actually bothered to read it until now (I've recently decided I should get more out of my collection of art/animation books). It took me a while to read because I read it during down time at work. This book is divided into two parts. Evidently an update from a book Bob Thomas originally wrote in the late 1950s at Walt's request, the first 120 pages is a concise history of animation, specific to Walt Disney's indelible contributions to the art form. The last third or so contains a section devoted to the making of Beauty and the Beast, which was the newest Disney animated film at the time of publication.
This was an interesting book, taking a whole lot of information and presenting it in a manageable and engaging way. It had a lot of really nice artwork, including production and rough animation sketches, finished colored movie stills, photographs of people who worked at the studio, and some really old animation artwork. It wasn't a complete history of Walt Disney or the art of animation, some elements of the studio or art form's respective histories are glossed over with a brief mention or omitted completely, but it gets through a lot of years and relevant points of interest pretty well. A lot of the information won't be new to someone who is really into Disney's body of work, but for the casual reader it gives a nice overview. There was even a brief history of the art of animation before Disney ever came on the scene, setting the stage for his innovation in the field, which recalled many of my notes from animation history classes. For some reason I expected a little more insight to the other elements of Disney's films, such as music or TV projects or ties to theme parks, but then I realized this book was more specific to animation itself. The second half was centered on the making of Beauty and the Beast, and was a little more in-depth regarding all aspects of the filmmaking process, and contained a lot of nice information on the film, some of which even surprised a Disney nut like me. I was also a little surprised to find some inaccuracies regarding facts and names, but I guess the movie probably wasn't even quite finished at the time the writer was doing his research and collecting artwork and illustrations. Naturally, as Disney Animation has produced several animated films since this book's time, the information seemed a little dated, and pointed to Beauty and the Beast as being the be-all end-all of the studio's work, which, I guess, at the time, it was. It's not up-to-date, but it's interesting insight into the feeling regarding the studio and the art form at the time.
I should also mention that some of the writing seemed a little awkward (do we really need these odd and irrelevant physical descriptions of the animators and crew members?), and there were a few puzzling typos. I might have rated it about 3 1/2 stars, as there were a lot of redeeming factors and an impressive span of information that covered several decades, even though it had some flawed facts. (Also, production-wise, the paperback binding kind of fell apart as I read it, and the cover is in danger of coming unglued and falling off completely.) Still, this was a fairly interesting and pretty fun read about Walt Disney's work and the legacy he left at his passing, and how, even though there were some bumps along the way, the studio continued to strive to be the best at what they do.
This was an interesting book, taking a whole lot of information and presenting it in a manageable and engaging way. It had a lot of really nice artwork, including production and rough animation sketches, finished colored movie stills, photographs of people who worked at the studio, and some really old animation artwork. It wasn't a complete history of Walt Disney or the art of animation, some elements of the studio or art form's respective histories are glossed over with a brief mention or omitted completely, but it gets through a lot of years and relevant points of interest pretty well. A lot of the information won't be new to someone who is really into Disney's body of work, but for the casual reader it gives a nice overview. There was even a brief history of the art of animation before Disney ever came on the scene, setting the stage for his innovation in the field, which recalled many of my notes from animation history classes. For some reason I expected a little more insight to the other elements of Disney's films, such as music or TV projects or ties to theme parks, but then I realized this book was more specific to animation itself. The second half was centered on the making of Beauty and the Beast, and was a little more in-depth regarding all aspects of the filmmaking process, and contained a lot of nice information on the film, some of which even surprised a Disney nut like me. I was also a little surprised to find some inaccuracies regarding facts and names, but I guess the movie probably wasn't even quite finished at the time the writer was doing his research and collecting artwork and illustrations. Naturally, as Disney Animation has produced several animated films since this book's time, the information seemed a little dated, and pointed to Beauty and the Beast as being the be-all end-all of the studio's work, which, I guess, at the time, it was. It's not up-to-date, but it's interesting insight into the feeling regarding the studio and the art form at the time.
I should also mention that some of the writing seemed a little awkward (do we really need these odd and irrelevant physical descriptions of the animators and crew members?), and there were a few puzzling typos. I might have rated it about 3 1/2 stars, as there were a lot of redeeming factors and an impressive span of information that covered several decades, even though it had some flawed facts. (Also, production-wise, the paperback binding kind of fell apart as I read it, and the cover is in danger of coming unglued and falling off completely.) Still, this was a fairly interesting and pretty fun read about Walt Disney's work and the legacy he left at his passing, and how, even though there were some bumps along the way, the studio continued to strive to be the best at what they do.
December 21, 2017
'Disney's Art of Animation from Mickey Mouse to Beauty and the Beast' is essentially an almagam of two books: the first is a rework and update of Thomas's book from 1958, covering the history of Disney animation, including even a chapter on Disney's predecessors. The second is a rather journalistic report on the making of 'Beauty and the Beast' (1991). Thomas' Disney history makes a very fine read, but adds little information to those who already have Finch's 'The Art of Walt Disney: From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdoms' or other Disney history books.
Thomas's report on 'Beauty and the Beast' is an equally fine read, but hardly critical, and hardly escapes the standard 'how is an animated movie made'- story. Best part is when we meet the animation artists Glen Keane, Andreas Deja, James Baxter, Lorna Cook, David Pruiksma, Will Finn and Tom Sito. They've all been given a little background info, and they tell about their difficulties in animating this particular movie.
Needless to say, the book is simply stuffed with very fine artwork.
Thomas's report on 'Beauty and the Beast' is an equally fine read, but hardly critical, and hardly escapes the standard 'how is an animated movie made'- story. Best part is when we meet the animation artists Glen Keane, Andreas Deja, James Baxter, Lorna Cook, David Pruiksma, Will Finn and Tom Sito. They've all been given a little background info, and they tell about their difficulties in animating this particular movie.
Needless to say, the book is simply stuffed with very fine artwork.
January 9, 2013
I picked up this edition of the book specifically because it was recommended on a "list of books for aspiring animators." It is a delightfully light introduction to the history of Disney animation, including some key animating tidbits. Examples of things I picked up:
Animations were in color before live films.
Disney monopolized colored cartoons for three years through a deal with Technicolor.
Disney encouraged animators to use bright colors because they were paying so much for the use!
Animators learned to desaturate the backgrounds to keep the brightly colored characters from disappearing into them.
Did you know that Disney didn't "invent" the animation industry so much as he beat out the competition in New York? That Disney was a real bootstrapper who had many early false starts and spent a lot of time borrowing and repaying money? Did you know that the Black Cauldron was terrible because it's what happens when you leave a bunch of animators alone without project management??
This book rocks. The first half is history, the second half is a process walkthrough using Beauty of the Beast, and I cannot think of a better example of animation to use.
Animations were in color before live films.
Disney monopolized colored cartoons for three years through a deal with Technicolor.
Disney encouraged animators to use bright colors because they were paying so much for the use!
Animators learned to desaturate the backgrounds to keep the brightly colored characters from disappearing into them.
Did you know that Disney didn't "invent" the animation industry so much as he beat out the competition in New York? That Disney was a real bootstrapper who had many early false starts and spent a lot of time borrowing and repaying money? Did you know that the Black Cauldron was terrible because it's what happens when you leave a bunch of animators alone without project management??
This book rocks. The first half is history, the second half is a process walkthrough using Beauty of the Beast, and I cannot think of a better example of animation to use.
July 30, 2015
Books about a company's history are generally polarizing for me (I either love them or I hate them), but this one fell somewhere in between. The writing could have stood to be improved a bit (not quite enough hard chronology made topics blend together a bit, and I would have appreciated each movie getting a proper treatment), but overall my impression was quite positive. Text nor images dominated each page and I wasn't struck by dissonance between the two - both of which are major problems for many art-focused histories - though my easy reading time may have been facilitated by the fact that I am very familiar with all of the Disney films and much of the history. The book could have used a bit more academic content (indexes, chronologies of films, separate bios of key animators, original stories matched with Disney adaptations), but I don't think that it was meant to be anything more than a decent glance into the history of one of America's oldest companies. Thankfully there are publications that cover in depth discussions of most of the major Disney films, as well as biographies of the Disney personalities and artistic innovations.
November 24, 2014
Excellent classic on the art of animation in Disney films and shorts. It started out with ravishing detail on the early days of Disney's studio, but as time progressed to Walt's masterpiece features the writing became a bit too rushed and concise for my taste. Monumental films get only a page of surface level criticism. This trend gets worse as the book goes on, but thankfully it redeems itself by having half of the book be on Beauty and the Beast alone. The book is quite outdated, with 25 years of Disney films not being touched on, but it provides a succinct view of the progress made in animation by Walt and his successors up until the first blossoms of the Disney Renaissance.
December 28, 2009
This is a french book I bought in 1997 after "the art of Walt Disney" in 1993.
It is basically about all the process that goes on behind all the Disney animations up until Beauty and The Beast, with an in-depth exploration behind Beauty and the Beast.
Although it's in french ( a language I barely understand) I remember forcing my sister to read it to me and explain everything!
It's one of those books that made me love drawing and coming up with stories that would make an interesting animation.
It is basically about all the process that goes on behind all the Disney animations up until Beauty and The Beast, with an in-depth exploration behind Beauty and the Beast.
Although it's in french ( a language I barely understand) I remember forcing my sister to read it to me and explain everything!
It's one of those books that made me love drawing and coming up with stories that would make an interesting animation.
July 13, 2016
While it offers a good introduction to Disney's history and animation itself through "Beauty and the Beast", I think it can only function as that. This book is purely surface level, but it explains things clearly and succinctly for someone just getting into the subject.
Even so, I would be more inclined to recommend Frank Thomas' and Ollie Johnson's "Illusion of Life" as a more in-depth take into the studio's very early history.
Even so, I would be more inclined to recommend Frank Thomas' and Ollie Johnson's "Illusion of Life" as a more in-depth take into the studio's very early history.
April 2, 2014
Disney Beauty and the Beast:
This book is a tale of love and perseverance. I would use this book in the discussion part of the building knowledge part of a lesson plan. The goal would be for children to sustain attention to a specific activity and demonstrate persistence. This book could also be used as an example for children of how good deeds can help people in more than one way.
This book is a tale of love and perseverance. I would use this book in the discussion part of the building knowledge part of a lesson plan. The goal would be for children to sustain attention to a specific activity and demonstrate persistence. This book could also be used as an example for children of how good deeds can help people in more than one way.
August 11, 2015
A good overview of the history of Disney animation, chronicling the early days up to the latest Disney animated feature at the time of writing of the book: Beauty and the Beast. A big portion of the book is dedicated to the art of Beauty and the Beast. There's also an updated version of this book which goes all the way up to Hercules. The hardcover has a lenticular 3D cover.
July 26, 2011
This book was very interesting and informative about the history of Disney. Although the book does get dry at some points making it a little boring. All of the artwork that was pulled for the book was probably my favorite part, it was beautiful and reminded me why I love Disney so much.
March 27, 2008
This book gave a nice overview of Disney animation. Wonderful pictures and some good information.
August 26, 2011
A classic. Definitely enjoyed it.~
June 12, 2012
The history of animation at Disney, up to the early 1990's. It has behind-the-scenes information and plenty of images.
June 24, 2015
Excellent book
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews