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Animated Films
Animation is experiencing popularity unseen since its golden age in the 1930s and '40s. Every summer several new big-budget animated films hit the screen. The best films, adored by both children and adults, combine the latest technology with creativity and a flair for storytelling.
With films as Monsters, Inc., Shrek, and Toy Story capturing the imagination of moviegoers and critics, James Clarke takes an appraising look at animation through the ages. Starting with the earliest full-length feature animation, Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, this book follows the evolution of animation through stop-motion and Japanese animé to the advent of CGI and the newest filmmaking techniques. Finally, Clarke explores the infinite cinematic possibilities of animated film for the future.
With films as Monsters, Inc., Shrek, and Toy Story capturing the imagination of moviegoers and critics, James Clarke takes an appraising look at animation through the ages. Starting with the earliest full-length feature animation, Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, this book follows the evolution of animation through stop-motion and Japanese animé to the advent of CGI and the newest filmmaking techniques. Finally, Clarke explores the infinite cinematic possibilities of animated film for the future.
- GenresNonfiction
348 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 3, 2021
While its breadth of coverage is good, and its basic setup is sensible and clear, and there is interesting information to be unearthed, this book is badly let down by the writing. The introduction sets the tone: overlong, sloppy, repetitive and dotted with frankly idiotic errors. True, the rest of the book isn't quite so bad, and the Disney section is almost enjoyable, but the issues persist throughout.
Most notable are: broken sentences, where the author seems to have changed his mind halfway through but not bothered to adjust the first part of the line to suit; reiterating the same information twice in rapid succession, including one face-palm-inducing example where a paragraph ends with an aside, and the very next one starts with the same aside, repeated almost verbatim; and basic informational errors, like calling Chuck Jones' legendary short One Froggy Evening, One Froggy Night. Not including Osamu Tezuka in the anime section feels like a massive oversight, too.
What could have been a useful overview and reference is instead reduced to a frustration by writing so poor it becomes a chore to read. Not recommended.
Most notable are: broken sentences, where the author seems to have changed his mind halfway through but not bothered to adjust the first part of the line to suit; reiterating the same information twice in rapid succession, including one face-palm-inducing example where a paragraph ends with an aside, and the very next one starts with the same aside, repeated almost verbatim; and basic informational errors, like calling Chuck Jones' legendary short One Froggy Evening, One Froggy Night. Not including Osamu Tezuka in the anime section feels like a massive oversight, too.
What could have been a useful overview and reference is instead reduced to a frustration by writing so poor it becomes a chore to read. Not recommended.
Displaying 1 of 1 review