Table of Contents
What are the best Animation Books? You appreciate animators and the art of animation, but you’re unsure where to begin your exploration of the world of art.
These books cover everything from simple sketches to very elaborate vistas. If you pick up these top 10 greatest animation books to help you along in your creative journey into animation, you’ll learn the tricks from the masters.
The Animators Survival Kit
Richard Williams, an award-winning animator, will show you how to succeed in animation. Williams is most known for his contributions to the classic Who Framed Roger Rabbit film. He also directed the long, difficult The Thief and the Cobbler, as well as other well-known productions such as the Pink Panther animations.
Richard Williams could not possibly be a greater guide. The book, which was published in 2001, is regarded as a must-have for any aspiring animators, as it contains tips, tactics, and techniques that Williams has used and continues to utilize. This book is essential reading for aspiring animators.
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Cartoon Animation
This guide by Preston Blair, first published in 1994, is an outdated yet incredibly useful resource for budding animators. This may be the best animation book, next to Animators Survival Kit.
Preston Blair worked for Disney and MGM, animating iconic moments from Fantasia, including The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and the Dance of the Hours, Bambi, and Pinocchio.
From the 1930s to the 1970s, he worked in the Golden Age of animation. Some of our favorite masterpieces, including some with Blair’s animation, were created throughout these key decades. Blair explains his unique approach to cartoon animation in the book.
You can learn techniques from the man who created Droopy Dog and the Flintstones. Blair died a year after the book came out, and I’m grateful he shared his advice before he passed away.
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Acting for Animators 4
Ed Hooks’ animation book, published in 2017, is a how-to guide for not only animating but also including the important function that emotion and intention play in the animation process, culminating in your final result
This is a really helpful animation textbook because it encourages you to think more deeply about your animation rather than simply putting it on the page. What motivates your character to take a certain action? All of these are crucial concerns that are addressed in this animated book.
We enjoy how the attention is placed on the ‘little things,’ like facial expressions and subtle nuances in a character’s movement, which give the character a life of its own rather than making it flat. Hooks’ Acting for Animators series is now in its fourth edition. He’s a successful author and acting coach, and he’s even given a masterclass on the subject.
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The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation
Buckle up, because you’re about to learn from the masters. Two of Disney’s “Nine Old Men,” the original core of Disney animators who produced some of the most popular Disney characters and films, were Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Bambi, and Pinocchio were all animated by Thomas and Johnston.
This novel was published in 1981, the same year that both men were working on The Fox and the Hound. Thomas and Johnston show you how they developed Walt Disney Studios not only as a powerhouse in animation but also as the gold standard in the field, in this animation book.
The manner they go about showing is a terrific element of this book; they make it easy to understand without being complex or using jargon. They devised the 12 laws of animation, which highlighted the importance of characters being both realistic and true to their nature as animations.
Timing for Animation
Timing for Animation was published in 1981, the same year as Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston’s Illusion of Life. It teaches animators how to properly frame their animations. Timing is crucial, as the title suggests. Using the length of a drawing, “stretch and squash”, and other wonderful approaches to give your animation ample space.
Harold Whitaker and John Halas were both well-known animators. John Halas and his wife Joy Batchelor founded the “Halas and Bachelor” animation studio in the United Kingdom, where they produced a number of animated features.
They collaborated on films such as the 1954 adaption of George Orwell’s Animal Farm (which was England’s first animated feature picture) and Harold Whitaker’s odd musical Heavy Metal in 1981. Another aspect of the book is its straightforward, no-nonsense tone.
Do you want to study the finer points of animation? This is an excellent choice for an animation book.
Character Animation Crash Course!
This book was published in 2008 by Eric Goldberg. His unique animation styles may be seen in films such as The Princess and the Frog, Wreck-It Ralph, and Hercules.
The book focuses on strong character personalities and how to make them ‘jump’ off the page, similar to the Genie from Aladdin. How can you make audiences like and relate to your character?
Eric Goldberg’s distinctive technique will show you how the masterworks were created. The tone of Eric Goldberg’s book is funny, amusing, and light-hearted, making it a quick read and even easier to pick up useful animation methods.
Frames of Anime: Culture and Image-Building
Are you an anime lover who isn’t particularly fond of Disney or Western animation? I have a copy of the book for you. It’s a 2010 book about Eastern culture’s inner workings and its relationship with anime. Rather than being a guidebook, it is more of rich history.
However, we believe that having a solid historical foundation is essential to comprehend what you’ll be creating. Knowing the history of anime will give you a leg up when it comes to actually sketch your animations, as you’ll be able to put the weight of decades of animation history to each pencil stroke.
Tze-Yue Hu conducts in-depth interviews with renowned anime animators, doing an in-depth examination into the origins of anime using linguistics and Japan’s history from WWII forward.
You could easily finish this book in one sitting; it’s a quick read that will educate you not just in the forms you’re familiar with, but also in a deeper perspective on art as we know it.
Starting Point, 1979-1996
Hayao Miyazaki has authored this 2014 semi-memoir to detail his early career.
Many interviews, including sections on his boyhood, are included in this animation textbook. It’s easy to trace his influences in early masterpieces like Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and My Neighbor Totoro through them. Miyazaki, like many of us, began as a basic animator with a dream and ambitions.
He tells us about his journey from humble beginnings as a basic animator to the global icon that we now associate with animated films. The unique aspect of Miyazaki’s vision is his obsession with childhood and glorifying one’s dreams, which is seen in both this book and his animation as a whole.
While the other books on the list will show you the valuable skills used by animation professionals, this animation book will show you the inner workings of a creative mind that is feeling confined in his job and how to get out.
Talking Animals and Other People
Shamus Culhane’s Talking Animals and Other People, an entertaining glimpse inside the life of the animator behind characters like Woody Woodpecker, Popeye, and Pluto, was released in 1998. He is most famous for creating the iconic ‘Heigh-Ho’ sequence from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which took him and his team six months to accomplish.
That hard work was well worth it, and Culhane puts that same hard labor into his writing. Culhane began his animation career as a sort of intern for his own company’s president.
This book is similar to Miyazaki’s memoir in that it chronicles Culhane’s narrative while also educating the reader on the long history of animation, from its beginnings to the present day. He discusses the fascinating inner workings of creative studios, which will keep you turning the pages.
This book, which is jam-packed with fantastic graphics and images, is a must-have for any animation aficionado.
The Making of Fantastic Mr. Fox
We adore Wes Anderson’s films, particularly Fantastic Mr. Fox. Fantastic Mr. Fox, unlike his earlier works, features gorgeous animation and a charming, lovable style that keeps you captivated by the screen. Wes Anderson gives a behind-the-scenes look at his adaptation of Roald Dahl’s 1970 novel of the same name in this 2009 book.
It wasn’t like any other stop-motion animation we had ever seen. Some people may not be interested in the ‘behind the scenes’ of stop motion animation, but you can’t help but be curious about the techniques employed by the studio to master the movements of these humanoid animals.
Conclusion
These Animation Books, all written by professionals, teach budding animators not only useful techniques but also how to think like the pros. All of the ‘Nine Old Men’ of the original Disney animation crew, including Miyazaki, Culhane, and some of the ‘Nine Old Men’ of the original Disney animation team, shed light on movie magic and what happens when you allow those creative impulses out into the world.
These animation books will thrill both veteran and newbie animators, providing new material to help you improve your animation talents, whether large or tiny.
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Animost – Vietnam 3D Animation Studio
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