100 Best Animation Books of All Time
We've researched and ranked the best animation books in the world, based on recommendations from world experts, sales data, and millions of reader ratings. Learn more
Animation is one of the hottest areas of filmmaking today--and the master animator who bridges the old generation and the new is Richard Williams. During his fifty years in the business, Williams has been one of the true innovators, winning three Academy Awards and serving as the link between Disney's golden age of animation by hand and the new computer animation exemplified by Toy Story.
Perhaps even more important, though, has been his dedication in... more
Animation is the process of drawing and photographing a character in successive positions to create lifelike movement. Animators bring life to their drawings, making the viewer believe that the drawings actually think and have feelings. Cartoon Animation was... more
From Ed Catmull, co-founder (with Steve Jobs and John Lasseter) of Pixar Animation Studios, comes an incisive book about creativity in business—sure to appeal to readers of Daniel Pink, Tom Peters, and Chip and Dan Heath. Creativity, Inc. is a book for managers who want to lead their employees to new heights, a manual for anyone who strives for originality, and the first-ever, all-access trip into the nerve center of Pixar Animation—into the meetings, postmortems, and “Braintrust” sessions where some of the most successful films in... more
Mark ZuckerbergThis book is written by the founder of Pixar and is about his experience building a culture that fosters creativity. His theory is that people are fundamentally creative, but many forces stand in the way of people being able to do their best work. I love reading first-hand accounts about how people build great companies like Pixar and nurture innovation and creativity. This should be inspiring to... (Source)
Timothy FerrissNo matter your circumstances, storytelling and creativity are two 'meta-skills' that can take your business and life to the next level. Ed is a master. (Source)
Ezra KleinAn amazing, amazing book. (Source)
Don't have time to read the top Animation books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.
Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:
- Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
- Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
- Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
Walt Disney was a true visionary whose desire for escape, iron determination and obsessive perfectionism transformed animation from a novelty to an art form, first with Mickey Mouse and then with his feature films–most notably Snow White, Fantasia, and Bambi. In his superb biography, Neal Gabler shows us how, over the course of two decades, Disney revolutionized the entertainment industry. In a way that was unprecedented and later widely imitated, he built a synergistic empire... more
Marc AndreessenBoth Marc and Brian Chesky, CEO of Airbnb, have read and recommended Neal Gabler's biography of Walt Disney. (Source)
Brian CheskyWalt Disney [...] was a hero, he left behind an unbelievable legacy. You kinda hold him regard as the iconic successful founder. He was brilliant. The thing that's amazing is Walt bet everything over and over, was always on the brink of bankruptcy, and almost should never have been successful. (Source)
Featuring... more
Winner of three Academy Awards and numerous other prizes for his animated films, Chuck Jones is the director of scores of famous Warner Bros. cartoons and the creator of such memorable characters as the Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote, Pepe Le Pew, and Marvin Martian. In this beguiling memoir, Chuck Jones evokes the golden years of life at "Termite Terrace," the Warner Bros. studio in which he and his now-famous fellow animators conceived the cartoons that delighted millions of moviegoers throughout the world and... more
Don't have time to read the top Animation books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.
Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:
- Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
- Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
- Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
Avatar: The Last Airbender has been syndicated to more than 120 countries around the world, inspiring millions of fans and industry professionals alike and garnering numerous industry honors--including wins at the prestigious Annie, Peabody, and Primetime Emmy awards.
Join series creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino for an unprecendented behind-the-scenes look at hundres of pieces of concept, design, and production art--most of which Nickelodeon has never before released to the... more
"You must read this book." — Neil Gaiman
Praised throughout the cartoon industry by such luminaries as Art Spiegelman, Matt Groening, and Will Eisner, Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics is a seminal examination of comics art: its rich history, surprising technical components, and major cultural significance. Explore the secret world between the panels, through the lines, and within the hidden symbols of a powerful but misunderstood... more
Austin KleonUnsolicited, but here’s my advice for visual thinkers (and others) who want to be better writers: [...] Cartoonists, because their work demands work from two disciplines (writing/art, poetry/design, words/pictures), are highly instructive when it comes to visual people learning to write, writers learning to make art, etc. (Check out Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics for more.) (Source)
Will BrookerUnderstanding Comics is a book about how comics work, told in comic form. It’s very accessible, it’s for the general reader and is about comics in general, not just superhero comics. It explores areas like pacing and editing – how motion can be created through static panels on a page, and how arranging those panels in different ways, or drawing in different styles, or combining text and image,... (Source)
After a brief discussion on narrative art, Marcos introduces us to drawing and composing a single image, to composing steady shots to drawing to compose for continuity between all the shots. These lessons are then applied to... more
With an introduction by John Lasseter-and very little else in the way of words-this first book in The Artist Series lavishly showcases the most brilliant story artwork created by such luminaries as Bill Peet, Don DaGradi, Joe Rinaldi, Roy Williams, Ub Iwerks, Burny Mattison, and Vance Gerry for such films as Steamboat Willie and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to Alice in Wonderland and 101 Dalmatians. The art will be displayed in its full glory with all the notes, flaws, and hole punches that were so much a part of the story development process.... more
This book includes a special focus on the digital techniques of filmmaking and fresh, behind-the-scenes work from the most current... more
Copyright ©2016 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved. less
Don't have time to read the top Animation books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.
Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:
- Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
- Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
- Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
The Art of How to Train Your Dragon presents the insights of the filmmakers who crafted this high-flying cinematic adventure and takes the audience on a visual tour of the Viking and... more
& Layouts includes famous as well as unpublished work of the great layout... more
Walt Disney's team of core animators, who he affectionately called his "Nine Old Men," were known for creating Disney's most famous works, as well as refining the 12 basic principles of animation. Follow master animator and Disney legend Andreas Deja as he takes you through the minds and works of these notable animators. An apprentice to the Nine Old Men himself, Deja gives special attention to each animator and provides a thoughtful analysis on their techniques that include figure drawing, acting, story structure, and... more
Don't have time to read the top Animation books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.
Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:
- Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
- Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
- Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
Taking inspiration from Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale "The Snow Queen" and the culture and landscape of Norway, the artists of Frozen have created a dynamic,... more
Like film's heroine, the Disney artists who created Mulan made a journey of self-discovery that began with a momentous decision - to make a modern-day... more
The Beauty and the Beast legend has a universal appeal; the fairy tale exists in numerous versions throughout the world. During the process of being translated into a Disney film, Beauty and the Beast had several false starts. It was originally conceived as an eighteenth-century period piece, directed by the British husband-and-wife team of Richard and Jill Purdum. After some changes, two new directors, Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale, were put in charge of the project. Although he was initially reluctant to do another animated film after The Little Mermaid, the late Howard Ashman came on... more
The newest film from Pizar Animation Studios, the people who brought you Toy Story, A Bug's Life, and Toy Story 2, reveals the... more
Don't have time to read the top Animation books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.
Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:
- Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
- Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
- Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
The Art of WALL•E features the myriad pieces of concept art on which this fantastic,... more
After years of research, respected Hollywood biographer Bob Thomas produced a definitive biography of the man behind the legend of Disney: the unschooled cartoonist from Kansas City who when bankrupt on his first movie venture and developed into the genius who produced unmatched works of animation, and ultimately was... more
Don't have time to read the top Animation books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.
Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:
- Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
- Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
- Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
Featuring annotations by Eisner Award–winning writer Gene Luen Yang (American Born Chinese) and artistic team Gurihiru (Thor and the Warriors Four), and a brand-new sketchbook, this is a story that Avatar fans need in an edition they will love!
* The official continuation of Airbender from its creators and best-selling writer Gene Luen Yang!
more
Featuring a gorgeous... more
Fans will... more
Rise of the Guardians is one of DreamWorks Animation’s most ambitious films to date. Its mythic premise allowed the artists at the studio to let their imaginations loose, producing a truly unique... more
This is the guide that all anime and manga artists—of any level—need! Chris Hart delves deep into the specifics of drawing anime characters and scenes and explores every aspect of anime forms. He reveals his secrets for composing a complete picture, and discusses rarely covered topics. Entirely new tutorials include instruction on drawing hands and feet in different gestures or positions, arranging... more
Don't have time to read the top Animation books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.
Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:
- Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
- Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
- Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
From the phone call that started it all to the mastery of the latest computer-animation and 3D technology to the use of CinemaScope in an animated feature, The Art of Anastasia illuminates the creative process behind one of the most anticipated motion picture in years.
The Art of Anastasia takes a peek behind the scenes at the history and artistry of the film. Interviews with the producers,... more
Don't have time to read the top Animation books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.
Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:
- Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
- Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
- Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
But in reality it is not Jack who is the star of the show; it is the over 140 artists and technicians who spent more than two years bringing Jack and all his cohorts to life on the sceen. Every gesture Jack makes was created by a human hand, by an animator who moved the puppet in tiny increments from fram to frame. Every character, every set, every prop - even the candy dances - had to be... more
In Fall 2009, audiences will cheer as award-winning director Wes Anderson (Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Darjeeling Limited) brings us his take on the tale: a blockbuster stop-motion... more
From the animators of Howl's Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke and Academy Award winner Spirited Away, comes the new Studio Ghibli film Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea.
Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid, is a hand-drawn feature-length film. The art of the film involves not only cel, but also striking watercolor and pastel concept sketches and layout pages. Interviews with productiin principals about...
moreTaken at speeds ranging up to 1/6000th of a second, these photographs show bone and muscle positions against ruled backgrounds. Almost all subjects are... more
Along the way, you'll learn how to:
Create special effects like explosions and flying minifigures
Convey action and emotion with your minifigure actors
Design sets for animation--make three buildings... more
Animation contains more than 130 illustrations, from the work of leading animators worldwide (including the author himself) to sketches that... more
Don't have time to read the top Animation books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.
Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:
- Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
- Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
- Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
A renowned expert in the field of animation, John Canemaker narrates the creative search for, and development of, memorable stories,...
moreEvery page of The Art of Kung Fu Panda brings you behind-the-scenes and into the studios of... more
Walt Disney once said of Marc Davis, "Marc can do story, he can do character, he can animate, he can design shows for me. All I have to do is tell him what I want and it's there! He's my Renaissance man." As such, Davis touched nearly every aspect of The Walt Disney Company during his tenure. He began as an animator, whose supporting work on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Bambi inspired Walt to promote him to full animator.
In the ensuing years, Davis breathed life into a bevy of iconic Disney characters, including Cinderella, Alice (in Wonderland),... more
Beginning with black-and-white silent cartoons, Barrier offers an insightful account, taking us inside early New York studios and such Hollywood giants as Disney, Warner Bros., and MGM. Barrier excels at illuminating the creative side of animation--revealing how stories are put together,... more
Mixing first-hand interview and personal insights with critical evaluations of... more
Don't have time to read the top Animation books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.
Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:
- Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
- Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
- Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.