The Noble Approach: Maurice Noble and the Zen of Animation Design


Tod Polson - 2013
    Revered throughout the animation world, his work serves as a foundation and reference point for the current generation of animators, story artists, and designers. Written by Noble's longtime friend and colleague Tod Polson and based on the draft manuscript Noble worked on in the years before his death, this illuminating book passes on his approach to animation design from concept to final frame, illustrated with sketches and stunning original artwork spanning the full breadth of his career.

Dream Worlds: Production Design for Animation


Hans Bacher - 2007
    A truly unique visual delight offering insight into the development of animation classics like Bambi, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Lilo and Stitch as well as a tantalizing examination of unfinished Disney projects.

The Disney That Never Was: The Stories and Art from Five Decades of Unproduced Animation


Charles Solomon - 1995
    This unprecendented look at the creative processes behind the scenes at the Disney studio offers a wealth of magnificent animation art from uncompleted films stored in the vast Disney Archives. Photos.

Walt Disney's Fantasia


John Culhane - 1983
    Noted film historian John Culhane tells the story behind the creation of Fantasia, using never-before-published material and a wealth of memorable illustrations, including actual frames from the classic film.

The Alchemy of Animation: Making an Animated Film in the Modern Age


Don Hahn - 2008
    By drawing (sorry!) upon more than seven decades of Disney's classic and beloved animated films, this stunning book explores the role of the directors, story artists, songwriters, and animators who each play an integral role in the creation of an animated feature. This book includes a special focus on the digital techniques of filmmaking and fresh, behind-the-scenes work from the most current Disney films, including Chicken Little, Meet the Robinsons, and Bolt, as well as showing other forms of animation such as the stop-motion of Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach.

The Art of Wreck-It Ralph


Jennifer Lee - 2012
    At the center of this hilarious and wildly original video-game-hopping adventure is Wreck-It Ralph, an arcade game bad guy who breaks all the rules when he sets off on a mission to prove he can be good. The Art of Wreck-It Ralph captures the fresh artistic vision of the film and the aesthetic journey of the filmmakers through interviews with the film's many artists, including a foreword by director Rich Moore and a preface by John Lasseter. Illustrated with character sketches, storyboards, visual development paintings, colorscripts, and more, this behind-the-scenes look at Disney's latest 3-D animated epic is a treat for video game and animation lovers alike.

The Animator's Survival Kit


Richard Williams - 2001
    During his more than forty 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 passing along his knowledge to a new generation of animators so that they in turn could push the medium in new directions. In this book, based on his sold-out master classes in the United States and across Europe, Williams provides the underlying principles of animation that every animator--from beginner to expert, classic animator to computer animation whiz --needs. Urging his readers to "invent but be believable," he illustrates his points with hundreds of drawings, distilling the secrets of the masters into a working system in order to create a book that will become the standard work on all forms of animation for professionals, students, and fans.

The Art of the Hunchback of Notre Dame


Stephen Rebello - 1996
    The stunning art and evocative text of The Art of The Hunchback of Notre Dame take the reader on a fascinating journey through the making of the movie, the world of medieval France, the nineteenth-century Gothic literature that embraced that world, and the imaginations of the creative artists who have masterfully combined these challenging elements into a magnificent animated musical. The Art of The Hunchback of Notre Dame features the rarely seen spectrum of art created in the making of the film, as the story is imagined and re-imagined in a variety of media - from conceptual paintings, to story sketches and layout, drawings, through the many stages of animation and background painting, computer generated imagery, effects animation, and final art from the production. The range of artwork is both vital and luminous, capturing the beauty and splendor of this stunning realization of fifteenth-century Paris. The lively, informative text features background on the original Hugo novel, as well as the historical influences, inspirations, and ideas the creators of the film brought to the animation, story, and music.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: The Art and Creation of Walt Disney's Classic Animated Film


J.B. Kaufman - 2012
    More than 250 artworks, including rarely seen concept sketches, background paintings, and cels illustrate the genius of Walt Disney and the creative vision of the artists who produced a beloved milestone in cinematic history.In 1933, Walt Disney was a rising star in the world of animation, just beginning to become a household name. Ambitious new ideas emerged from the Disney studio on a regular basis, and the film world waited eagerly to see what the creative young filmmaker would do next. The answer surprised them all: a full-length animated feature film, based on the traditional tale Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The production took three years and the talents of many of Hollywood’s top artists . . . and, of course, created one of the best-loved classics of all time. This book, based on a ground-breaking exhibition of both familiar and never-before-seen art from the Walt Disney Animation Research Library, walks the reader scene by scene through the movie, accompanying the art with behind-the-scenes stories about the film’s production. The book features over 200 pieces of art, many reproduced from original concept sketches, background paintings, and production cels, as well as alternate character concepts, deleted scenes, and step-by-step process shots.

The Art of Finding Nemo


Mark Cotta Vaz - 2003
    This visually stunning underwater adventure follows eventful and comic journeys of two fish-a father and his son Nemo-who become separated in the Great Barrier Reef. The underwater world for the film was conceptualized and developed by the creative team of artists, illustrators, and designers at Pixar, resulting in a lush landscape rich with detail. The Art of Finding Nemo celebrates their talent, featuring concept and character sketches, storyboards, and lighting studies in a huge spectrum of media, from five-second sketches to intricate color pastels. This behind-the-scenes odyssey invites the reader into the elaborate creative process of animation films through interviews with all the key players at Pixar. There will be children's books related to Finding Nemo, but no adult titles other than this definitive volume. Revealing, insightful, and awesomely creative, The Art of Finding Nemo will delight film-goers, artists, and animation fans alike.

The Natural Way to Draw


Kimon Nicolaides - 1941
    Great for the beginner and the expert, this book offers readers exercises to improve their work.

The Art of Moana


Jessica Julius - 2016
    Three thousand years ago, the greatest sailors in the world ventured across the Pacific, discovering the many islands of Oceania. But then, for a millennium, their voyages stopped—and no one today knows why. From Walt Disney Animation Studios, Moana is a CG-animated adventure about a spirited teenager who sails out on a daring mission to prove herself a master wayfinder and fulfill her ancestors' unfinished quest. During her journey, Moana meets the once-mighty demi-god Maui and together they traverse the open ocean on an action-packed adventure, encountering enormous fiery creatures and impossible odds. The stunning artwork in this behind-the-scenes book includes character designs, storyboards, colorscripts, and much more.

Framed Ink: Drawing and Composition for Visual Storytellers


Marcos Mateu-Mestre - 2010
    Using his experiences from working in the comic book industry, movie studios and teaching, Marcos introduces the reader to a step-by-step system that will create the most successful storyboards and graphics for the best visual communication.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 three diverse story lines – a train accident, a cowboy tale and bikers approaching a mysterious house.In addition to setting up the shots, he also explains and illustrates visual character development, emotive stances and expressions along with development of the environmental setting to fully develop the visual narrative.

Starting Point: 1979-1996


Hayao Miyazaki - 1996
    A hefty compilation of essays (both pictorial and prose), notes, concept sketches and interviews by (and with) Hayao Miyazaki. Arguably the most respected animation director in the world, Miyazaki is the genius behind "Howl's Moving Castle," Princess Mononoke" and the Academy Award-winning film, "Spirited Away."

The Art of Pixar


Amid Amidi - 2011
    From classics such as Toy Story and A Bug's Life to recent masterpieces such as Up, Toy Story 3, and Cars 2, this comprehensive collection offers a behind-the-scenes tour of every Pixar film to date. Featuring a foreword by Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter, the complete color scripts for every film published in full for the first time as well as stunning visual development art, The Art of Pixar is a treasure trove of rare artwork and an essential addition to the library of animation fans and Pixar enthusiasts.