Books &Commentary 03 Sep 2010 08:19 am

Animated Performance

- If I had to select one book, today, that I would reccomend people read to learn about about the art of animation, I’d probably pick Nancy Beiman‘s latest tome. It’s a bona fide gem. It’s not like the Preston Blair/Eric Goldberg model where poses for walk cycles and skips and generic movements are blocked out for you. This book does as its title suggests, it shows you how to get a performance out of your characters. Naturally, it would probably help if you already knew the basics (see the Preston Blair/Eric Goldberg model for that.)

There are numerous conversations with the likes of Art Babbitt, Jamaal Bradley and Ellen Woodbury to give you some info on how they got performances out of their characters. Babbitt, naturally, talks about Goofy and his original animation of that character. Bradley discusses animating the “House” in Monster House. Ellen Woodbury talks about Zazu in The Lion King. There’s quite a lot of material there, and Nancy uses it all to extrapolate her lessons.

The book is filled with lots of sketches and examples of material being discussed. The drawings are Nancy’s when she has something specific to detail; if she can find an example from an existing film, she uses that. It’s a solid book with strong material that is rarely discussed in How-To animation books.


Here Nancy gives the example of a male and
a female saying the same line.

My complaint might be that some of the thumbnails are printed relatively small so it’s hard to see some of the material. (Of course that also has to do with my aging eyesight.) But there’s so much packed into this book that I can’t imagine them having the room to print it much larger.


Animals are given equal space.

The book concerns itself with the differences between the sexes, four legs vs. two and how to portray animated animal motion, moving inanimate objects, weight and weightlesssness, animating multiple characters and crowd scenes. That’s quite a lot to tackle, and the book seems to get it right in Nancy’s hands.

Nancy Beiman desrves strong kudos for this book, and any animation student – 2D or 3D – should own a copy.

8 Responses to “Animated Performance”

  1. on 03 Sep 2010 at 11:50 am 1.Richard O'Connor said …

    I wholeheartedly agree.

    This book should become the primer for first year animation students.

    By explaining the reasons behind the why’s and how’s of animation she allows artists to figure out where the drawings go on their own. This is a great protection against the cliché performances we’ve come to expect.

  2. on 03 Sep 2010 at 11:55 am 2.Ken Priebe said …

    I look forward to getting this book. I’ve seen Nancy give a presentation on her work at the 2D or not 2D festival and she’s a great talent.

  3. on 03 Sep 2010 at 12:04 pm 3.Eric Noble said …

    Excellent post. I will have to check this book out. I still have to go through the Preston Blair book first.

  4. on 03 Sep 2010 at 12:08 pm 4.Michael said …

    Ken, I’m reading your book now and will review it soon. It’s pretty great so far.

  5. on 03 Sep 2010 at 7:02 pm 5.Tom Sito said …

    It’s a good book. And my eyes are getting bad too, Mike.
    Have a great Labor Day. Drink a toast to Gerard Salvio!

  6. on 03 Sep 2010 at 7:34 pm 6.Daniel said …

    Looks great, I’ll pick up a copy soon. Thanks Michael :)

  7. on 03 Sep 2010 at 7:34 pm 7.Daniel said …

    Ken’s looks great too. I’ll put that on the list as well.

  8. on 11 Jan 2011 at 12:14 am 8.Daniel Caylor said …

    Just finished it. Wonderful book. Staying on the shelf. Hopefully I’ll find time someday to do the exercises. They sound like they’ll really improve my skill-set.

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