Michael Sporn Animation – Splog

- Having featured a book from 1940 these past few days, I think it’s time to bring things up to date. There are a couple of books about to be released, and I’d like to make mention of them.

Animated News posts the complete press information for Tony White’s new book, Animation from Pencils to Pixels.

Tony White, of course, was the brilliant animator who rose in Dick Williams’ Soho studio (animating the Pink Panther credits), winning the BAFTA award for his brilliant short, Hokusai.

He also wrote the invaluable animation production book, The Animator’s Workbook. (This is one book I don’t think any potential animator should be without.)

After the brilliant first book, I’m looking forward to his second book. It obviously takes the 2D animator into the digital age – as has Tony White, himself.

– Everyone knows about the release of Amid Amidi‘s book, Cartoon Modern: Style and Design in 1950s Animation .

I’ve already posted several times about it, but that gives you an indication of how much I’m anticipating it. The book is a special event since it’s the first to really highlight the more eccentrically designed animation of the 50′s and early 60′s. This is a point in the era of animation that has been sorely bypassed by most animation historians.

Hopefully this book will help fill the gap. If it’s anything like Amid’s companion site, Cartoon Modern, it’ll be a gem.

– Finally, I’d like to highlight a slightly older book that’s very much in print, but rarely do you hear anyone promote it. Timing for Animation is a book written by Harold Whitaker. Harold was the principal animator at the Halas & Batchelorstudio. He led animation on Animal Farm and Ruddigore. His style in those films was quite distinctive, and there’s no doubt he was a quiet, unheralded master.

The book is brilliant in that it gives quite a few animation tips in simple, clear language, easily understood. I used it as a primer for my students for the short time I taught animation. I advise you all to at least look at it; you’ll end up buying it if you want to know about animation mechanics.

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