DVDizzy Forum

Are there any books out there that collects the best concept art by Disney animation? Like Gustaf Tenggren's work on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Fantasia and Bambi, as well as some Silly Symphonies?
Even some great illustrations of Alice in Wonderland that were made in the 40's (I don't remember the artist), created for a version that never went into production. There were also others plannet projects that were lost in development hell, but which at least left behind some artwork worth watching.
Then we have to stuff done in the 50's with Lady and the Tramp and Sleeping Beauty and so on.

I'm sure a lot of interesting work was done in the 60's and later as well, but it's mostly the early work by Disney I'm interested in.

I can't really help you, but obviously for newer films they are releasing The Art Of... books and I just noticed that they're making one for Beauty and the Beast too, even if it's fifteen years old. So maybe there's hope for older films - I'm sure if you write to Disney and let them know there's interest they might make some. It seems to me those books are pretty good sellers (they sell out relatively fast) because they're shiny coffee-table books, so you might have a chance!

However, if there are already books like that I would love to hear about them too!

Most of my Disney books concern the theme parks and their concept sketches respectively, but if you're looking for good concept art of animation, I highly recommend these (note some are out of print, but you can buy nice used copies for reasonable prices on Amazon):

The Disney Villain by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. Lots of nice animation sketches, storyboards, and concept art of the villains from their respective films.

Disney's Nine Old Men And The Art of Animation by John Canemaker. lots of great original animation sketches by the Nine Old Men themselves and other artists from the first Mickey cartoons to The Rescuers.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and the Making of A Classic by Brian Sibley and Richard Holliss. Lots of niece pieces of concept art and animation from Snow White.

Walt Disney Archives: Story and Animation. These two books provide amazing storyboards and animation sketches from all of the animated films

Disney That Never Was and Disney's Lost and Found by Charles Solomon. Both great books about abadoned projects, including storyboards for completely different versions of the Rescuers, and Bill Peet's original storyboards for Sleeping Beauty.

Before The Animation Begins: The Art and Lives of Disney Inspirational Sketch Artists by John Canemaker. Judging by what you've said, this is the holy grail that you're looking for and a fantastic book. It's a book that compiles the greatest concept sketch artists by Walt, gives each of them their own 10 to 15 page biographical section with tons of their concept sketches for projects from Snow White to Mulan. Included in the book are the bios and sketches of Joe Grant, Ken Anderson, Mary Blair, Eyvind Earle, Gustaf Tenggren, Albert Hurter, Biana Majolie, Sylvia Moberly-Holland, Tyrus Wong, David Hall, James Bordero, Kay Nielsen, and Ferdinand Horvath. A beautiful book I stronly recommend.

Paper Dreams by John Canemaker - Features storyboard artwork from the first shorts all through to the latest feature films.



The Art and Flair of Mary Blair - John Canemaker

Thanks. Some of the titles seems interesting, but I'm not that much into sketches and stuff, I prefer more about complete artwork.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and the Making of A Classic, Disney That Never Was and Disney's Lost and Found doesn't sound too bad, but Before The Animation Begins: The Art and Lives of Disney Inspirational Sketch Artists seems to the closest to what I'm interested in. Some of the most gifted artists produced art that is good enough to have on the wall.

Paper Dreams could also be worth a closer look.

If you can hold out, the Walt Disney Animation Studios : The Archive Series will probably put out either a Vis Dev or a Background book soon. This year it's Design. http://www.amazon.com/Walt-Disney-Anima ... 939&sr=8-3

Does anyone own any of the Walt Disney Animation Studios : The Archive Series, i was wondering if these were any good?

DisneyLover27 wrote:Does anyone own any of the Walt Disney Animation Studios : The Archive Series, i was wondering if these were any good?

I've got both of them so far - They are excellent. No redicious commentary - just the artwork to speak for itself. Two issues I have: they obviously picked out their favorite films and artists, so don't expect anything from Oliver, Groove, etc. and a Dust Jacket would have been nice, but I guess it's just superfluous.

I recommend any and all of The Art of books. Escpecially the Pixar ones. The latest book is The Art of Pixar Short Films :
http://www.amazon.com/Art-Pixar-Short-F ... 53&sr=8-12

Just got this in at my local library and it's amazing. I'm still waiting for The Art of Princess and the Frog one at the library too. (The DreamWorks ones are also nice.)

The original 1958 edition of The Art of Animation by Bob Thomas detailed the making of "Sleeping Beauty" and is filled with gorgeous art.

DisneyLover27 wrote:Does anyone own any of the Walt Disney Animation Studios : The Archive Series, i was wondering if these were any good?

The archive series are BEAUTIFUL. HUGE high quality reproductions of original artwork. Often with the flowcharts, punchholes and artists notes still on them. The two books are some of the most gorgeous books I own and can't wait for more volumes!

you can view videos of both books being flipped through on the following Amazon.com pages to get an impression of the awesomeness!

http://www.amazon.com/Animation-Walt-Di ... 1423117166

http://www.amazon.com/Walt-Disney-Anima ... pd_sim_b_1

merlinjones wrote:The original 1958 edition of The Art of Animation by Bob Thomas detailed the making of "Sleeping Beauty" and is filled with gorgeous art.

Does it have just as much about Sleeping Beauty as the B&tB & Hercules books have on those movies? Like, the whole 2nd half of the book is dedicated to Sleeping Beauty?!? If so, I really want it, but there's one copy on Amazon, for $75...

There are 3 books that feature Mary Blair artwork and retellings of Disney films. They are truly beautiful books.

Cinderella (the text of this one is so sweet. It actually made me cry when I read it)
http://www.amazon.com/Walt-Disneys-Cind ... 832&sr=1-6

Alice in Wonderland
http://www.amazon.com/Walt-Disneys-Alic ... 832&sr=1-4

Peter Pan
http://www.amazon.com/Walt-Disneys-Pete ... 832&sr=1-3

I gave you the amazon links, but I'm pretty sure you can find these in stores. I actually bought the fist two at Disney's California Adventure and the last at Barnes & Noble. But amazon has the best prices.

Hope this is what you had in mind

Even some great illustrations of Alice in Wonderland that were made in the 40's (I don't remember the artist), created for a version that never went into production.

You mean the David Hall sketches and watercolours, which can be found in a 1986 edition of 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland', published by Little Simon, illustrated with many Hall sketches and with a foreword by Brian Sibley which sets them in context and talks about the development of the film in the 30s and 40s. I've also made a post including a great many David Hall 'Alice' sketches on my blog.

Incidentally, I've got 131 images from the 1986 book and a few other sources saved on my hard drive, and will email in batches to anyone who's interested!