Animation covers everything from Tex Averys split-second slapstick and The Simpsons knowing digs at pop culture, to Hayao Miyasakis strong-willed heroines and Yuri Norsteins delicately rendered folktales. Often dismissed by the uninitiated as kids stuff, any detailed look at animation reveals a technically complex, sophisticated and endlessly inventive medium.
Intended both as a guide and an introduction to this fascinating field, the Pocket Essential Animation examines and celebrates this genre in its many forms. It explores the careers, techniques and key films of many of the major animators. It begins with pioneers such as Winsor McCay, the Fleischer brothers and Walt Disney when the House of Mouse was only a twinkle in his eye. Then brings you right up to date with Nick Parks claymation and the slick CGI comedies of John Lasseters Pixar studio. In between, it takes in the innovations of Norman McLaren, the sexual obsessions of Bob Godfrey and the agit-prop surrealism of Jan vankmajer. Kids stuff, indeed.
