Before the Animation Begins: The Art and Lives of Disney Inspirational Sketch Artists

John Canemaker

1996

New York: Hyperion

ISBN: 0786861525

Description

The author documents the lives and works of Disney’s “inspirational sketch artists” from the 1930s to the present. These are the people who prepare preliminary sketches and visualize all the details surrounding each character in the initial creative period before the grueling labor of animation begins, such as the visual style of the film, how the characters will look, and the way a major scene could be portrayed. The author presents the stories of artists such as Ty Wong, who created Bambi, and Bianca Majolie, the first woman to join the story department at Walt Disney (in 1935). The author manages to place the artists’ lives and interactions with Disney studios in the historical context of modern art.

References:

• Canemaker, John. Before the Animation Begins: The Art and Lives of Disney Inspirational Sketch Artists. New York: Hyperion, 1996. Print.