Hollywood Cartoons American Animation in Its Golden Age [Hardcover]

In Hollywood Cartoons, Michael Barrier takes us on a glorious guided tour of American animation in the 1930s, '40s, and '50s, to meet the legendary artists and entrepreneurs who created Bugs Bunny, Betty Boop, Mickey Mouse, Wile E. Coyote, Donald Duck, Tom and Jerry, and many other cartoon favorites.
Beginning with black-and-white silent cartoons, Barrier offers an insightful account, taking us inside early New York studios and such Hollywood giants as Disney, Warner Bros., and MGM. Barrier excels at illuminating the creative side of animation--revealing how stories are put together, how animators develop a character, how technical innovations enhance the realism of cartoons. Here too are colorful portraits of the giants of the field, from Walt and Roy Disney and their animators, to Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera.
Based on hundreds of interviews with veteran animators,Hollywood Cartoonsgives us the definitive inside look at this colorful era and at the creative process behind these marvelous cartoons.


Why is Marjorie Belcher the world's most durable film star? Because she was the model for Walt Disney's Snow White and for the Blue Fairy in 'Pinochio'....This is one of the many odd facts to be gleaned from Michael Barrier's account of the development of Hollywood animation. Bet you didn't know, for example, that Sneezy the dwarf was originally to have been Deafy--until someone, long before the days of political correctness, spotted the unconscious slur. Or that Pluto was at first to have been called Rover....His book is rich in nuggets that bring the era, from roughly 1910 to the mid-1960's, vividly to life. --The Economist

This long awaited book by Michael Barrier, a pioneer in the field of animation studies, raises the bar for serious analysis of Hollywood animation and animators during the 'Golden Age' of the 30s, 40s, and 50s. Barrier's research is rich and impeccable, his arguments articulate, and his uncompromisinglst