Yoo Hoo, Everybody:
Today we induct another volume into the EchoEars Disney Reference
Library. This is another in a continuing series of reviews of Disney
reference books. Tom, what's today's subject?
.        Maltin, Leonard.
.        Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons.
.           Revised and Updated Edition
.        Plume Books, New York: 1987.
.        485 pp., includes index and filmography, $24.95.
In this one volume, noted film critic, animation fan, and Disniac
Leonard Maltin takes on the entire history of animated cartoons in
America. If you have seen Maltin's "The Disney Films" or his
compilations of live-action films, you know that he and his research
assistant Jerry Beck are up to the challenge.
While some Disney fanatics may question the inclusion of this
work in the EchoEars *Disney* Reference Library, I believe it is
important to view the Disney ouvre in the context of it's time. It's
also the only way to learn what Up Iwerks was up to when he wasn't
drawing Oswald and Mickey.
The main part of the book is divided into a dozen chapters, each
covering one of the major animation studios, and tracking the evolution
of each. Walt Disney is first, Ub gets his own chapter, and all refer
back to the company that, for most of its history, set the standards for
cartoon animation, with particular attention to the artists, directors,
animators, and composers that were responsible for the works produced.
Financial and business matters are treated just heavily enough to
explain the changes seen on the screen. Black & white stills illustrate
many important animated characters, and photographs of the "men behind
the pen" help give a human form to the names in the credits. A final
chapter covers--rather too quickly for my taste--the recent spate of
feature animation from Ralph Bakshi, Don Bluth, Stephen Spielberg, and
others.
While that is the *main* part of the book, it is far from all that is
here. Over 1/4 of the pages are devoted to appendices:
The first of these is the most ambitious filmography of animation I have
seen anywhere. The Disney cartoons begin with the Laugh-O-Grams of
1922/23 and continues to "Mickey's Christmas Carol" of 1983. Disney
features through 1986 are listed separately. For each one is listed the
title, the release or copyright date, the series or star (i.e.: Humphrey
Bear series), and the director. Academy Award nominees and winners are
also flagged. Dave Smith, eat your heart out!
Other studios filmographies follow, and a summary of Academy Award
nominees and winners from 1931/32 to 1974 follow. A two-page glossary of
animation terms is unremarkable--I could easily double the number of
obscure terms that might have been included--but it does cover those
terms used in the book.
If you aren't already impressed by the filmographies, hang onto your
ears--the next section is a listing of sources for cartoons on film
and video! You want cartoons on 8mm film? 16mm film? on 35mm film? on
video? Do you want to buy or just rent? The addresses (but sadly not the
phone numbers) of a dozen of the biggest distributors are given with a
general description of their offerings. A listing of the specific titles
of the cartoons in various home video offerings are also given.
A thourough index to people, characters, and titles completes the work.
Is this the last word on animated film? Certainly not. Maltin, by
design, omits foreign material (though in this age when films are
parcelled out to a dozen studios simultaneously, the defiinition of
"foreign" is getting more difficult). Feature films are given relatively
short shrift (well, the title *does* say "cartoons"). One could easily
hope that another edition will be out shortly--eight years can be a long
time in this high-technology age (can you say "Toy Story"?).
Is this the best available overview of a large and complex field written
by someone who is meticulous in his research, generous with his honest
and knowledgable opinions, and exceptionally well connected to the men
and women who made the history happen? You bet your ears! I just wish it
were available in hard cover--I expect to wear out the card covers
pretty quickly.
If you are interested in animation history, in the context of the Disney
cartoons, or just want a good capsule history of Disney animation with a
good filmography, I can reccomend this book for your Disney Reference
Shelf, too.
()_()
 (_)  Bruce (details, I want *details*) Metcalf
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 þ OLX 2.1 TD þ Aldous Huxley once wrote a script for Mr. Magoo.
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