World Famous Comics: Cartoon Modern: Style and Design in 1950s Animation
Cartoon Modern: Style and Design in 1950s Animation
By: Amid Amidi Publisher: Chronicle Books Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: Chronicle Books Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 200 Publication Date: August 17, 2006
Product Description: Between the classic films of Walt Disney in the 1940s and the televised cartoon revolution of the 1960s was a critical period in the history of animation. Amid Amidi, of the influential Animation Blast magazine and CartoonBrew blog, charts the evolution of the modern style in animation, which largely discarded the "lifelike" aesthetic for a more graphic and often abstract approach. Abundantly found in commercials, industrial and educational films, fair and expo infotainment, and more, this quickly popular cartoon modernism shared much with the painting and graphic design movements of the era. Showcasing hundreds of rare and forgotten sketches, model boards, cels, and film stills, Cartoon Modern is a thoroughly researched, eye-popping, and delightful account of a vital decade of animation design.
What a source of inspiration Fantastic book! This book is well written and is amazingly interesting. A must read for anyone interested in 50's design.
More biography than imagery I absolutely love 50's (and early 60's) animation styles, so based on the other reviews here I eagerly awaited this book. It was a huge letdown.
First of all, the majority of content here is biographical information about the artists who created this art. As such a nice piece of scholarship and research, and giving these artists their just rewards is a Good Thing. But that's basically all there is.
Yes, there are some images, even quite a lot, but the artwork isn't large or arranged in a manner to make any sense (other than as biographical material). There are a few tantalizingly good images, but the vast majority are small, rather pedestrian and, oddly enough, not particularly indicative of the style of the period.
The author sets great store by "unconventionalism", but in point of fact the art of the 50's and 60's did become conventional -- it became its own convention. And this kind of historical perspective is sorely missing here, in large part due to the way the material is organized (it's strictly a studio by studio look -- no timeline or growth of the art is presented in any way. Each studio is given a page or two, and the studios are listed alphabetically).
If you are into cartoon history *facts* then this book will be a goldmine of information for you. If, like me, you are more interested in the visual aspects of the art then I'd strongly recommend skipping this and spending the money either renting or buying some of the cartoons from that time period that are available on DVD (contrary to the author's opinion, much of the stuff IS available: once again, his bias towards the unconventional means that he overlooks the majority of work of that time period).
BOOK OF THE YEAR!!! If you are a cartoonist, or animator, or aspiring to be either one, this is the book to have. Hurry before it's out of print!!!
Cartoon Modern(style and design in the fifties animation Cartoon Modern by Amid Amidi is a book who's time has come. As an artist and a baby boomer, this book brings back warm memories of my youth sitting in front of the T.V.(back then Cartoons only happened on Saturday.) So these images have a fond connection to a developing mind at an age that soaks it all in, from English ONE to Gerald McBong Bong. Just a note, I do have 3 of the original Gerald McBong Bong and find genius in the illustrations, so timely, to have all these illustrations and works of art is like having bell bottoms popular again! I have been trying to find other Gerald McBong Bong tapes at flea markets, yard sales, etc. So how curious to see Gerald McBong Bong in the stores again. I bought two different D.V.D.s my fingers and opened it up and all the wonderful illustrations were turned into a over intense experience of the story, packed with friends and parents, noises,more friends,all packed into a 1/2hour show. This tells me two things, our children need more attention grabbing, multi-tasking everything, which means when we were children , T.V. had been out for just a few years and there were no computers, hi-def, cell phones, I Pods, e mail, in fact I don't think the first computer game "Ping ,pong was , but years away. This book is wonderful in it's simple , but great art and illustration, when life was not so erratic. I also want to let the cartoon fans know that this book is packed with tons of color. I always want a read a review that lets me know there is color , I am a colorist, in my art, and I do think we may see some of these cartoon images in bits and pieces in our art today. It's a good thing.
Great History Lesson This book is so much more than I thought it would be. An incredible source of art, artists and companies, this book is an essential for those who respect animation in general. Incredible reference for the price!
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