Before Ever After: The Lost Lectures of Walt Disney's Animation Studio (Disney Editions) - Hardcover

Hahn, Don; Miller-Zarneke, Tracey

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1484710819 ISBN 13: 9781484710814

Publisher: Hyperion, 2015

Synopsis

This hefty volume is rare glimpse into the infancy of animation and a view behind the artistry that launched Walt Disney to the pinnacle of the genre.

Walt build a cartoon studio and an empire on the shoulders of Mickey Mouse, but to make the leap from shorts to feature film, he knew the artists had to develop further. Walt himself drove his artists to classes at the nearby Chouinard Art Institute on entertainment, drawing, and acting. Then he expanded that educational effort by building his own in-house art school like none other.

Before Ever After is a compilation of never-before-seen lecture notes from that school, documenting classes that instructor Don Graham organized in preparation for the production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Guest lecturers included Frank Lloyd Wright, who spoke about art philosophy, and Alexander Woollcott, who lectured on humor and entertainment.

These talks were carefully transcribed and distributed to the animation crew in the 1930s, but with the onset of World War II and a labor strike, the lectures were filed away. Now some eighty years later, these lost lectures are presented with text and context, richly illustrated to show the brilliance of Walt's plan to raise the level of his artists to invent the modern animated feature.

About this title

About the Author

DON HAHN is best known for having produced the classic Beauty and the Beast, the first animated film nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. Hahn has authored a number of books, including Before Ever After, Animation Magic, The Alchemy of Animation, and Brain Storm: Unleashing Your Creative Self. He's also compiled and edited Drawn to Life.

TRACEY MILLER-ZARNEKE has long been fascinated with the world of animation, way beyondher credited roles on the feature films. She has previously authored eight books on the art of animation, including The Art of Meet the Robinsons, The Art of Kung Fu Panda, The Art and Making of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and The Art of Planes. Tracey worked as the technical editor for the second edition of the textbook Producing Animation. She also serves on the Board of Directors for the organization Women in Animation.

Edition details

• Publisher: Hyperion
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1484710819
• ISBN 13: 9781484710814
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 450