[BOOK] Masters of Animation

"The Felix films contained a huge number of visual gags which played upon the basic genre of the animation medium itself. When Felix used a question mark as a fishing hook and caught a fish, the animator was seen to be commenting on a functional metamorphosis which was only possible with animation."

Masters of Animation is a fantastic delve into the history of animation, however rather than focusing on the history of the medium itself, it focuses on the animators from all over the world. Because the book was released in 1987, it focuses on very early forms of animation, which to me is useful as it only delves into digital animation only slightly, because it was newly developed. 

The chapters in the book focus on specific animators, a few in particular are Pat Sullivan, Max Fleischer, Ub Iwerks and Walt Disney. It talks about how animation was developed at specific times and also talks about studios and development across the world, one specific thing I took from this book is why rubber-hose animation was popular, and why animation moved away from the rubber-hose style. One thing the book states is that "Psychologically, the audience became virtually addicted to the comic relief of watching cartoon characters perform or survive feats which they themselves could not have enacted.", however "after the initial period of exploration and expansion, the once ambitious and challenging outlook became somewhat stagnant, which the emphasized increasingly falling on a cute-but-realistic style which was instantly accessible to popular audiences." Because companies were shifting direction, namely Disney, artists were rebelling and leaving the company; notably was John Hubley who left to form UPA (United Productions of America).

Overall, the book is a fantastic read, and although similar to other History of Animation books, this one focuses on a specific area, and because of its age, doesn't delve into different medums other than traditional.