History Literature / TheIllusionOfLife

[[caption-width-right:350:''The'' Disney Animation guidebook.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:''The'' Disney Animation bible.]]

[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_illusion_of_life_9790.jpg]]

* {{NSFW}}: Fred Moore's nude woman drawings.

''The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation'' [[note]]Originally titled "Disney Animation: The Illusion Of Life" prior to reprints [[/note]] is a Non-Fiction instructional/historical book that was commissioned by Creator/WaltDisney himself prior to his death to be written by Les Clark, who was with Disney all the way from WesternAnimation/OswaldTheLuckyRabbit up to Walt's death. However, [[AuthorExistenceFailure Clark died in 1979]] while doing preliminary research for the book. An attempt to complete the book was made in the 1980s in a large collaboration project with many surviving [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation Golden Age]] and [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfAnimation Dark Age]] Disney veterans, the project being spearheaded by two of Creator/DisneysNineOldMen, Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston.

''The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation'' [[note]]Originally titled "Disney Animation: The Illusion Of Life" prior to reprints [[/note]] is a Non-Fiction instructional/historical book that was commissioned by Creator/WaltDisney himself prior to his death to be made by Les Clark, who was with Disney all the way from WesternAnimation/OswaldTheLuckyRabbit up to Walt's death. However, [[AuthorExistenceFailure Clark died in 1979]] while doing preliminary research for the book. An attempt to complete the book was made in the 1980's in a large collaboration project with many surviving [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation Golden Age]] and [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfAnimation Dark Age]] Disney veterans, the project being spearheaded by two of Creator/DisneysNineOldMen, Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston.

The book was released in 1981, and has received universal acclaim and excellent sales, considered by many to be one of the best books on animation available. It has never been out of print since. There is also an abridged paperback "Popular Edition" of the book that removes around 200 pages of content and starts off right around the third chapter, with the section about the 12 Principles of Animation. It also received three companion books, also authored by Frank and Ollie; ''Literature/TooFunnyForWords: Disney's Greatest Sight Gags'', ''Literature/TheDisneyVillain'' and the making of book ''Bambi: The Story and the Film''. A companion art book, ''Treasures of Disney Animation Art'', was also published by John Canemaker (complete with identical cover art to Illusion of Life despite having completely different content), containing artwork that Frank and Ollie wanted to put into The Illusion of Life, but simply didn't have room for.

* ArtEvolution: Given it's a history book about Disney animation, it inevitably contrasts the older stick figure and rubberhose drawing styles with the more naturalistic drawing style Disney developed and refined from the mid 1930's and onward. It particularly highlights Fred Moore's redesign of MickeyMouse in "WesternAnimation/PlutosJudgementDay" as a big step forward, by changing Mickey's design from a stiff dumbbell to a flexible, spongy pear shape.
* {{Bowdlerise}}: The WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}} character analysis near the end of the book is a condensed version that censors the original 1934 version, which made an unfortunate comparison of Goofy to a [[UncleTomFoolery "Coloured Boy"]]. The unabridged analysis was posted on [[http://www.michaelspornanimation.com/splog/?p=2418 Michael Sporn's Splog.]] Years later, the complete lecture would be presented in Don Hahn's book "Before Ever After", with the only change being the outdated "good natured coloured boy" line being edited into "good natured boy".

* DigitalDestruction: The original 1981 book was printed on high quality paper and the illustrations were more crisp looking. When the book was reprinted later in the 80's and 90's, Disney found out that the original photographic plates for the book were lost or destroyed, so they were forced to scan pages from the original book in high quality and use them as the source materials for the reprints so they wouldn't have to go to the painstaking effort of reconstructing the entire book from scratch. While the reprints aren't bad at all, a side by side comparison of the original run and its reprints reveals a noticeable drop in printing quality.

* ArtEvolution: Given it's a history book about Disney animation, it inevitably contrasts the older stick figure and rubberhose drawing styles with the more naturalistic drawing style Disney developed and refined from the mid 1930's and onward. It particularly highlights Fred Moore's redesign of MickeyMouse in ''Disney/PlutosJudgementDay'' as a big step forward, by changing Mickey's design from a stiff dumbbell to a flexible, spongy pear shape.

[[IThoughtItMeant Has nothing to do with]] existential crises, nihilism (the books idealistic philosophy, like virtually all Disney works, is just the opposite) or with PlatonicCave.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: The book highlights the SillySymphonies short "Who Killed Cock Robin" for its caricature of iconic actress Creator/MaeWest, which so effectively caricatured her beyond the level of a ShallowParody, [[ApprovalOfGod that Mae herself lauded it!]]

* DoorStopper: Over 550 pages, it'll take you a long time to read through this thing.

* {{Bowdlerise}}: The {{Goofy}} character analysis near the end of the book is a condensed version that censors the original 1934 version, which made an unfortunate comparison of Goofy to a [[UncleTomFoolery "Coloured Boy"]]. The unabridged analysis was posted on [[http://www.michaelspornanimation.com/splog/?p=2418 Michael Sporn's Splog.]] Years later, the complete lecture would be presented in Don Hahn's book "Before Ever After", with the only change being the outdated "good natured coloured boy" line being edited into "good natured boy".

''The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation'' [[note]]Originally titled "Disney Animation: The Illusion Of Life" prior to reprints [[/note]] is a Non-Fiction instructional/historical book that was commissioned by Creator/WaltDisney himself prior to his death to be made by Les Clark, who was with Disney all the way from OswaldTheLuckyRabbit up to Walt's death. However, [[AuthorExistenceFailure Clark died in 1979]] while doing preliminary research for the book. An attempt to complete the book was made in the 1980's in a large collaboration project with many surviving [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation Golden Age]] and [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfAnimation Dark Age]] Disney veterans, the project being spearheaded by two of Creator/DisneysNineOldMen, Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston.

The book was released in 1981, and has received universal acclaim and excellent sales, considered by many to be one of the best books on animation available. It has never been out of print since. It also recieved three companion books, also authored by Frank and Ollie; ''Literature/TooFunnyForWords: Disney's Greatest Sight Gags'', ''Literature/TheDisneyVillain'' and the making of book ''Bambi: The Story and the Film''. A companion art book, ''Treasures of Disney Animation Art'', was also published by John Canemaker (complete with identical cover art to Illusion of Life despite having completely different content), containing artwork that Frank and Ollie wanted to put into The Illusion of Life, but simply didn't have room for.

Also the TropeNamer of TheTwelvePrinciplesOfAnimation.

The book was released in 1981, and has received universal acclaim and excellent sales, considered by many to be one of the best books on animation available. It has never been out of print since. It also recieved three companion books, also authored by Frank and Ollie; ''Too Funny For Words: Disney's Greatest Sight Gags'', ''The Disney Villain'' and the making of book ''Bambi: The Story and the Film''. A companion art book, ''Treasures of Disney Animation Art'', was also published by John Canemaker (complete with identical cover art to Illusion of Life despite having completely different content), containing artwork that Frank and Ollie wanted to put into The Illusion of Life, but simply didn't have room for.

The book has received universal acclaim and excellent sales, considered by many to be one of the best books on animation available. It has never been out of print since. It also recieved three companion books, also authored by Frank and Ollie; ''Too Funny For Words: Disney's Greatest Sight Gags'', ''The Disney Villain'' and the making of book ''Bambi: The Story and the Film''. A companion art book, ''Treasures of Disney Animation Art'', was also published by John Canemaker (complete with identical cover art to Illusion of Life despite having completely different content), containing artwork that Frank and Ollie wanted to put into The Illusion of Life, but simply didn't have room for.

* [[SpiritualSuccessor Spiritual Successors]]: Frank and Ollie would author two companion books; ''Too Funny For Words: Disney's Greatest Sight Gags'' (which elaborates on the story and gag process at Disneys, as well as gag techniques) and ''The Disney Villain''.

The book has received universal acclaim and excellent sales, considered by many to be one of the best books on animation available. It has never been out of print since. It also recieved two companion books, ''Too Funny For Words'' and ''The Disney Villain''.

[[IThoughtItMeant Has nothing to do with]] existential crises, nihilism (the books lighthearted tone, like all Disney works, is just the opposite) or with PlatonicCave.

[[IThoughtItMeant Has nothing to do with]] existential crises.

''The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation'' [[note]]Originally titled "Disney Animation: The Illusion Of Life" prior to reprints [[/note]] is a Non-Fiction instructional/historical book that was commissioned by Creator/WaltDisney himself prior to his death to be made by Les Clark, who was with Disney all the way from OswaldTheLuckyRabbit up to Walt's death. However, [[AuthorExistenceFailure Clark died in 1979]] while doing preliminary research for the book. An attempt to complete the book was made in the 1980's in a large collaboration project with many surviving [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation Golden Age]] and [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfAnimation Dark Age]] Disney veterans, the project being spearheaded by two of DisneysNineOldMen, Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston.

-->''"The old-timers were [[CantCatchUp hard pressed to keep up with the demands of the new type of animation]]. More than one man counseled the beginners, "You should learn to draw as well as possible before starting to animate." Creator/GrimNatwick, whose animation career started in New York in 1924, pointed out, "The better you can draw, the easier it'll be for you. You'll have to draw the character in all positions and from every angle; and if you can't do it, and have to stage it from some other angle, it's very restrictive and takes longer." [[DisneysNineOldMen Marc Davis]] was more philosophic a few years later; "Drawing is giving a performance; an artist is an actor who is not limited by his body, only by his ability and, perhaps, experience." Too many of the men, old and new, were full of tricks and techniques that had looked great in cartooning school [[SoLastSeason but did nothing for them at the Disney studio]]. The little shadows under the toes of the shows, the slick line, the flashy verve of clothing reacting to violent exertion--all these devices that had impressed us in high school were of little use anymore."''

''The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation'' [[note]]Originally titled "Disney Animation: The Illusion Of Life" prior to reprints [[/note]] is a Non-Fiction instructional/historical book that was commissioned by Creator/WaltDisney himself prior to his death to be made by Les Clark, who was with Disney all the way from OswaldTheLuckyRabbit up to Walt's death. However, [[AuthorExistenceFailure Clark died in 1979]] while doing preliminary research for the book. An attempt to complete the book was made in the 1980's in a large collaboration project with many surviving [[TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation Golden Age]] and [[TheDarkAgeOfAnimation Dark Age]] Disney veterans, the project being spearheaded by two of DisneysNineOldMen, Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston.

* FascinatingEyebrow: Walt Disney's thinking expression. Which coincidentially was pretty much his only expression during meetings.
* HistoryOfAnimation: Goes into some detail about what was going on at Disney during their [[TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation Golden Age]] and [[TheDarkAgeOfAnimation Dark Age,]] and several works from TheSilentAgeOfAnimation are occasionally brought up.

* {{Bowdlerise}}: The {{Goofy}} character analysis near the end of the book is a condensed version that censors the original 1934 version, which made an unfortunate comparison of Goofy to a [[UncleTomFoolery "Coloured Boy"]]. The unabridged analysis was posted on [[http://www.michaelspornanimation.com/splog/?p=2418 Michael Sporn's Splog.]]

* DisneySchoolOfActingAndMime: Discussed frequently throughout the book. Frank and Ollie make a point that the reason the Disney animators do this kind of acting is because it's simply impossible for animation to match the same level of subtle acting or screen precense as live action, even with tools that closely try to emulate it like rotoscoping, and that its more sensible to exaggerate rather than directly copy real life.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: The book highlights the SillySymphonies short "Who Killed Cock Robin" for it's caricature of iconic actress Creator/MaeWest, which so effectively caricatured her beyond the level of a ShallowParody, [[ApprovalOfGod that Mae herself lauded it!]]

* DisneySchoolOfActingAndMime: Discussed frequently throughout the book. Frank and Ollie make a point that the reason the Disney animators do this kind of acting is because it's simply impossible for animation to match the same level of subtle acting as live action, even with tools that closely try to emulate it like rotoscoping, and that its more sensible to exaggerate rather than directly copy real life.

->''"The actor is trained to know these symbols of communication because they are his tools in trade. Basically, the animator is the actor in animated films. He is many other things as well; however, in his efforts to communicate his ideas, acting becomes his most important device. But the animator has a special problem. On the stage, all the foregoing symbols are accompanied by some kind of personal magnetism that can communicate the feelings and attitudes equally as well as the action itself. There is a spirit in this kind of communication that is extremely alive and vital. However, wonderful as the world of animation is, it is too crude to capture completely that kind of subtlety. If in animation we are trying to show that a character is sad, we droop the shoulders, slump the body, drop the head, add a long face, and drag the feet. Yet those same symbols also can mean that the character is tired, or discouraged, or even listless. We can add a tear and pinpoint our attitude a little better, but that is the extent of our capabilities."''