YMMV / The Illusion of Life

• Accidental Innuendo: On page 394, when the discussion is about Dopey's anatomy. Not helping is that there's a butt naked drawing of Dopey right next to the text block.
  Walt Disney: "He shows too much anatomy. I don't think you would see it in this little guy."
  Art Babbitt: "Do you see him quite erect^note as in alert most of the time?"
• Awesome Art: The book is loaded with hundreds of drawings and artwork from the vintage Disney movies, and alone practically warrant buying the book.
• First Installment Wins: The book is frequently considered one of the "bibles" of animation and a frequent reference point for terms such as "The Twelve Principles of Animation". Many fans don't know that Frank and Ollie continued to expand on their work in subsequent books.
• Hype Backlash: Despite its praise, there are some animation fans, historians, and animators (such as Michael Barrier) who have criticized the book for claiming that only Disney could produce convincing character animation during The Golden Age of Animation, and no other studio succeeded in doing so. These critics point out that many of the Looney Tunes, Fleischer Studios, and Tom and Jerry shorts from the time are just as critically-acclaimed as the Disney animated films, and go on to accuse the book of being biased toward Disney^note Granted, this is a Disney animation book made by veteran Disney animators, so some bias is perhaps to be expected, but we digress. as opposed to helpful animation advice.
• Signature Scene: The chapter on The 12 Principles of Animation.
• Unintentional Period Piece: The book was written based on the insights and experiences Frank and Ollie had gathered while they were active as animators. For instance, it was believed that animation was too crude to match the same level of subtlety as live-action performances. Not only has animation technology advanced, animation acting has diversified which has allowed characters to emote in a variety of ways.
• Vanilla Protagonist: Discussed in regards to "straighter characters". More realistic and subdued protagonists and characters of that type are more difficult to animate. It's harder for straight characters to emote and show the same degree of emotion as more comical side characters that can behave broadly. But without these straight characters, Frank and Ollie feel that it's more difficult to relate to the characters onscreen.